Day 22: Çamlıdere Barajı to Ankara

Waking early as planned, we were packed and on the road again by about 6.30am and approaching Ankara quickly. The traffic was not nearly as bad as what I had been thinking it would, and we found our way to the Embassy of Turkmenistan (and our hotel accommodation which was opposite it) by about 8.30am. 

With some time to spare before the embassy opened at 9.00am, we duly filled in the appropriate formwork that had been downloaded and printed before departure, and organised all our materials such that we would be ready for any questions should they be forthcoming. We needn't have worried. 

Expecting that the visa application could be any of (i) denied, (ii) delayed or (iii) incomplete with impossible requisites, it was a pleasant surprise that after a little language barrier difficulty we understood that the visas would be available the same day! At 55 USD per visa, this was a bargain, and I would recommend anyone else wanting to travel overland through Turkmenistan obtain their visa from Ankara (with a government approved letter of invitation and tour company booked). Elsewhere, e.g. in London, this was going to cost upward of 150 GBP each for express applications that would take 3 days. 

The only delay to the process was that we needed to go and deposit the visa fee into a Turkish bank account. Whilst a pain, this at least provided some proof of legitimacy as to where the money was actually going to, and some reassurance that we weren't simply paying 'tourist tax price' to fund someones children's education. 

I went to do the banking, whilst Gerle enjoyed the amenities of the hotel room. It didn't take too long to find the bank and make the deposit, and after returning to the embassy with proof of deposit I collected our passports complete with Turkmenistan visas and returned to the hotel.

The Embassy of Turkmenistan to Turkey

One Turkmenistan visa

Two Turkmenistan visas

The whole process to the obtain the visas had been much faster and less complicated than I had anticipated that it would. Figuring that this was going to be somewhat of an ordeal, I hadn't done any research on the tourist attractions of Ankara - which may have helped us find some. 

After showering and refreshing, we left the hotel intending to walk through the city parks nearby to the embassy district, and head toward the Atakule Tower which supposedly offers good views across the city. The walk itself was nice, but the tower was actually shut and looking quite run down when we made it to there. 

Hungry, we stopped a kebab shop for lunch. The food was tasty, hot and cheap, and no ill side effects were experienced afterward. This place was busy, McDonalds the day previous was not. Something to be learned from that!

Walking in a large loop around the embassy district, we returned to the hotel late in the afternoon to simply relax and recuperate from the travel thus far before what was going to be a somewhat strenuous string of one night stays in places across Turkey for the next two weeks. Gerle snoozed whilst I tried to complete some blogging and other internet tasks, before we went outside again to look for somewhere for dinner. 

We had seen a few places nearby to the hotel on our return from the lunch, but these were now closed. The area was very quiet, so we decided to return to the hotel for dinner. The meal was nice, but the service was sloth like in its pace. Ordering at 8pm, we were served our mains at about 9.30pm, by which time we were so hungry that they were finished and we were in bed before 10pm. 

In all, Ankara was not an exciting place, though we were not prepared and not concerned about experiencing all that there was on offer. We got what we came for, tourist visas allowing us to visit Turkmenistan in a few weeks time.

Out of place in Ankara, even in the embassy district where there seemed to be several Landcruisers