Turkey - Part 8 - Having a Whirl
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
After leaving the caves we continued north with wide open landscapes and small towns with a very different feel to the coast. Having missed the almond blossom in Dacta, it was nice to see it in full bloom here. With daylight fading we drove up a steep narrow road to the Alahan Monastery which stands at 4,000 ft with great views down into the valley. We had our fingers crossed we'd be allowed to park in the car park by the ruins, but it was deserted when we arrived so we parked up in a sheltered position to sit out the forecasted rain. The car park area was very small and narrow so Colin had to do a 6 point maneuver to make sure we were as far away from the edge as possible.
We had a walk around the site in the morning which is a collection of 5th Century structures and caves where the monks lived. There was no-one else around and as always, visitors are given very little information on what they are looking at and its significance.
We continued on in very murky weather. A snow plough drove past and we both did a double take, until we realised there was snow at the side of the road.
We arrived in Konya late morning. Konya, one of Turkeys oldest continuously inhabited cities (over 5,000 years), is known as one of Turkeys most religiously conservative cities, with many religious sites and home to the Whirling Dervishes who are disciples of Sufism. This is a spiritual strand within Islamic faith focusing on an inner pure path to be close to God rather than the external and legal practices practiced in other parts of Islam. It was strangely quiet in the city, but we remembered it was the last few days of Ramadan, and the people in Konya must practice their religion more strictly than in the coastal tourist towns we had been used to.
We visited the Mevlana museum with its striking blue dome, where the tomb of the Sufi mystic and poet Rumi is housed and is an important pilgrimage site. While we tried to read the information boards in the museum, it was going over my head somewhat.
We struggled to find anywhere open in town to get a coffee and a snack, and had a wander around the busy shopping streets. We were a amused to see posters declaring Konya is the European (?) Capital of cycling with over 680km of cycling lanes. We think the Netherlands may have something to say about that!
We were parked near a cultural centre which advertised Whirling Dervish shows every evening, so we bought tickets for that evenings show. We walked back into town to get dinner, as Konya has some dishes unique to this area we were keen to try, but we were shocked at how busy everything had become early evening as the locals were breaking their fast for the evening. The square outside the Mevlana museum had mats laid out in preparation for food being handed out, and all the restaurants were rammed with families having set Ramadam meals. The only place we could get food in was a fast food outlet, where we had not very tasty chicken wraps.
The Whirling Dervish show started at 8 pm, and at 7.55 we were the only people waiting to go in. Thankfully a few others arrived, but there can't have been more than 20 of us.
We weren't sure what to expect, but it was a very relaxing hour watching the group go through their rituals. There were screens explaining the meaning of their actions, but we can't say we were any the clearer at the end of it. My foremost thought through it all was 'how do they not fall over after spinning around with their eyes closed for long periods?'
They do look very noble throughout their performance unlike certain other smirking eejits....
The following day we made tracks to Goreme in Cappadocia with a break in the journey at Sultanhani which has a beautiful well preserved Silk Road caravanserai built in 1229. These caravanerais provided food, drink and accommodation free of charge for up to three days and there were workshops, meeting rooms, a medical room and a hamman in the side rooms. They took in locals and foreigners regardless of ethnicity. There are around 100 of such caravanserais still existing across Turkey today that had served on the Silk Road which was the main trading route between China and Europe for transporting all sorts from silk, porcelain, spices and precious stones to knowledge transfer.
The forecast in Goreme was still looking good for the next two days, and we had booked a balloon flight for the following day in the anticipation that it would be busy with all flights having been cancelled due to the weather for the previous few days, so Cappadocia Here We Come.....
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