day VIII: ankara, the capital of old and new

Finally we arrived on Day 8, which is our last day in wonderful exotic Turkey. We arrived at Ankara, the capital of Turkey last night from Cappadocia. They let us stay at Hilton Ankara which is one of the best hotels I ever stayed. I was so sad to leave the hotel when morning arrived. 

Ankara, being the capital is also another sprawling metropolis, but less busier compared to Istanbul. People here still seem more carefree. Our first destination is to Anitkabir which means "memorial tomb" in Turkish, which is the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder and first president of Republic of Turkey. 

We stumbled upon large number of schoolchildren on an excursion to Anitkabir. They are so cute and friendly. And stylish too lol.

Changing of the guards ceremony

I guess we all stand out a lot because of our Asian features because all the students kept staring and waving at us. Some, like this girl, even asked to take picture with me. Imagine that.

They were all so supportive when I asked them to smile for my camera lol.

I will always remember this little boy who was so shy he ask his teacher to ask me take picture with him. Needless to say, I was quite flattered wtf.

A glimpse of the old and new city

Near the Ankara castle walls where we had lunch, were many of these old shops. I particularly like this shop because of the paintings

Having apple tea in Turkish glass before our flight back to Malaysia

We had lunch at one of these quaint old restaurants situated at the old castle walls. After lunch, I persuaded my Mom to explore the castle walls by going inside towards the main inner walls. Unlike many historical sites, the castle walls here are not protected so you can see lots of vandalism on the walls, which is sad. It took us a long time and luckily we managed to ask for directions before we found the inner towers.

So that concluded all the places I visited in Turkey. My next few posts will be photos on food in Turkey and things to buy =)