Sunday in Konya

Sunday is not a day of rest for the women folk in rural Turkey. So many were hard at work in the fields as we were driving this morning.   

Even on a Sunday

At one stop we came across a lovely old man collecting fresh mountain spring water from a community well beside the road using his donkeys as transport. This is likely his only source of drinking water.  

Old man and his donkeys

He was happy for us to take a photo before he headed off on his rustic route, back home into the hills.

Rickety but roadworthy

We drove into Konya, a heavily populated city, but very windy today, and coated in a pall of dust.  Practically every road, in and out of the city, is being rebuilt. The work is phenomenal and extensive, but it is creating this heavy layer of dust hanging in the air that you can taste on your tongue.   Plastic bags and paper litter from the sides of roads were being lifted by the wind until they were hooked onto fences around the city.  Not at all appealing.  It gave the city a third world aspect, and litter is something the Turks really have to begin to deal with, as they are certainly not the world’s best at picking up their trash and roadside rubbish.  


The further in to the city we went Konya revealed itself more as a city of parks and mosques.  There are mosques on practically every block: some of them very beautiful.  Which is understandable, as this city, once the capital of the Sultanhate of Rum, is still the heart of conservative Sufiism.  This is where the Whirling Dervish religion had its roots.  The founder, Rumi, buried here, is as revered today as he was back in the 13th century when he became the leading light of the city with his poetry and religious philosophy.

Minarets all over the skyline

Along with thousands of others, mainly Turkish visitors, we visited the tomb of Rumi in his elaborate mausoleum.  His body lies under a green dome, and is covered in rich brocade decorated in gold thread. Mausoleums for his father and other family members surround him and various spaces contain many elaborate gifts from various visiting Sultans throughout the ages.

 

Rumi's elaborate mausoleum.
His headpiece on the brocade. 

We visited the neighbouring lodge for Rumi’s apostolate, the Whirling Dervishes, which is now a museum of their life and times containing Dervish prayer rugs, musical instruments, clothes and gilded books of poetry and prayer, some in the most exquisite calligraphy. 

Practicing the sema,  the trance dance

The Matbah, or the kitchen, was the centre of the lodge, and where their food preparation and training took place.  New candidates to the Dervish order would spend three days, here, on a rug, observing the efforts that went on in the Matbah in order to decide if they really wanted to continue their vocation.  If they were successful, they then spent a further 1001 days in training to become a Dervish.  

Dining at the lodge

They lived and died within the confines of the Dervish rule.  Their small cells, sometimes shared two apiece, surrounded the courtyard and had floor kilims and sofa beds for sleeping, thinking, studying, praying and storage.  

Praying using large round beads in his cell

There were different duties as they progressed through the ranks of the order.  One of the lodge members was in charge of this lovely velvet purse embellished with gold and pearls holding the key to the gates of the tomb of Rumi.  This he would wear round his neck on special religious holidays and Fridays. 

Key to the tomb gates is in the purse

   In death, the Dervish were buried in the nearby cemetery, close to Rumi.

Dervish cemetery

The only hill in town is a massive artificial mound specially constructed during the Selçuk period so that the Selçuk nobles might build their homes high and look down upon their city.  Today was a Sunday and the park and streets of the downtown were filled with crowds of people, hundreds upon hundreds, walking, sitting on the grass, visiting the mosques, picnicking, all very provincial still, all with their backs to the wind.

Crowds of traditionally dressed visitors everywhere

We treated ourselves to lunch at the Konak Konya, a renowned restaurant that has been written up in many international gourmet magazines as being one of the best in the region, its service second to none.   We could only manage two courses, as it was all so filling,  the first being their famed soups.   I tried their traditional yoghurt soup made with yoghurt, flour, rice, chickpea and mint, which had fried butter drizzled over the top. The others ordered the gombo, or wedding  soup, that looked like a spicy tomato soup with dried gombos added, which we have not seen or heard of before. These gumbos were shaped like tiny gum nuts, but had the texture of soft lentils, and were cooked with mince, onion and butter.  

Gourmet soups

We then had an assortment of roasted lamb with aubergine, another lamb dish with roasted bread chunks, used often in peasant cuisine,  and whole spicy roasted onions and  peppers and tomatoes for a salad.  No wine, of course, as Konya is a dry town and no alcohol is served.  Everything was delicious and they looked after us so well and all for the princely sum of $AUD8 per person.  Extraordinary.  

Delicious mains

We spent much of the afternoon in the hill park with more crowds of people visiting the Alaeddin Mosque, another Selçuk mosque featuring wooden poles, and we are becoming quite a fan of the wood and stone combination of this Selçuk architecture.   

Alaeddin Mosque

This mosque is called the Throne of the Gods, as many important Selçuk rulers have been buried here through the ages.  

Amazing number of people just out and about today: despite the wind which has been constant.  

Many rulers are buried here

oooOOOooo

High pastures and water reeds

Today, we headed north over the chain of Taurus mountains that must have been formed with much violence, as the limestone has been pushed up, angled  and sheered off by a massive force.  The roads through the mountains, again, are beautifully engineered, wide and scenic clothed  in fir and pine forests.  

Taurus mountains 

We see goat and sheep herds as we gain higher ground and don’t take too much notice until we pass a small cluster of tents and realise that these have to belong to traditional yöreks, mountain nomads, moving their animals up  from the hot coastal plains to their cool mountain pastures for the summer.

Yörek nomad encampment

Their traditional tents have waterproof coatings these days, and while their clusters look something like gypsies they are not classified as such: they are the remnants of a proud and independent people who were among the early users of Anatolian land, the Turkmen from Central Asia.  In recent decades the Turkish government has attempted a settlement program for the yöreks,  offering them free land, and that has enticed many away from their traditional life style as they take up more permanent homes and jobs;  so to see such a group these days is becoming increasingly rare.  We were sorry we were not closer that we might chat. 

We lunch in the completely non-touristy town of Seydişehir and are overwhelmed, again, at the natural generosity and hospitality of these regional folk.   They bend over backwards to make sure we are well fed and content.  They want nothing more than that.  The prices, too, relative to the more touristy coast, are ridiculously cheap.   We have a perfectly fresh, delicious, and huge lunch, including çay, for $AUD3 each.  We doubt we could have bought the ingredients for that.  Again, the wait staff and the chef all want to be in a photo with us, and they love seeing the finished product in the camera viewer.   We are so glad to be back among them.


Our intention coming this way is to see one of the rarest mosques in Turkey, which is at Beyşehir.  We are the only non Turks there, but what an extraordinary site.  The Eşrefoğlu Camii was built, , around 1298, by one of the Emir’s during the tail end of the Sultanate of Rum period, when it held sway over Anatolia, but before the Ottomans took hold.  So, the mosque is Selçuk in design, which you notice as soon as you enter the portal with its glorious arch, so elaborate and intricate.

Exquisite Selçuk portal arch

Inside is a forest of thick wooden poles on stone pillars supporting a flat wooden roof.  Not a single dome in sight.  Though there is an oculus, glazed these days, which operates like a sun lantern in the centre of the roof.  Before it was covered the rain would have been collected in the square well beneath, and drained away.  It really is very unusual for us to see a mosque like this one.

Rare wooden pole mosque ceiling 

The carved work on the wooden columns and flat celling is breathtaking: highly patterned and rich in red colouring.  The craftsmen must have been artisans.  How amazing that it has not suffered from fire in all this time.  

Such detailed hand carved and painted work 

And the Mihrab, which points out the direction of Mecca, is rich in intricate turquoise tile work and a stunning artwork in its own right. 

Turquoise Mihrab

Many of the original religious buildings that surround the mosque are still there.  The Emir’s tomb is visible from inside the inner mosque, while outside you see the elegant stone base of his türbe, with its conical roof: minimalist and starkly beautiful.

Emir's elegant tomb

The original domed Cloth Trading hall still survives, tho’ it has recently been reconstructed. And so they traded: silk, from points along the silk route; cotton from India.  The caravanserai on their camels would have come calling with all rolls and rolls of exquisite fabrics.  Magic times.

Caravanserai market for silks and fine cottons

The complex is so ancient and so beautiful that we’re not surprised to learn it is on the tentative list to be considered for inscription as a UNESCO site.  So much of Turkey is so rare and precious.  So much to care for, for posterity.  It is a huge responsibility for such a small country.

Beautiful mosque portico

The Mosque sits in a crumbling village on Lake Beyşehir where people go about their lives as they have always done. Old ladies hawk their home made knitted dolls at the mosque entrance as they, and their ancestors before them, have no doubt done for centuries.  They bossily come over and reshape our head scarves to make sure we are appropriately garbed; “Turkish style”,  they demand.  Then grin toothily, and want a photo.  The men find a nearby shaded cafe, and spend their days, as ever, playing games and talking among themselves.  Maybe their womenfolk make so much from hawking that they don’t need to do anything else.  But we are totally flummoxed by all these menfolk in all these towns all over Turkey who spend their days playing cards, or gambling.  Mayhap they make a living from gambling?  We have no clue how food lands on their tables.

Tho' this man sits alone

Lake Beyşehir, is so large and beautiful it feels like an inland sea.

Beautiful spot where we camp for the night

We find a camping spot in a hotel grounds on the waterfront with a view of the night birds coming in for a quick spritz and a drink before roosting.  

Harvesting water reed

One of the village men is harvesting water reed in front of our camper and attempting to make a living doing so, it seems.    Turkish reed is much sought after in the UK as thatching material as it comes from such pure and unpolluted waters -- there is little fertiliser used here --  making it strong and undamaged. Its long inner reed is firm and hollow and when clumped together, gives exceptional waterproofing protection, and is highly prized.

One of the staff, attempting to catch our dinner

We eat grilled fresh lake fish with wine for dinner, on a white linen table cloth, with about three hovering attendants who cannot spoil us enough.

Dinner from the lake

As we look out over the balcony and take photos as the sun slowly sets the sky is striped with lines of white flume from the constant air traffic heading south to the Antalya airport.

And though we loved Antalya, we could not be happier.

Planes heading to Antalya

ooo000ooo

Dark side of beauty

We rode the historic ‘nostalgic’ tram from the archeological museum into Antalya.  These old trams came from Hamburg, we heard, so are well recycled and effective, taking folk right through the main tourist areas of Antalya, and back.

Recycled effective trams

The old and new city spreads around a gorgeous horseshoe bay with turquoise beaches below, and well kept green parks above.  A more delightful spot on the southern Mediterranean coast for rest and relaxation it would be hard to find.  And a lot of people seem to know this, as, amazingly, it is the third most visited city in the world, given its international arrival’s numbers, just behind Paris and London in its stats, and it has even been creeping up on them for the last few years, too.  Not surprising given the number of English and German folk who own apartments, or second homes, along Antalya’s coasts, too, and visit these several times each year.  

Antalya’s old quarter, the Kaleiçi, is tucked behind the remnants of decayed city walls, the oldest remains in the city.  One route into the ancient city is via Hadrian’s Gate, the very beautiful marble arches through which Hadrian himself rode; as did the Queen of Sheba, it is said, on her way to visit King Solomon.  We walked in their footsteps, and, literally, felt the shivers.   

Old quarter, the Kaleiçi

The Kaleiçi is all narrow streets, ancient mosques, delicate minarets and blocky towers, with lovely old traditional Ottoman houses converted into shops, pansiyons, and boutique hotels with courtyards so charmingly arrayed they are hard to pass without a photo stop.

Charming narrow streets

Here, we visited an ethnographic museum that gave us an insight into how wealthy Antalyans lived a century or two ago.  Ottoman houses had their functional activities on the ground floor: the kitchen, oven and bathroom were below, along with the stable and shed for straw.  The cellar and pantry were often a little higher, on an intervening level; while the upper level was the typical living area, where rooms of a good size were set around an entry called a sofa.

Upper levels overhanging courtyard

Rooms were multi-purpose and any of them could be used as a dining, living or bedroom: each with low set divans around the walls useful for entertaining, or for storage.  Bed coverlets were stored, along with sofa covers, rugs and cushions; and there were shelves for glassware and pottery.

Multi-use rooms

Their courtyard floors were often decorated with stones arrayed in beautiful and decorative patterns;  then watered regularly, to keep the stones chilled, and the home cool.   

Stones arrayed and water chilled for cooling

Many of the courtyard still had pretty wells.  Some of them in carved marble and stone: works of art in their own right.  

Carved marble walls 

A wizened old man invited us inside a traditional Ottoman hamam, or Turkish bath, for a peek.  It featured ancient wooden cabines for changing before you headed off for a spell in the steam room, followed by the peeling, lathering and massage routines.

Traditional cabines 

Artisan spice sellers set up stalls of chilli, peppers and paprika — the flavours of Turkey — into decorative spice pyramids with just a quick flick of the wrist using a flat trowel.  All very enticing.    

Spices pyramids, the colour of Turkey

And there were shoe shine men up and down the alleys with golden accoutrements: so different: so eastern.  All of which makes it all feel so very exotic.  

Shoeshine equipment decked in gold

We passed the old Korkut mosque which sits atop the ruins of an ancient basilica: its stone lintel and windows exquisite still, even in ruins.    

Decorative lintel of old mosque

Then walked through the peaceful Karaalıoğlu Park with its attractive sculptures and blue Mediterranean views. 

Elegant statue guarding the Mediterranean

We found our way back to where the new town meets the old; where decorated horses patiently stand ready to carry tourists wherever they want to go.

Decked out for tourists

Which was just as well, as the trams are not running this afternoon.  

It is May Day, and in remembrance of the massacre at Taksim Square in 1977, left wing political groups have gathered in their thousands, blocking the roads, bearing banners, and shouting protests.

Protesting the tragedy

The Jandarma, again, are in disarray.  They seem to have few coping skills for solving such problems, and in the main, just let the crowd do its own thing, while the traffic all over this part of town comes to a complete standstill.  

The crowd controlling their own protest

We walk in the thick of it, attempting to head back to the Archeological Museum, where we spend the remainder of the afternoon admiring the astonishing pieces there.  

Ancient Roman bust

These are mainly Roman remains from the ancient site of Perge, just up the road —  busts, statues, tombs, columns and steles, mostly from the 2nd and 3rd century.  So many pieces, that if put together again, they would likely make a nearly complete Roman city.  Perge must have been as stunning as Ephesus in its day.    

This sarcophagus was stolen from Perge.
Its bits were found in Istanbul

We are enchanted by the ethnographic section in the museum and spend much time there.  There is and Ottoman display with an  Ottoman nomadic tent set up, to show how nomadic shepherds lived.  And as some still do, even today, further east from here; but seasonally, now, I believe.    But, we have to give the eastern parts of Turkey a miss this time as there has been trouble brewing along the border with Syria and we have been advised it is not wise.

Nomadic tent 

So, north and inland we will head, and leave our lovely coastal Lycian kingdoms behind.

These stele are Lycian.  Minimalist.  Gorgeous.  

ooo000ooo

Though, as at Kaş, it is not all paradise on this Antalya coast.    We camped close to Side, another major Roman site with great ruins, which has, in recent years, been turned into a travesty of its former self in order to attract foreign holiday makers and investors.  

And it is not just Side.  Much of the Mediterranean coast of Turkey has similarly suffered.  

Over the last ten years package holiday hotels and apartments for the Germans, Dutch, and British  have sprung up like jumping beans.  As fast as one hotel is freshly completed, last years’ older model is abandoned, no longer sought after, and ready to become rubble.  This year’s newer Disneyland-themed model often sits beside fields still scarred with the rubble and steel from its construction: barely complete.    The roads around these sites — labelled especially as tourist sites — ugh! — are dusty, ugly, and chock full of tourists, walking the street frontages lined with merchants in their makeshift market stalls selling Geniune Fake watches and designer labelled gear.

A la Disneyland 

Entire shopping centres, too, have been constructed with nary a sign in Turkish.  Shops label their goods and trade in Euro.  Store signs are either in English or German.  

Shop signs in German

One thing for certain, in two thousand years time, it is hardly likely that archeologists are going to bother lifting a single stone to see what remains lie beneath.

It is dire. 

Even the boats are Disney themed

ooo000ooo

Çiğköfte and charık

We were hunting coffee at Kumluca,  tho’ without success, when we noticed activity beyond the norm.  There looked to be some sort of ‘cultural do’ happening in town, as crowds were gathering in the city park, so in we wandered for a peek, and ended up buying the most delicious lunch, from some amusing vendors who insisted on posing to have their photos taken.  

We tried our first vegan çiğköfte here, which is usually made with raw meat like a steak tartare, but ours, we think, was made using walnuts, bulgur, onions, tomato, hot paprika and other spices. A huge platter of the çiğköfte was prepared, then small bits were pressed into rippled meze shapes by squeezing it tightly through the fingers to form a mouthful. To eat each piece you wrapped it in a lettuce leaf and popped it all into your mouth. This is so spicy and delectable we will have to try making this at home, as an appetiser.

Çiğköfte

We ate delicious smoked, barbecued chicken prepared on the spit,  followed by some wicked honey laden pastries and cakes sold at another stall. 

Posing with the knife

The honey in Turkey is divine; so light and lovely, not at all heavy, or sickly sweat, or syrupy, as it can be elsewhere. 

Bite and the honey just squirts onto your tongue

Lo and behold, the Beledeyise, the local council, along with the Jandarma, the police, then attempted to organise a parade: a very very long parade, which eventually went right through the main street of town when it eventually got moving.  Hours later, this caused chaos when we were trying to drive out of town with all the accumulated traffic that came to watch, but we eventually found a way through the back streets and byways.  

The festival, we think, was the annual Agricultural and Greenhouse Festival.  Something like the Harvest Festival in England. It was a worrying time for some folk who took out their beads.  

Worrying his beads

Agricultural workers were walking bedecked with their tools, and leading their work animals, including decorated camels, packed mules, tasselled horses, sheep and goats.  Children, wives and grandmas were decked out in the finery and Turkish band music drowned out the megaphoned Adhan.  

Lots of folk were in traditional clothing.  

Agricultural worker with his herd

We particularly loved the traditional Ottoman shoes, called charik, that many of the men in the parade were wearing.  

Charık shoes

These are only made in Turkey.  Different layers of the soles and uppers are made from oxen, calf and goat leather, while the insoles are of downy sheepskin.  The leathers are soaked for 15 to 30 days to be softened, and to remove the hair, then  rubbed with wool to oil the hide before it is cut.  The yarns to join the cut pieces together are made by hand from pure spun cotton, then waxed,  so they last and are waterproof.  

Everything is completely natural, including the dyes.  Red dyes are from pomegranate, black from the soil, yellow from walnut, green from a mixture of salt and the roots of olive trees, purple and blue from sea sand and crushed glass beads.  

Fair day in Kumluca was a fun day for all. 

They look comfy

oooOOOooo