After another of the Yildirim's awesome breakfasts, we headed back to the railway station to embark on the first of the two train rides scheduled for today.


As this was a pretty strategic stage in our journey, we'd pre-booked tickets online via Amber Travel, who are very attentive and informative.

First, the "Pamukkale Express". This is oddly named, as it doesn't go to Pamukkale, and it isn't an "express". It takes almost 8.5 hours to cover the 426 km to Eskisehir, and stops at 26 intermediate stations. That's all right. We're supposed to be travelling slowly after all.

More worryingly, there's no food provision (luckily we'd brought our own snacks).

The only problem with reserving via an agency is that you don't get to pick your seats. I swear we have disproportionately bad luck with train seat allocations, and today we got two of a group of four (the only such configuration in the entire carriage). Not for us, then, the comfortable footrest, the handy seat pocket to put things in, or the fold-down table to put your small bag on. But the train was far from full, so at least we could colonize the other two seats of the four.

Anyway, that grump aside, the big attraction of this journey is that it's wonderfully scenic. Huge mountains; salt lakes; wide plains, golden with wheat; fields bright with green crops or red ploughed earth; trim little stations; narrow, rocky valleys: it's all a great introduction to this huge and beautiful country.








We had an hour or so to put in at Eskisehir, but there's a pleasant outdoor waiting area at the station, with a couple of stalls where you can buy much-needed cheese and tomato sandwiches for TRY 5 apiece.

Train No 2 was the YHT, Turkey's high-speed train, which covers the 240-odd km to Ankara in about 90 minutes. Again you travel through some awe-inspiring landscapes.




And just a short walk away from Ankara's main railway station is the Otel Mithat, which will be our home for three whole nights. We have a fabulous view of the Melike Hatun Mosque. And it's much cooler than it's been in recent days.



So we've made it to Ankara, another Roman settlement...

For us, it's Day 33. Consulting the inestimable Orbis again, I find that Londinium-Ancyra in Roman times, by the cheapest route, and in the summer, would have taken 76.5 days. So we're fair haring along by comparison...