Turkey Trip Day 13 - Cappadocia

Wednesday June 27

We spent the night with a village family ... not in a hotel. This is in their brand-new house and our room.  But only one floor is finished yet. We slept pretty good.

One western toilet. 

The kitchen.

One eastern toilet.

The entry to the house.

These fascinated me. They were so gigantic ... and really beautiful.

Breakfast in the 'old' house.

 The poppy seed spread. Actually quite nice.

 Their crop: lentils. We actually see many fields when we drive on.

The family. The old couple with their two sons and their wives. One son had the girl, the other a little son who was 'too lively' for company. He had thrown a chair on Harriet's foot the night before. It had been very interesting to hear about their lives. We asked about how the couples had met, how old they had been etc etc.
I gave each lady one of the tatted ornaments with evil eye beads which I make on the bus rides. Especially the one in the middle really liked it because I saw her stroke it tenderly when we were pulling out.

A lentil field.

We get off the main road to drive to another temple not on our itinerary. Unfortunately we find out later that the only road to it is blocked for repair.

 But we stop to see how the well works.

We visit a mosque where a friend of Aykut's is the Imam. It's just the time for the little boys get their Koran lesson.

The mosque is very special and to learn more you can  click here.

In order to preserve the wooden interior there was a pit in the middle. They would put snow into this pit in the winter to regulate the humidity so the wood would not dry out too much.

The holy place has special blue tiles.  A robber had stolen some on the bottom some time ago and they solved the repair by painting it which is a good job and hardly noticeable.

We sat on the floor here, were allowed to ask any questions and then the Imam gave us a sample of his chanting. He won a special Imam competition winning second best in his district. I closed my eyes and said my own prayer. It was very moving. You can hear some of it here.

 The wooden door carved very delicately. All of it is writing or symbols.

Here are two clocks to remind the Imam when he has to call for prayers. One is digital. He has to call 5 times each day. 6 times in the special holy season. We were woken each day by an Imam 'singing' from the minaret and calling to prayer shortly after 4 am (just before the sun comes up).

Of course there were women selling handmade things when we came out. I bought a pair of knitted slippers. The pattern intrigued me.  They are always so happy when you support them.

Next stop:  Konya Mevlana Mouseloum
also known as Rumi museum.

The water fountain in the middle of the courtyard
to purify yourselves before worship.
Since it is a very holy place, no photos allowed in the mosque.

But since this was also the lodge for the order of the 'whirling dervishes' their rooms on the other side of the court yard were nicely displayed with still lives.

We started in the kitchen area.

All life-size figures wearing the clothes of the order. Later we saw the same clothes at the whirling dervish presentation

Invocation rosary. It is made with 1498 marbles.

We saw a beautiful rainbow while driving along. Since the landscape changed, I could not decide which picture to display. But have you ever seen it like this? It was very strong and even double which the camera didn't catch.

Aykut was so full of knowledge and always explaining things: The three reasons why we come to ....

... Cappadocia

view from our hotel.

 The hotel owner Abdullah in the door way.

Our room. Abdullah is an artist. Every year he invites artists from all over the world to an event in his hotel. It was going on when we where there. Art all over the place.

Dinner.

Dinner














* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

From Aykut's CD:

Day 13 Wednesday 06.27.2012 (Cappadocia)

• Breakfast with the Village Family
• Attempt to visit Eflatunpınarı, Hitite Monument, could not be realized due to the road construction, but stop at a water well on the way
• Eşrefoğlu Mosque visit in Beyşehir, listening call for prayer from the Imam of the mosque (13^th C AD) (Not in the Program. Learning & Discovery)
• Konya Mevlana Mauseloum Visit (Seljuk 13^th C AD)
• Lunch on own in Gülbahçe Restaurant in Konya
• Drive through Cappadocia
• Dinner at the Hotel
• Port talk about the following day’s Program

Overnight at Karlıkevi Hotel, Uçhisar