Turkiye 2023: Ankara: Ataturk Mausoleum & Anatolian Civilizations Museum

After breakfast at the hotel, we left Urgup in Cappadocia for the capital city of Ankara. A long bus ride that took up most of the morning. It was almost noontime when we arrived in the city limits and stopped at a mall for lunch.

Across from this modern edifice is the mall.

Most of us went straight to the food court, an expected feature in every mall.

We ended up getting (clockwise) pide (Turkish savory flatbread), manti (Turkish ravioli), salad and soup in the middle.

Around 1:30 pm, we arrived at the mausoleum of Kemal Ataturk, the founder and first president of the Turkish Republic. The mausoleum complex is called Anitkabir - grave monument in Turkish. Aside from the mausoleum there are various structures including a museum, monuments and a wooded park. We only went to the mausoleum and the museum.

Just in time, we witnessed a wreath-laying ceremony, which we were told was sponsored by high school students.

We were also able to watch a little bit of pageantry during the changing of the guards.

The museum requires a nominal fee to enter and contains paintings, documents, some replica weapons and a lot of information describing the formation of the republic. I didn't read all of them. Also on display were Ataturk's personal items like clothing and gifts that were given to him, and many many more.

The drive from the mausoleum to the next stop offered sights of big city life. So very different from Istanbul. Ankara is more modern both in architecture and way of life it seemed. More locals on the streets versus an overrun of tourists in Istanbul.

Anatolian Civilizations Museum. How many museums have we visited on this one trip so far? This would be the last one. But let me tell you that I have never been bored with the museums here.

This museum is huge. The displays are incredible. They have artifacts from Paleolithic Age and includes so many ages in Anatolian history. However, we were all flabbergasted when the tour manager showed us the first divorce document on stone. They also have marriage document on stone as well.

One of these is the divorce doc and the other one is the marriage doc. I can't remember which is which.

Other displays:

Goddess of agriculture and human fertility.

That evening, after getting settled in the hotel, we found ourselves walking to the restaurant that the tour manager recommended. This happened to be a few minutes' walk from the hotel.

My dining crew. Half of the people in the restaurant that evening were from our tour group.