Amasya here we come!

Wednesday 27th July: Bogazkale to Amasya


Frankie the Ford Focus and Erin outside the Hotel

 After the water came on during the night we showered (more successfully this time) and did a short tour of the Bogazgale Museum before heading for the town of Amasya, about 150kms away.
Ewan managed to drive without incident through fields of grain being harvested, green valleys, market gardens and endless hills which slowly increased to daunting rocky mountain ranges. Amasya is in a river valley so the town is wedged between sheer rock faces and steep mountains, and a wide river. It is a town which is the summer holiday spot for Turks, but few other tourists.
We located our tiny hotel ( with 6 rooms ) in the old part of town, but it's actually brand new, although built in the old style. The temperature was increasing into the high 30's so we decided to wander along the river, have some lunch and stay as cool as possible. We did find a cute museum about the various Ottoman sultans from the area, so that kept us cool for a while (although we decided that 2 Museums per day was our limit! ).
On our way back to the hotel we noticed a group of women working hard despite the heat, under the shade of a tree opposite our Hotel. One of them saw me watching them and beckoned me over . They were kneading, rolling and cooking dough to make crisp pita bread on an open fire. I said hello in my best turkish and was given some of the bread to try, from a huge pile thay had produced. I'm not sure how they tolerated the heat of the fire as I couldn't stand near it. I took some photos of them and then showed them and there were lots of giggles. They all wore headscarves and long dresses with their arms completely covered as befits thier Muslim religion, as do most of the older women here. The younger ones are also covered but in light colours and brighter headscarves. On eof the younger ones gave me an email address so we'll send the photos. I'm hoping to see them again so I can take some closeups to send them too.
We did the holiday thing and wandered along the promenadeand ate Doner kebab at an open air restaurant for dinner. Ewan and Erin had another icecream form their favourite ice cream shop, where a young boy had been employed to make waffle cones endlessly - what a job!We were hoping to have a look at the main Mosque but we weren't in acceptable dress as we didn't have long skirts: T-shirts and shorts don't make the grade for Mosque visits.
It is really a lovely city with trees and grass along the public areas, lots of footbridges all lit up at night and lots of people just wandering around enjoying the cool of the evening.