Ankara

Mausi is back from her week in Ankara. It has been a most interesting week in many respects. Ankara is a HUGE city in the middle of the Anatolian part of Turkey. The current population is estimated to be about 3 million people. The first settlements in this place stem from Hittite times when Ankara was the crossing of several important caravan routes. Ankara is spreading out inside a giant bowl, probably a caldera. There is still a lake at the outskirts of the city that fills an old crater hole.



The Turks like to build their houses close to each other, very close indeed. The old one-family-houses - which can be seen in the photograph above - are now pulled down everywhere and replaced by modern high-rise buildings. Not always an improvement in Mausi's eyes. There are said to be some parks in the city but the ones Mausi has seen were very small indeed. The biggest green areas belong to the military who obviously has enough money and people to keep them beautifully.

The traffic is bad of course despite many newly built roads. But the number of cars is just mind boggling and traffic regulations obviously only apply somewhere else. Still the number of accidents seems to be surprisingly low. Maybe everyone expects some mad behaviour from their fellow drivers. Mausi was glad that most of the time she travelled in a big bus. She felt quite safe inside.