Neolithic Survey • Sofia, Bulgaria to Instanbul, Turkey • Museum of Anatolian Civilizations • 24-26 April 2024

A sometimes difficult even arduous journey, considering that they woke us around midnight to prepare us for a 2 a.m. disembarking of the train at the Bulgarian/Turkish border for passport control and taking all our luggage through customs to have every piece x-rayed. The entire process took more than two hours an we finally left around 4:30 a.m. This meant that we missed our projected arrival time at 6 am by two hours. The driver we hired to drive us across Istanbul to the train station that services Ankara gave up on us and left the station. We had to organize a different driver which took another 1 1/2 hours. The drive in an old van across the Bosporus bridge to the Asian part of Istanbul lasted 1:45 minutes. Finally we arrived in time to catch the 11:45 am speed train to Ankara:

Istanbul arrival:

Van finally arrived:

Crossing the Bosporus from Europe to Asia:

Istanbul train station to Ankara:

Thursday  25 April 24  = Istanbul to Ankara by train. After more than 5 hours we arrived in Ankara. A surprisingly beautiful and well-kept city, lots of parks, broad boulevards, very modern, and friendly people who go out of their way to be helpful. Almost no one speaks English. But everyone uses the Google translate app. 

On speed train (intercity):

Arrived in Ankara:

Renting car at train station:

On the way to the hotel to meet Regula who is flying in from CH:

Noteworthy stop: Visited Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara in the morning. An absolute must see. Covers from the Paleolithic/Neolithic to the Classical/Roman age. Important artifacts and figures from Çatalhöyük and Hacılar Neolithic sites. (Protocities) 6,000 BC. Also a few items from Goebekli Tepe. Additionally, the museum offers a stunning Hittite collection (1700 BC–900 BC).

Çatalhöyük 6,000BC:

Hittite figures inspired by the Sumerian/Akkadian Zu Bird:

Friday 26 April 24  = Ankara to Kahramanmaraş by car. Fantastic views, a modern three-lane autobahn most of the way that rivals anything Germany has—except for the 140 km speed limit, which is not too shabby. 7 1/2 hours driving time. The fields were green, stretching forever for hundreds of miles in every direction. Truly Fat Valley.

Getting closer to the mountains and Kahramanmaraş. (Just before Kayseri. The city is less than a half hour from Domuztepe, our destination for tomorrow. It is the ritual cannibalism site, with the death pit.)

Kayseri:

It's dark now. But we’ve just arrived in Kahramanmaraş. Fueling up for an easy start:

Even the gas stations in deepest Anatolia are connected to Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Half an hour from Domuztepe, two hours from Goebekli Tepe: