Weather - Overcast, cool
Accommodation - Dedeman Hotel, Konya
Despite a late night at the traditional dancing demonstration we were up bright and early and on the bus at eight o'clock. The morning was spent travelling from Nevshir via Aksaray to Konya where we will spend one night before moving to the south coast of Turkey.
Last night's outing was a lot of fun and on a number of occasions the dancers had us all up dancing around the large room and then moving outside dancing around a fire.
John, a member of our group, was one of a few chosen from the audience who had to follow the belly dancer. It was very funny. We tried the local drink called Raki which is similar to Ouzo. It is not a drink to our liking. Unfortunately, Brian and Carol had their glasses filled and had to politely drink the contents. Here's Carol pretending to enjoy Raki with Lindsay, Anni, Henk, me, Brian, Carol, Barbara and John.
Today's drive took us along the main old silk road in Turkey through the flat and treeless Konya Plain which is known as the "grain cellar" of Turkey. Sugar beat is Turkey's source of sugar and we saw acres of the root vegetable being harvested with accompanying sugar mills dotted along the way. There were also quite a number of sheep and goat herds being looked after by shepherds riding on donkeys.
Our mid-morning coffee break was outside Turkey's largest and best preserved caravanserai, the Sultanhani Caravanserai, which was built in 1229.
It is an impressive fortress-like structure and very large. Inside the walls was an open courtyard which was used in the summer and covered areas for the winter.
There were also rooms dedicated to kitchens, dining rooms, living and sleeping areas. The caravanserai protected the merchants, travellers and their animals using the silk road and consequently encouraged more to use the route and boost the economy of the region.
Prior to lunch we visited the Mevlana Museum in Konya. It is the mausoleum of Rumi, a Persian Sufi mystic also known as Mevlana who built a peaceful order within the Muslim religion in the 1200's.
Under the striking green tower lies the large sarcophagus of Mevlana. The Whirling Dervishes belong to the Order of the Mevlivi Dervishes and was founded in Konya. Rumi's followers can lose themselves in a trance or meditation and dance like spinning tops for hours. A few nights from now we will be going to a function to watch the Whirling Dervishes and after visiting the museum today we are keen to see it.
Lunch was on a terrace overlooking the museum. We then headed south east of Konya to Catalhoyuk a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the largest excavated Neolithic area and dates back to 7500BC to 5600BC. The archeological excavations have revealed eighteen layers of domestic mud brick buildings.
The site initially drew interest because of the large mound sitting on the flat Konya plain. It was first excavated in 1958. It is estimated that 5000 - 7000 people lived at the community. When we were at Ankara's Museum of Anatolian Civilisation a couple of days ago we saw many of the artefacts that have been uncovered at the site. It was good to to see the actual site from where the artefacts came.
We headed out for dinner at seven o'clock and Funda took us to a local restaurant which specialises in pide which is a very thin flat bread with a meat topping. The pide was over a metre long and about five centremetres wide and came to the table on long slim trays. It was very tasty.
Our hotel is in the centre of Konya and we have extensive views of the city as we are on the fourteenth floor.
No comments:
Post a Comment