Today we traveled from Ankara to Cappadocia.

We started the day by visiting a recently found section of a Roman road. Unfortunately the road was found 14-15 feet below the surface and the only way we could see it was through a glass cover.

The glass was not the cleanest and it was difficult to block light to prevent shadows and glare. However, we always find a way.

I took this picture by placing my camera lens directly on the glass so that the only image was coming from below. You can see the paving stones of the Roman road. You can’t see this very well in three dimensions, but the pipe to the left is being support several feet above the road. It is the remains from a later level. Hopefully I will come back to this photo shoot in a later post. I have a couple of humorous shots of people trying to get pictures.

We then walked to the Temple of Augustus and Rome. This is also known as Monumentum Ancyranum. The taller portion of the temple was built about 20-25 BC after the Romans conquered Anatolia. The shorter portion was built earlier and was for the worship of a goddess. The structure was later used as a church and now the adjacent area is a mosque.

We then took the bus to the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. Unfortunately the museum was undergoing a renovation and only one small hall was open for us to explore. I will have to arrange another trip to Ankara someday.

The one hall that we were able to visit had a lot of interesting artifacts. My favorite was this gold ring that shows Cybele standing at the temple entrance. The temple would be the one that is shown above.

There were also many artifacts in the grounds surrounding the museum. I plan on using pictures of them in future posts.

We then took off for Cappadocia. We made several stops along the way. Once for lunch and then for a bio break. During the second stop I bought myself a nice ice cream cone. The ice cream was really good, especially the cherry ice cream on top. I like to say that this is only one scoop of butterscotch with a cherry on top.

We then stopped at a caravanserai that was built in the early 1200’s. The caravanserai was really large and would have accommodated multiple caravans of camels. The architecture of the caravaserai was amazing and I took plenty of pictures to use in a future blog post.

Speaking of camels, here is a camel in front of some of the rock homes of Cappadocia. More about these caves in the next days.

Here you can see a little more detail of the rock caves. You can see that the weather is a little cool and rainy by the way I am dressed in the picture.

For the next two nights we are staying in a cave hotel here in Cappadocia.

If the weather cooperates in the morning we will be up early taking a hot air balloon ride over the beautiful landscape of the area.

More about the caves in the next few days.

Now for some sleep 🙂

Steven

Check out the following blogs for more about out tour:

The other side of the world

Alexander’s Adventures: Travels of the Young at Heart

Ferrell’s Travel Blog