Hello Konya...

Day 10, September 30, 2007 - Hello Konya

We spent the morning in Guzelyurt soaking up the local culture by spending time at a local mosque speaking with an Imam. The rest of the day was a spent making our way to Konya. We stopped at a Carravanserai on the Old Silk Road.

We arrived in the city around 4pm and went directly to the Mevlana Museum. This museum is dedicated to Rumi the founding father of the Whirling Dervishes. It was an interesting place. Besides being a mosque and the final resting place of Rumi there were many Korans on display and to see the detail in these books were amazing.

We stayed in a rather “generic” business type hotel in the down town Konya area. The name of the hotel is Selcuk Hotel (http://www.otelselcuk.com.tr/). It was a clean basic room and there was free internet in the lobby.

One interesting thing about this night Konya. There was a big event at the local stadium. There was something like 200+ dervishes that were set to whirl in honor of Rumi’s 800 year birthday (or anniversary, I wasn’t sure which). The stadium was so crowded they had to close the doors and stop letting people in. It was a rather intense event.

Day 11, October 1, 2007 – Cross the Tauras Mountains and Hello to the Mediterranean

Today was another long day on the road. We left Konya at 9am and drove for a few hours until we stopped at a rest area that had an interesting cave and restaurant (how convenient!). We decided to go into the cave and for 5 lire a guide will take you through; the walk lasts about an hour. It was pretty enjoyable. Water flows in the cave and formed limestone formations.


After walking through the cave it was time for lunch and we had a great lamb shish and some terrific Turkish yogurt and honey. Once we were full from lunch we hit the road again and headed over the Tauras Mountains towards the Mediterranean.




Our destination was the city of Antalya. We stayed in a small pension called Ninova Pension (www.ninova-pension.com) and it is located in the old town area not far from Hadrian’s Gate. It was a very convenient location and has a beautiful garden in the rear where breakfast is served.

Once we were settled in we decided to walk down to the harbor area and find a seafood restaurant. We had dinner at Ekici Restaurant which is directly on the harbor. We picked out our own fish right from the counter and had it prepared perfectly. It was served simply with a potato and some greens. It was a great meal and the harbor atmosphere certainly added to the feeling of “ahhh…vacation”. The meal with water and beer was 60 Lire.

Day 12, October 2, 2007 – A day on the Mediterranean

Today was such a great day. We left Antalya in the morning and went to a marina in Kemer, about an hour away from Antalya, and boarded our private gullet cruise. We could not have asked for a better day, the sun was shining and there was a slight breeze.

Once we boarded the boat and left the harbor we cruised along the coast for about half an hour we dropped anchor in a small cove and jumped in for a swim. The water was absolutely perfect! Clear and warm…what a great way to spend the day! After our dip in the Med we climbed back onboard and went a little further to find another cove to stop for another swim and lunch.

For lunch we had great fish, a variety of salads, bread and drinks…it couldn’t have been better! We cruised back to the marina and headed back to Antalya with just enough time to go to the Turkish Bath. What a fun experience. The name of the bath was Tarihi Balik Pazari Hamami. We had such a good time, there were about 10 women (all Americans) and we went for the “whole she-bang” (rubbed and scrubbed as we like to call it)…bath, wash, shampoo, and massage. For all services the cost was 35 Lire. If you decide to do this I highly recommend purchasing your own bath mit for 3 Lire. When it’s your turn to be rubbed, give the attendant your mit, otherwise she will use the mit she has and that one has been used on all the “others” who didn’t buy their own mit. I have to say that I would go to a Turkish bath again with pleasure!

After the bath we glided back to the pension and had dinner in the garden. This dinner had to be pre-arranged in the morning so the owner knew how many people to cook for and it was excellent.

Day 13, October 3, 2007 – A Local Market Adventure and Pammukale

Today was another long driving day however we stop at a local market (I can’t remember the name of the town!) to stock up on supplies for a picnic lunch. We had so much fun at the market trying to communicate what we wanted from the vendors, but eventually we got what we wanted. We had lots of food…bread, goat cheese, tomatoes, olives, peaches, bananas, tahini bread, cherry and peach juice and roasted chicken.

Scenes from market shopping. The vendors were so nice they let Kathi take a picture!

Then we were off to a very picturesque crater lake. The water was a beautiful color blue and the beach was white. We spent an relaxing lunch here and then it was back on the road to Pamukkale.

We spent several hours exploring the ruins at Pamukkale. The Heirapolis there is in wonderful condition. And the water from the springs runs down the mountain forming pale blue pools of water flowing down travertine terraces. It was really quite a site.

The calcified cliffs at Pamukkale...