From Konya to Sivas in Turkey’s Central Anatolia Region
These last couple of weeks took me from Konya to Cappadocia and finally to the company of the German cycling couple, Christoph and Katharina.
Konya is known for being the 13th Century home of Rumi, a poet, scholar and Sufi mystic. Rumi inspired the founding of the Mevlevi order, famous for their unusual form of meditation, commonly referred to as the “whirling dervishes”. This statue at the entrance to Konya city shows the dervishes in their cloaks, spinning in order to reach a state of peace and to be closer to God (Allah). I watched a presentation of the Sema (whirling dervishes) in Istanbul. I would have fallen over after the first two minutes of spinning. These guys went on spinning for almost a full hour. You would definitely reach some kind of elevated state after that!This is the Mevlana Museum (Mevlana means master and is another way refer to Rumi). The museum is a summary of Rumi’s life and about the Mevlevi order. In the foreground is Nuran, a fellow Konya cyclist and excellent guideThis is my lovely Konya host Ebru standing in front of Rumi’s tomb, with the iconic Mevlevi order hat sitting on the coffinIn Konya I was presented with an Atatürk t-shirt. I know a little of his life and history and it seems like he made some impressive decisions for Turkey at the beginning of the 20th century. He is certainly revered by a large number of people across the country; his face is seen in the entrance of most public buildings, schools, hotels and private houses. Interestingly, I appeared in a newspaper article wearing this t-shirt but his face had been blanked out. Atatürk was responsible for making Turkey a secular state and at a time when Turkey is moving to a more conservative Islamic state perhaps there is a fear that the authorities will show less favour to Atatürk, the “father of modern Turkey”. After the sweep of state arrests a few months ago, I imagine that most journalists are watching their step pretty closely.I left Konya to cycle a very flat road to Aksaray. Here I was hosted by the lovely Ezgi. Just as I was leaving, Ezgi and her friend followed me down the stairs with this jar of water. Apparently it is tradition in this area to throw water after the guest as they leave as encouragement for them to come back. I was initially hesitant as I had understood that she meant to throw it over me (not a tempting idea in 4°C) but luckily it is thrown on the road as the guest walks / drives / cycles awayAfter leaving Aksaray to head northeast, the landscape became more and more desert-like.Then out of the desert pops these unexpected tuft landforms! They are known as fairy chimneys and can be seen across the Cappadocia region. Feel free to search for images of the fairy chimneys to find the more entertaining penis shaped ones.Here I am cycling through the Ihlara valley to visit the churches cut into the valley walls. You can just about see the church cave entrance in the distance (if you’re not distracted by my new, very fetching, yellow pannier rain cover)As well as churches and homes cut into valleys around the region, early settlers took to living underground for protection from persecution. (It got me thinking that I could do with some underground networks for cyclists to protect me from the waist-high Turkish sheep dogs)One of the stone doors used to cover a passage in the Derinkuyu underground cityAfter some glorious sunny cycling through the region I reached the central part of Cappadocia just in time to team up with two new cycling friendsThe wonderful German couple, Christoph and Katharina, are cycling across Turkey to Iran. On our first day together we went for a hike. My navigational skills and adamant use of the offline app Maps.Me left much to be desired. I claimed that this was the main walkway through the valley… Needless to say some of the navigational responsibility was taken away from me after squeezing down this very narrow, water cut ravine.Christoph, Katharina and I woke early one morning in Göreme to watch the hot air balloons rise over the valley.A chilly start to the day but very much worth it. It is not often that you see two dozen balloons simultaneously lifting into the air at sunrise.Christoph, Katharina and I then head off east towards Eastern Anatolia, with a few mechanical challenges along our way, of course. All part of the travelling fun. Just need to remember which way up this bike goes again…