All good things must come to an end…

We were off at 6am as it’s a long way to Istanbul! Feeling a little better, I steeled myself for the long bus ride.  I actually slept most of the morning, waking up for our compulsory toilet stops, and then falling asleep again.  I was well rested by the time we arrived in Ankara, Turkey’s capital city. We were going to visit Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s tomb, but first had to pass through a military checkpoint where we all had to get off the bus, pass through an x-ray machine, and then get back on the bus. It seemed like a formality, as almost all of us beeped!

We quickly entered the mausoleum as it was bitingly cold outside. There’s a symbolic sarcophagus but Ataturk is actually buried 7 metres below it. It’s quite impressive, but what I found really impressive was the war museum. It was really well laid out and explained the many wars and conflicts over the past century with dioramas, paintings, sound effects, and explanations in English. Turkey would not have been a country if not for leaders like Ataturk. No wonder he’s their hero. He died quite young at the age of 57, not of war wounds, but of cirrhosis of the liver. Apparently, he was fond of the old raki. (This wasn’t mentioned here. Yavuz told me.) Just goes to show even heroes suffer from human frailties.

Many of the war heroes that were mentioned all went to Military School and War College about the same time, and many died about the same time as Ataturk as well, which I thought was interesting. Lots of them also had nicknames, which became their actual names, which are recorded in the museum. It must be a cultural thing.

We came out into the freezing cold, took some photos of the poor soldier on guard duty, before heading back to the bus. Ahmed, our driver, received a phone call from Fez saying they had sold the bus, and he was out of a job, so he called into his house to leave his belongings with his wife, as he will have to catch another bus back to Ankara tonight. He didn’t seem to be too upset, and Faruk assured us he would soon get another job. I certainly hope so- he was the most excellent driver!

As we climbed into the mountains, it began to snow, first lightly, then more heavily. The road soon became covered with snow and the traffic slowed including us. Ahmed had to stop to clear the ice off the windscreen as the wipers weren’t clearing it. Thank goodness for heating in the bus.

We stopped for a break and I ate some late lunch at a rest stop, and the “kids” had fun throwing snowballs at one another. Of course, as always, it didn’t last long as it was very, very cold out there.

I just had a bread roll and some yoghurt soup which was absolutely delicious, before heading out to look at the snow again. I wasn’t foolhardy enough to actually go in it- I had enough trouble just getting down the stone steps without taking a tumble. They were so slippery that as soon as my foot touched the snow, it melted and then I slid! When the fun was over, we hopped back in the warmth of the bus for the slow trip back to Istanbul. After seeing two bad accidents caused by the snowy, icy conditions, we were hoping Ahmed was driving carefully. The snow caused us to arrive back in Istanbul in peak-hour traffic, and we sat in traffic for what seemed like hours. Carmel and Margot started a game where you had to name an animal with a particular letter, use an adjective, verb and adverb and place all starting with that letter to make a sentence.  This was the sort of game I thought we’d play on the long stretches of road instead of sleeping.

Faruk then gave us some quiz questions- now this was my sort of tour! There were even prizes for correct answers. I won an apple and an evil eye token! Kosta remembered a lot more than I did and so did Margot. I think I’ve just had information overload in the past few days. Let’s just say I know a lot more know about Turkey than I did two weeks ago.

The snow turned into freezing rain, and Ahmed had to drop us off in the street, and we had to walk, stumble, and drag ourselves back to the Hotel Orka. Claire was on hand to pull my suitcase up the ramp for me. She has been an angel the whole trip offering a hand when I needed it. I think she knows I’m old and frail.  Well, I do feel old! All of these early mornings and long days are taking their toll, I can tell you.

We arrived back at the hotel after 9pm, and Faruk went to check out our room- yes, he says, it’s bigger than your other room. We head up to the sixth floor with high expectations, only to find it’s actually smaller! We could do nothing except laugh! Admittedly there’s a hand-width between the beds, but that’s about it! The bathroom is only half the size of our last room! Well, we’ve got two more nights here so we just have to manage. I couldn’t have found two girls more capable of managing than Claire and Amanda.

The girls went out for dinner in the rain and cold, but I stayed in and ordered room service- a cheese omelette with mushrooms was just what the doctor ordered! After a relaxing hot shower, I fell asleep almost immediately. I was knackered!

Oh, our last day and we could sleep in, and sleep in, I did!  I made it down to breakfast before 10 and managed toast and scrambled eggs. I wasn’t the only one who was tired from the trip- Genie didn’t even make it down at all!  I went back to my room to catch up with Ross- this was the first time our times matched! Then off to the laundry round the corner- I have no clothes left! I never go anywhere without something happening. This time I got an offer of a “free” salt massage- I think I must look friendly- Claire and Amanda think I look gullible!  They’re probably right.

It was still pouring rain and freezing cold; 2C and felt like -2C so I headed down to the basement for a swim, sauna and massage and managed to spend the whole afternoon there just relaxing.

The whole group was meeting in the Rocket Bar at 6, for a last drink together. We should have done this on the first night! We had so much fun taking photos, swapping stories, and generally relaxing! No one except me has to be up early in the morning. We ordered pizza and beer- I must be getting better, but I had to get my port packed and ready to leave at 5.45am. Goodbye, Turkey!