"Turkey" flies from Odessa to Ankara

When I left the nightclub and returned to my accommodation, it was already five o'clock in the morning, which was the deepest night since I traveled. Dizzy brushed his teeth, wiped his face, did not wash the bath, and went to bed.

Today is the last day of the validity of the Ukrainian visa, I have submitted the moldovan electronic visa application, if I can get the visa today, then I can buy a bus ticket to Moldova; if I can't get it, then I have to fly to other countries.

So, I set an alarm at ten o'clock, got up groggy and rummaged through the mailbox to see if the visa was approved.

It doesn't matter when I look at it, I have no drowsiness when I board, and I never expected that I was actually refused a visa.

This is the first time I have been denied a visa since I have traveled through so many countries. Be all abroad. Moreover, I can't wait for the appeal, the Ukrainian visa expires, and the first two days to consult the visa extension was not successful, and I have to leave the country today. So, hurriedly burned the Internet to check the ticket.

Whether to go to Transcaucasia or Turkey first is undecided. Finally decided to go to the native chicken first.

During the hesitation, the ticket from Odessa to Ankara rose from 570 to 890.

Hurriedly booked a ticket, Ukrainian Airlines, took off at five o'clock in the afternoon, stopping in Kiev.

As a result, time suddenly became tense, and I packed up my bags in a hurry, as if fleeing, went downstairs, opened the map, called an Uber, and went straight to the airport.

Security check, exit, everything went smoothly, when passing through the control, the inspector at the counter was a young girl dressed in a military uniform, very good-looking, wearing glasses, a face of style, eyes blue enough to remind people of Lake Baikal, smiling and saying something at the same time. I handed over my passport and asked English? She shook her head, said No, simply flipped through her passport, and then stamped it through.

After taking a few steps forward, I couldn't help but sigh, the people in the field of vision were good-looking, and the deep heart was full of happiness.

I'm such a shallow person.

On the plane, there are two flight attendants in the economy class, one is some rich aunt, which is not surprising, Russian, Ukrainian airlines can often see aunt service, I have seen several times, it seems that they do not look at the value; the other surprised me, to be precise, it is amazing to me, it is a delicate and moving girl.

One person seemed to illuminate the entire cabin.

After spending so many days in Ukraine, there are few girls who are as bright and moving as she is.

Every time she appeared, I couldn't help but look up a few times. There is a moment of special regret that I did not stick to the hobby of painting, otherwise, I can use the pen to condense this beauty.

At the same time, he developed unlimited attachment and reluctance for Ukraine.

Not for the sake of the country, but just for these girls.

Such a beautiful person, such a beautiful picture, I am afraid that I will not see it for several years.

alas! With a sigh from me, the plane landed.

Ankara has arrived.

Ankara and Istanbul

Ask a question, what is the capital of Turkey?

I guess a lot of fat people will say Istanbul, Istanbul is indeed the largest and most prosperous city in Turkey, but the capital of Turkey is Ankara.

The relationship between Istanbul and Ankara is a bit like Shanghai and Beijing. The former is the economic center and the latter is the political center. Istanbul, formerly known as Constantinople, was the capital of the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire. So why did the capital move to Ankara in the Republic of Turkey?

It is related to the War of Independence.

As we all know, what is now Turkey was built from the original Ottoman ruins. The Ottomans, once an empire spanning three continents in Europe, Asia and Africa, later became the sick man of West Asia, and after World War I, they were dismembered by the european powers and almost died.

In a desperate situation, Mustafa Kemal led everyone to fight off the French in the south, crushed the Armenians in the east, repelled the Greeks in the west, won the Victory of the War of Independence, and finally successfully saved the last bit of the Ottoman Empire with the Treaty of Lausanne, the Anatolian Peninsula.

This is the Republic of Turkey.

It was during the War of Independence that the capital was moved to Ankara.

The reason is very simple, look at the map to know, there is a strait between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, called the Turkish Strait, geographically believed to be the dividing line between Asia and Europe. The Turkish Strait area is very large, extending from northeast to southwest, and is divided into three parts, if a ship sails from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, it will pass through the Bosphorus Strait at the entrance of the Turkish Strait, through the Turkish Strait in the belly of the Marmara Sea, and finally leave from the Turkish Strait exit Dardanelles Strait.

The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles Strait are collectively known as the Turkish Straits.

Next, let's look closer to the Bosphorus Strait, and there is a city located at the southern exit of this strait, which is Istanbul. Originally the city included only the west bank, but in 1984, Üsküdar on the east bank was incorporated into Istanbul, which became a city that straddles both sides of the river and the two continents of Europe and Asia.

So, the answer is obvious. Back in the days of the Turkish War of Independence, if the capital remained in Istanbul, the British and French fleets could fire in the face at any time, and the war did not need to be fought at all, and directly raised their hands to surrender. With this in mind, Ankara is a great option.

Turkey's topography is relatively regular, generally rising from west to east, coastal plains in the west, and mountainous plateaus in the center and east. Ankara is located on the inland plateau. If you divide the territory of Turkey with 3 × 3 squares, Ankara is the intersection in the upper left corner. In this way, the distance from the sea is opened, and there is a strategic buffer.

Moreover, Ankara has an advantage in being the capital.

After Turkey's independence, Mustafa Kemal reformed with an iron fist, and the reform was to offend the established interest groups. In particular, he wants to secularize Istanbul, a place where traditional religious forces are against the sky. Before Ankara became the capital, it was just a small town with about 50,000 inhabitants. Moving the capital here can eliminate some of the interference factors.

Today, driven by politics, Ankara has become Turkey's second largest city. Looking at the 2020 data, Istanbul has a population of more than 15 million (slightly more than Tianjin), and Ankara has a population of more than 5.6 million (not as many as Zhumadian).

In terms of urban style, Istanbul can be said to be quaint and elegant; Ankara is generally more modern, with relatively few monuments.

2. Entry into Turkey

Everything went smoothly into Turkey, Turkey is an electronic visa, it was done online in advance, and the visa was issued very quickly. When you enter the country, you need to print a copy and take it with you, and hand it over for inspection together with your passport.

After passing through customs, the time was a little late, and I didn't see a telephone card at the airport.

I decided to go to the city and sleep first, and I'll talk about it tomorrow. Anyway, I downloaded an offline map of Ankara before I set off.

I found an ATM at the airport and took 500 LIRA with my UnionPay card.

At the exchange rate at the time, one lira was about equal to two yuan.

500 LIRA is 1,000 bucks. Withdrawal fee of 6TL.

Then found the airport bus, 11 lira to the city. The bus saw the other Chinese. One of the fat guys flew on the same flight as me, also out to play, and flew over from Ukraine; the other two flew from home to work and went here to teach Chinese.

When they mention Ankara, they call it "Ancun", and it is conceivable that Compared with Istanbul, Ankara is more earthy.

When I got off the bus in the city, this fat friend was also casual, more casual than me, and had not booked accommodation so far. I said, then come with me. The hostel I stayed in had a very high rating, 42 LIR per bed, and the price was also wide.

We looked at the offline map and talked as we walked.

We both lament how comfortable and cheerful the days in Ukraine are, and how pleasant the appearance of Ukraine is.

At this time, it is already night, and the streets are still quite lively and crowded.

However, the wind and objects are very different from Ukraine, thinking of Ukraine, the streets seem to be beautiful girls, pleasing to the eye; the streets of Turkey are all grandfathers, the figure of girls is much less, most of the elderly are wrapped in turbans, and most of the young girls are covered with hair. However, very objectively speaking, Turkish girls are indeed not as good looking as Ukrainians.

Fury is far away. In the words of the fat brothers, it's a far cry.

The more this happened, the more we were upset, and only half a day after leaving Ukraine, we were already eager to fly back immediately and get a new visa on arrival.

The so-called is, just turned around, already missed.

We're vulgar.

When I wrote my diary at night, I couldn't help but question myself:

Do you really like to travel, or do you like beautiful women?

3. Booking ban

When I arrived at the hostel, it was actually full. Fat friends did not book, then there is no way. He offered to sleep on the couch, but the hostel front desk said, NO.

Connected to the wifi of the hostel, I helped him find a nearby hotel, the price is OK.

I went with him and helped him cut the price at the front desk. Originally the front desk price was 100 LIra, standard room, I cut him to 90 LIRA.

Hotels in this part of the Greater Middle East can basically bargain, if it is not the peak season, you do not have to book in advance, you can walk in, bargaining is often much cheaper than the website.

Moreover, I went to learn that Turkey banned Booking.

When we go abroad to play, the most commonly used accommodation booking software is Booking (Booking) and The other is Agoda ( Anda ). In 2007, Booking's parent company acquired Agoda, and the two websites are actually one, but they belong to independent brands. It's a bit like the relationship between Ctrip and Qunar.

Bookings generally don't have to pay in advance, but they can be a little more expensive, while Agoda reservations usually pay in advance but are a little cheaper.

Once the platform is large and has a monopoly position, it is easy to make moths. Booking and Agoda often make a leak of passenger information, unfair competition and other news, many people use these two websites to book a hotel after the credit card was stolen, I also encountered once, stolen brush 2000 knives, fortunately in time to call customer service to solve.

As a result, Booking and Agoda are often complained about.

In 2017, Booking was complained by the Turkish Travel Association that it was engaged in unfair competition in hotel marketing, and the court ruled to block Booking in Turkey.

So, until now in 2021, it is not possible to book a room with booking in Turkey.

However, listings in Turkey are still on booking, and they can still be booked abroad.

Also, Booking was banned, but Agoda was still there.

During my travels in Turkey, I always used Agoda.

In addition to this, Turkey banned Wikipedia in April 2017 and did not lift the restriction until January 2020.

Fourth, at night

The hostel's activity room and common kitchen are connected, and it is already midnight, and it is quiet and deserted.

I came over with a notebook to make up for the diary of the previous few days.

Ukraine lived too coolly, staying up all night for days, and the diary was shelved for several days without writing.

You have to make it up in one go.

My bed is an upper bunk, the bottom bunk is a Turkish brother, running from other cities, tomorrow I will fly to China, saying that I will stay in Beijing for nine months, as a foreign teacher, teaching English.

Foreigners from English-speaking countries have come to China to teach English, and I don't know why, many people from Middle Eastern countries have also come to China to become foreign teachers.

Chatted for a while.

I went to bed at two o'clock in the morning.

The next day, I got up around ten o'clock and went to the business hall to get a calling card.

Get ready for your trip to Istanbul.