7 September, Amasya
to Boğazkale by bus and hitching
Pansiyon Asikoğlu 60TL
We were up at 05:15 to get our bus to
Sungurlu three hours west of Amasya on the road to Ankara. We had not had
enough sleep. It was a hot night and our open windows faced onto Amasya’s main
street, noisy on a weekend night. We eventually opened our door into the
passage, getting then a cooling cross-breeze and trusting to the general
honesty of the Turk to keep us and our luggage safe. The Metro bus company official,
despite us spelling our names for him, managed to record us on our tickets as
Geil Dedievay and Sow Seyreil, both female. We had planned to get a dolmuş
(mini-bus) in Sungurlu to the village of Boğazkale, there to visit the site of
the ancient Hittite capital, but on further enquiry discovered there are no
mini-buses to Boğazkale on a Sunday. We decided, therefore, to hitch to this
village of 1400, quickly getting a lift with a man and his father. They
initially said they could only take us 10km or so, but soon offered to drive us
all the way, adding 30km onto their route. So kind. When they dropped us, the
driver gave us his card, saying we could call him at any time if we ran into
trouble in Turkey. When Charl translated his card, we found he is a Member of
Parliament active in human rights issues.
Boğazkale
Boğazkale
Boğazkale
Boğazkale
Boğazkale