Hit the road Jack (and Pete and Trace)

 A taxi to the airport this morning because I didn't want to pick up a hire car and drive through Istanbul.  I also wanted a name brand, so we now have a Hertz Ford Focus. From the airport it was straight onto a toll road - four lanes wide, smooth and 140kph speed limit. I mostly stayed out of the fast lane, at least until I was used to the general traffic flow and driving on the left side of the car. Trucks keep very much to the two right lanes and some cars came past doing a lot more than 140, but it was pretty stress free. We were on toll roads for about 200km, over impressive bridges and through several tunnels of up to 2km in length, costing about 12-15 dollars. Once off the toll roads, the freeways dropped to 3 lanes and 110 and whilst there were rough patches, overall the roads were good.  We got to our destination,  Bogazkale, at around 4:30 having done 659kms  - and only 3578 steps. :)



The reason for staying in Bogazkale was to visit Hattusha, an area that has ruins dating back to the 14th Century BC! The area was very hilly and spread out, with a road loop around 10km long. There were parking places at the main remaining sites and of course we got out and wandered around. There were no barriers so we were able to walk everywhere and even stand on rocks to get better vantage points.The buildings were all reduced to the foundations but three gates - Lion, Sphinx and King - looked similar to how they would have back in the day. Lion gate had two lions either side, one had been restored and the other was original. Sphinx and Kings were both flanked by replicas of the original. We did however see an original Sphinx in the nearby Bogazkale Museum.



As well as the gates there was a 70metre long tunnel to exit the city. This tunnel still stands and we were able to walk through. It was really interesting to see how the rocks all interlocked to form the walls and roof.  To return we climbed a heap of stairs taking us up and over the rampart that had been built above the tunnel.


Overall the area was really interesting and we weren't quite finished. 2kms away was Yazilikaya, meaning 'rock with writing'. These rock chambers also date to around the 13th century BC and many of the carvings are very well preserved.  



After a quick lunch we headed to our final stop, Bogazkale Museum to view the original sphinxes.  One was quite damaged the other was well preserved. 

From here we drove to Cappadocia arriving around 4:30. We had decided to splurge on the hotel here, wanting to stay in a 'Cave Room'. Our suite is pretty spectacular and large as you can see below. Trace was very excited, as she has wanted to visit this area for many years, and to stay in a cave hotel was her dream.




210km and 7700 steps today.

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