KONYA
Rumi's Shrine
Konya is an ancient city, populated as far back as the Hittites, known as Iconium during the Roman Empire. Today it’s a conservative Muslim city best known for its connection to Mevlâna Rumi.
Rumi was the 13th century Persian poet and Islamic mystic whose followers were known in the West as the Whirling Dervishes. His green-tiled mausoleum is the most famous building in Konya, and the former madrassa is now a museum about Rumi’s life. His shrine is a popular pilgrimage place.
Museum, formerly the Madrassa
Our Hotel in Konya
For our one night in Konya we stayed at Konya'daki Selçuk Otel, a modern business hotel in walking distance of the city park and dozens of restaurants.
www.otelselcuk.com.tr/semsi-tebrizi.html
Tour Day 8: Konya and Antalya
​
We started our morning at Konya’s Grand Bazaar — like a giant food market and a Walmart in an Octoberfest tent. Taylan sent us on a mission here: Buy something for your tour buddy and don’t spend more than 6 Turkish lira, about one USD. And it can’t be socks or food!
The foods were in really beautiful displays!
Konya's
Grand Bazaar
Tour buddies are a Rick Steves tour institution to eliminate endless head-counting. At our first group meeting we picked somebody, and not the person we were traveling with, to be our buddy. This simple idea works amazingly well. Before the bus pulls out, we make eye contact or wave to our buddy, and if nobody sends up an alarm, we are all accounted for.
Inside the bazaar it was a challenge to wander through rows and rows of clothes, household objects, and hardware, and find something that was a good fit for your buddy. Mine was a quilter, so I wanted to buy her a piece of cloth. With my two words of Turkish, the biggest challenge was explaining to the shopkeeper that I only wanted a piece costing 6 lira. Ten minutes later, I had 1/2 yard of fabric, and the seller had my 6 lira, though he was clearly puzzled about what I was going to make with such a small piece of fabric.
Back on the bus, we presented our buddy gifts one at a time. Lots of creativity, and lots of fun, but Taylan has now added spoons to the list of “can’t buys.”
There were many small stores outside the Bazaar. These were simit bakers. Simit are Turkish bagels, crunchy rounds of bread covered with sesame seeds, often sold by street vendors. A smaller version sometimes appeared on our breakfasts, to be eaten with something sweet and gooey.
For the next five hours, we crossed the Taurus Mountains, driving south to Antalya, with a couple of breaks at good truck stops.
I was concerned that bus + curvy mountain roads might be a disastrous combination, but it was actually a nice drive with new and different scenery.
