Time to leave the arid landscape of Cappadocia for our day's drive through greener pastures toward Ankara, the capital city of Turkey.Two UNESCO sites for the price of one today. We arrived in ancient Hittite country, first visiting a sacred two-chambered outdoor sanctuary of natural rock, with carved deities dating from the 2nd century B.C. The main feature, however, was "down the hill and across the road". Hattussas was the capital of the empire, (enemies to the Egyptians). This city site covers a huge hillside of leftover stone foundations to what were once 40 foot tall cedar wood private and administrative buildings, temples, and the like. The Hittites were among the first cultures to provide written records offering details about their culture.
A great Mediterranean lunch awaited us at the "new" Hattusas village restaurant before our last leg of travel (napping on the bus?). We arrived late afternooon at Ankara, the very modern, upscale, university and political center of the country. Our high-rise Hilton is next door to the Iranian Embassy, but Salih tells us we can have all the bacon we want here in the morning ;-). Upon arrival we had a guided walk on the "main drag" before being turned lose for our own evening's explorations. The Saturday night scene is jam packed with young folks in this university city (7 million population).
Pix: rock art; jadite alter in the the temple where we sacrificed a few virgins today (just checking to see if you're still reading); another picture for the "foodies".
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