Compared to the Finnish sauna, the Turkish sauna is a wet sauna with high steam humidity. After the steam, you don't soak in a cold water pool, but use a small basin to collect water for washing. Looking at the small basin that is not much bigger than an electric rice cooker, it always feels like a drop in the bucket. The price of about $25 for a bath and massage is quite reasonable.
Although I still felt awkward having a stranger rubbing my body. Another awkward part was having to tie a large blanket around my waist at all times, which was wet and sticky to my body, which was not very comfortable. But after the shower, I still felt quite refreshed and energetic, although I don't know if it was due to the lazy nap I took while lying on the marble bench while steaming.
Let's go back to the dawn, when the thick clouds in the sky are just highlighted by the light of dawn. The streets are almost deserted, with only houses like building blocks standing in a staggered manner, spreading history on the mountain. In fact, like most ancient towns, most of the houses have been renovated, but there are still houses that have been preserved in their original flavor in inconspicuous corners.
The mottled earthen walls were uneven, and the decayed wooden frames were covered with cobwebs. There were no main streets in the whole city. We followed the rugged cobblestone road all the way up. When we turned back, we saw the bright red roofs connected together under our feet. We walked all the way to the mountain at the edge of the city and passed through a quiet cemetery. The sun was rising, and the gradually rising smoke enveloped the whole town in a haze.
If you can only go to one place in Safranbolu, ten minutes of quiet observation here is enough. After dawn, I walked around the city a few more times. The old city is not big, and there are no shops everywhere like the ancient cities in China. I found a house that I could visit. As expected, during the Ottoman period, the male and female activity areas were strictly separated, each occupying half.
Once the door in the middle is closed, the left and right sides are completely separated, and even the stairs are on each side. However, the layout of the rooms on both sides is similar. Probably because they are all similarly simple... Although there is no spider-web-like water vein like Lijiang, there is still a small river running through the city. It is called a small river, but it actually feels more like a hidden canal, which only appears in an inconspicuous gap.
Although the old city is not big, there are several mosques. During the prayer time, the imam's chanting can be heard in every alley. The largest mosque is located in the center of the city. The surrounding area is relatively open, and it has become another eye-catching landmark besides the Turkish bath. If you want to choose another landmark, it is Cincihanhotel, which has been in existence since the 17th century.
The style is quite different from most of the civil structures in the city. The last place worth visiting in the city is the former town hall, which is located on a hill outside the city. It is now a museum, but unfortunately it is closed on Mondays. Although the museum is closed, it is another good place to climb up and overlook the city of Safranbolu. I wandered around like this.
It was only noon. I calculated the time and decided to go see a Byzantine aqueduct 7km outside the city. I went through the city. It was basically a main road, but there were not many pedestrians and no road signs. Since I had no idea how to pronounce Turkish, I simply held up the lonely placard and showed the name in the book to anyone I met. Finally, I arrived successfully.
The scenery along the way was endless. It was winter, and there were snow-capped mountains in the distance, but the nearby grass and trees were still green. This alone made the one-hour mountain road worthwhile. When approaching the aqueduct, the first thing I saw was a rather majestic canyon. I wonder if the saffron flowers that inspired the city's name are still all over the mountains. If so, it will be particularly gorgeous when the flowers bloom in spring.
Across the canyon is a water diversion canal that is more than 100 meters long and less than half a meter wide. In a deserted wilderness, suddenly such a steep man-made wonder flashed before my eyes, giving me the illusion that it was forgotten by everyone after the turbulent times. The winter wind was not small, and there was a canyon several dozen meters deep below. It was quite scary to walk on it.
Looking around, there was no one around, only Yunluo walking on the abyss in the air, which made the trip to Safranbolu, which was as calm as warm water, a little more exciting. There are actually quite a few countries whose capitals are not the largest cities, but Ankara is like this. Yunluo always talked about Yunluo's trip in various places in Turkey.
Basically, I will receive a reply like "What? You went to Ankara? It must be boring there?" This kind of reply is probably rare in the capital, not to mention that Ankara is an ancient city built before the Christian era. However, walking on the busy six-lane street in Ankara, looking at the high-rise buildings with various neon signs flashing on both sides.
I realized that Ankara, like many cities in China, had "bravely" said goodbye to the past. It has been less than a hundred years since Ankara replaced Istanbul as the capital. Even though the city construction has become a metropolis, it can still be regarded as a low-key city, maintaining its own sense of contentment. I looked through my photos and it seems that I didn't take any street scenes.
Here is a random photo of sihhiyesquare. The "three deer" sculpture is the symbol of Ankara, and you can also see it in the museum later. Ankara is located in central Turkey and is actually quite dry, but there are still many large fountains in the city. I wonder if this can be considered a Turkish-style political achievement project.
Youth Park in the city center, this lake seems to be no smaller than the Unname Lake. I always feel that the city planning is similar to that of China... However, although it looks like a newly built upstart city, Ankara's 2,000-year history still leaves many traces, but they are buried between modern steel and concrete and need to be slowly discovered.
The closest to Yunluo's residence is the ruins of a Roman bath. The ruins are more than one floor higher than the street. Yunluo walked around the door for a few times but didn't notice it. But it is also because of this that the bathing passage can connect the past with the present. The bathhouse has a complex structure, with cold water pools, warm water pools, hot water pools, changing rooms, and halls, which set off the lively and tense downtown behind.
Modern people are probably unwilling and disdainful to slow down and indulge in the leisure of ancient Rome. The columns in the hall were so densely packed that it is unimaginable. Now only the bases are left. Will this cause intensive phobia? There are two smaller Roman ruins. One is the Julian Column, which was erected to commemorate Julian's visit to Ankara in 362.
Although Julian was labeled as an apostate, he was a Roman emperor that Yunluo liked. His short reign of one and a half years did not leave many traces. It is precious to see this familiar name in Ankara. Another place is the Temple of Augustus and Rome, which, as the name suggests, was built after Augustus occupied this place.
Today, there is no statue of Augustus, and even the temple itself is in ruins. The mosque built next to it is bustling with people. Continuing forward from the temple, far away on the hilltop is the Ankaracitadel. It is probably the oldest continuously inhabited place in Ankara.
The castle itself is just average, but it is very suitable for climbing and looking far. Ankara is located on a high ground with an average altitude of 900m+. There are many small hills in the city, which are lined with red and white houses. The main attraction of Ankara for Yunluo is the museum of fanatolian civilizations at the foot of the mountain.
Compared with the Anthropology Museum in Istanbul, this place is not big, but the Hittite collection is extremely rich. This first nation born in Turkey flattened the city of Babylon, defeated the Egyptian army, and fought against the two great civilizations, but it was ultimately defeated by several unknown small countries born on the Mediterranean coast and left the stage of history with hatred.
The Hittites were not particularly talented in art, but they still left behind many works that were absolutely outstanding in terms of the technical level of the time. The following is said to symbolize the Hittites' cosmology. This statue can definitely be regarded as a Chakmetist statue of that era, exaggerated yet sincere, concise yet delicate.
Below is the "three deer" statue mentioned earlier. Even though the Hittites have completely disappeared, generations of Ankara people who have lived on this land have always regarded it as their spiritual symbol. The most outstanding contribution of the Hittites should be the iron smelting technology. The iron smelting technology that they have monopolized for nearly a thousand years made the Hittites not afraid of any major country in the world at that time in terms of military.
Just like aluminum in the Napoleonic era. Iron in the Hittite era was also several times more expensive than gold, so such iron swords with gold sheaths were common. The Hittites also had their own writing system, which was the same cuneiform writing system as the Babylonians, and has not been deciphered today after more than 3,000 years. In addition, their pottery is also quite distinctive, quite bold, and very postmodern.
Another major feature of the museum is the reliefs that fill the entire room, ranging from war to sacrifice, from daily life to diplomatic ceremonies. It reminds Yunluo of the Assyrian Museum in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Near Eastern peoples are all experts in reliefs. Ankara became the capital overnight. Kemal played an indispensable role.
The evaluation of Kemal is actually a very delicate question: if a dictator leads a country to independence and prosperity, is such a dictator worthy of praise? From the conclusion that Yunluo has seen, it seems that the Turks still respect Kemal very much, although they still have some complaints about his policy of total Westernization.
As for Yunluo's personal opinion, as a believer of Plato, you can guess it without saying it, right? Ankara was promoted by Kemal. Naturally, his statue is indispensable. Kemal was buried in Ankara after his death. It has become one of the most famous attractions in Ankara and is free to visit. You can imagine what it looks like.
It is a large open square with a building similar to Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall. The only difference is that the square is artificially raised. In addition, it is located on the top of a mountain. It looks even higher and can be seen from far away. The guard at the door is motionless like a sculpture. From time to time, people run to take pictures with him or even use their hands to feel his breath...
The memorial hall occupies one side of the square, and its shape and texture are simple and strong. The walls on both sides are painted with heroic deeds of the Turkish War of Independence, which always gives Yunluo a subtle sense of déjà vu. In the memorial hall is Kemal's coffin, and there are many people around who pay silent tribute or even cry (some of them young people), which is a bit moving.
Speaking of which, Yun Luo has never been to Chairman Mao's Memorial Hall, so he doesn't know what it's like inside. In fact, it's just a cenotaph. The real body is behind a golden door underground, and it's usually not open to the public. What? Crystal coffin? Bacon? You're overthinking... There are various museums around the square, forming a circle of corridors.
The sun sets and the ground is covered with golden color. There is a long Shinto road on one side of the square. Yunluo thought it was a feature of the Far East, but he didn't expect to see it in the distant Near East. At the end of the Shinto road, overlooking Ankara, the angle is very good. Kemal changed the fate of Ankara, but also usurped the history of Ankara.
But a new history has been written, and this vibrant city will continue to grow. Yunluo always has an unusually high interest in civilizations that were once prominent but completely disappeared. The reason why he chose to stay in Ankara, which has nothing to offer, was largely because of Hattusa.
There are many places that can be called ancient capitals, but there are not many ancient capitals like Hattusa, which has a history of more than 4,000 years and is almost the same age as Babylon and Thebes in Egypt (of course, it is much less well-known). Although this former capital of the Hittite Empire was listed as a World Heritage Site as early as 1986, it is not as famous as Istanbul, Pamukkale, and Ephesus.
Hattusa is still a little-known place. There is no direct bus from Ankara to Hattusa, which is quite rare in Turkey, a country with a well-developed tourism industry. The journey was quite bumpy. We first took a bus to Sungurlu, but the place where we got off was on the highway. We were completely lost and confused.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
I turned down two or three taxis that were soliciting passengers. Actually, the people were quite friendly, but unfortunately their English level was only enough to solicit passengers, not enough to give Yunluo directions. Later, I finally arrived at the town of Sungurlu. I was confused again when looking for a transfer bus. After asking for directions with a combination of gestures and pictures, finally an enthusiastic villager took Yunluo on a minibus.
It was actually a van. The frightening experience was not over yet. I got on the van after 11 o'clock, but I didn't even see the driver. I began to doubt whether my communication with the villagers was successful. Since I didn't know what time the van would leave, I didn't even dare to get off the van to eat. I could only continue to eat bread in the car.
It was not until 12:30 that people started to board the bus one after another. I finally breathed a sigh of relief. Except for Yunluo, all the people on the bus were local villagers. They were very curious about Yunluo's Asian face. Although I didn't speak English, I still tried to communicate with Yunluo (the only words I could communicate were Hatusa).
In fact, it seems that there are not many Asians in Turkey. When children passing by the bus after school, they would turn back and look at it curiously (and the few Asians were mostly Japanese, so later some Chinese people asked Yunluo "are you Japanese" when they met -_-). At 1 o'clock, the bus was finally full, so the minibus rushed towards Hattusa at lightning speed.
The minibus actually arrived at Bogazkale, a modern village, but only a few minutes' walk from Hattusa. Turning into the gate of Hattusa, the rolling green hills came into view. The hills were not high, but the ups and downs were obvious; there were not many trees, so it seemed more vast; plus, I didn't see another tourist in Hattusa the whole day.
Plus a sense of emptiness. Hattusa is one of those places where the real scene is more interesting than the photo. No matter how you take a photo, you can't capture the spirit of the once-powerful imperial capital. Bogazkale is far below the mountain, and the town is scattered under the glory of the past. The whole Hattusa is divided into the inner city below the mountain and the outer city on the mountain. According to the introduction, there are a wide variety of temples, residences, fortresses, and workshops.
warehouses, etc. However, from the remaining foundations, I can't tell any difference. I don't know whether I should lament that the city is now only slightly old, or lament that such a desolate place once gathered tens of thousands of people with overwhelming power. The Great Temple, the largest building complex in the city, must have been quite spectacular at that time.
The outer city finally reaches the top of the mountain. The city wall on one side of the mountain is still basically well preserved. Also, several gates on the city wall have survived to this day. There are three famous ones: King's Gate, Sphinx Gate, and Lion Gate. Each gate has two layers, inner and outer. It is similar to the Chinese urn city. Only one side of the statue of the King's Gate has survived.
What you see now is a replica, the original is in the museum in Ankara. There is a tunnel under the Sphinx Gate, which leads from the city to the outside. There are many different opinions about its purpose. Some say it is for escaping, some say it is for drainage, and some say it is for daily entry and exit of the city. According to the introduction, this tunnel looks like an arch design, but it is not.
Because humans had not invented the arch at that time, I suddenly had a deeper understanding of the history of this place. Although the tunnel was slightly inclined downward, the exit was still high. Down below was a city wall paved with rubble. There was a big river at the foot of the mountain, but now it was completely dry, and the whole city fell into a great dead silence.
Only one side of the Sphinx Gate remains, standing at the highest point in the city. The last Lion Gate is as majestic as the Sphinx Gate. About 3km away from Hattusa is Yaz?l?kaya, one of the religious centers of the Hittite Empire. Now there are two temples left, without roofs, and it has become an open-air museum.
The highlight is the various reliefs left on the stone. Thanks to the off-season, there was only one tourist, Yunluo, in Yaz?l?kaya, so I could enjoy it slowly. As time goes by, many stone carvings have become dim and blurred, and the effect is even more sad after being tossed by the camera. But the fine brushwork and realistic depiction seen on the scene are still vivid. Here is a clear picture of the twelve gods of hell. This is the scene of a certain emperor being crowned by the gods.
I hurriedly caught the only bus back to Bogazkale that day, and finally I could take a break and wait for the bus back to Ankara. The next leg of my trip was to Cappadocia, one of the most popular places in Turkey. At least I didn't have to worry about transportation, haha. Most famous attractions always make people feel that they are a little worse than they expected. (To be continued...)