[Travelogue] Turkey Trip, Day 6 :) | Tuz Golu, Ankara, Ataturk Memorial, Von Resort, Bolu
By Lasmarya Hadi Purwanto - August 14, 2016
Leaving the city of rock caves, we're heading to the capital city of Turkey, Ankara.
On our way to Ankara, we stopped by to visit the famous Salt Lake or Tuz Golu.
(the grey pinpoint is Lake Tuz, or the Salt Lake)
Attention: This white thing that we're stepping on was salt, not white sand!
(ssstt, when we looked for info about salt lake in Turkey, there were a lot of images in Google showing the pink salt and lake water, which looked really amazing to us, that we went off pretty crazy over what kind of shirt color we should wear, so that it would look good over the pink background, but when we got there,....*sigh...it's not even pinkish :(... )
But I still like the white salt, though, at least the local people take a very good care of it, that there was almost no garbage at sight. :)
And finally arrived in Ankara, served with another sight of concrete jungle, replacing the countryside view from several hours of bus ride.
The main monumental structure in Ankara is Ataturk Memorial Tomb. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was the founder and the first president of the modern Turkey. The name Ataturk actually stands for "Ata" or founder and "Turk" of Turkey, as he is named as "The Father of the Turks".
Atatürk was a military officer during World War I.[2] Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in World War I, he led the Turkish National Movement in the Turkish War of Independence. Having established a provisional government in Ankara, he defeated the forces sent by the Allies, eventually leading to victory in the Turkish War of Independence. Atatürk then embarked upon a program of political, economic, and cultural reforms, seeking to transform the former Ottoman Empire into a modern and secular nation-state. Under his leadership, thousands of new schools were built, primary education was made free and compulsory, and women were given equal civil and political rights, while the burden of taxation on peasants was reduced. - wikipedia
The changing of guards ceremony held every one hour.
(The Hall of Honor)
Atatürk's tomb is situated right under the symbolic 40-ton sarcophagus in the ground floor of The Hall of Honor, and Atatürk's body is buried below this in a special Tomb Room in the basement level.-wikipedia
Then, another several-hour bus ride to Bolu.
Bolu is located in the northwest of Turkey. It is said to be a popular short-escape destination of people from Istanbul and Ankara during their weekends and especially during the summer. As it is mostly covered with green forests, Bolu is definitely the best place to relax by breathing more fresh air, and chilling off from the heat.
As mentioned before, during the whole trip, we were served with lots of great views right and left from our seat on the bus. We've got to see buildings, seas, mountains, rock formations, caves, green fields, flowers, cattle, sheep, horses, replacing one another as we're heading to the next city, and heading to Bolu, the green trees and bushes got their turn to show off.
(p.s: Sorry for the blurry images, I took these pics using my phone and on a moving bus with some turbulence, so please do forgive me.,.)
Bolu is also famous for its culinary. One of Bolu's specialty is Bolci, or chocolate with pistachio fillings. They come out in dark chocolate, white chocolate, and milk chocolate variation. Though the chocolate tastes like the usual chocolate, but the pistachio really makes a big difference. The pistachio blends extremely well with the chocolate, and makes it taste really GOOD!
We stayed at VonResort in Bolu, which is a complex of cottages surrounded by forests and is only 3-minute away from the hiking trail. It is also said to be one of the top hotels in Bolu, favoured by athletes for training, and also by people from the big cities coming to spend their weekends.
Bolu was our last stop before heading back to Istanbul.
It was sad that our trip was going to finish so soon.
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