YHT to Ankara

Today is a travel day … one that has already taken us from Eskişehir to Ankara, the capital of Turkey. Both of these cities are in the Central Region. The next leg will take us to Gaziantep in Southeast Turkey. Why detour to Ankara and not go directly to Gaziantep? Because there is no air service in Eskişehir, and none of us wanted to do a 9+ hour bus ride … the only way to travel to Gaziantep from there … short of renting a car.

Our travel schedule was a relaxed one that allowed us to re-pack our bags this morning, chill for a while at Işıl’s, and then have pide (Turkish pizza, if you will) for lunch at Konyalı, a place that specializes in this traditional dish.

I’ve taken many train trips on the sleeper train between Ankara and İzmir as it was the most economic way to travel when I was going to university. Today’s ride on the 2:30p departure of the YHT (Yüksek Hızlı Tren = fast train) was a first for me.

Our seats in the business class car were comfortable … even without the snack service that’s been suspended due to COVID-19. The ride took just under two hours and the train made only two stops before pulling into the train station in Ankara. No delays due to sharing of train tracks as is often the case with trains running on the regular tracks.

We were planning to take the HAVAŞ shuttle bus to the airport, but opted to take a taxi instead when we found out that the bus stop had been moved to the old train station … not very convenient to walk to from where we detrained from the YHT.

With surprisingly little traffic on the roads, we made it to the airport in about ½ hour. Along the way, I kept my eyes open for familiar landmarks, but saw none. In fact, the city has grown such that I could barely recognize it from when I used to live in Ankara during my university years in the late 1970s.

We’re now at the food court at Esenboğa Airport (ESB) killing time with food and beverages until it’s time to go through the security checkpoint to go to our gate for the flight to Gaziantep (GZT). Our travel day thus far has been a relaxing one … fingers crossed the next leg will similarly be easy peasy.Read more