6th April: Returning to Istanbul

We made our way up hill from the hotel to the main cultural attraction in Ankara, the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations. Unfortunately the Museum was undergoing renovations at the time, so one or two galleries were closed; there was, however, plenty to keep us occupied for a couple of hours. We toured displays on Stone Age and Early Bronze Age inhabitants of Anatolia, then entered the main gallery with its massive Hittite and Phrygian statues and reliefs. We won't try to give you a history lesson, but if you're interested in some reading then this is a decent place to start.

Entrance to the Museum of Anatolian Civilisations

Hittite Chimaera relief

Hittite relief from around 3000 years ago

Another Hittite relief

Hittite sculpture

We marched back to the hotel, packed up, and checked out. We had a little difficulty finding the right bus to take us to the main otogar, but a very kind chap went to the trouble of leading us all the way from one bus stop to another, about five minutes' walk away.

We arrived at the otogar in plenty of time for our final bus journey of the trip, a six-hour drive across Anatolia to Istanbul. The Metro bus was very comfortable, with only three large seats per row. I worked on the blog while Clem watched the TV screen and napped. We arrived at the Metro otogar outside the city at around 7 p.m. and caught the shuttle into Taksim Square, near where we had stayed for our first night in Istanbul almost a month ago.

After around five minutes' walk we arrived at the place we had found on Airbnb, a room in an apartment owned by a very friendly English woman who had been living in Istanbul for the last seven years and had lots of useful tips to pass on. We took advantage of the luxury of having a kitchen to cook for ourselves, since after eight months of travelling our budget was starting to get a little tight.