http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Middle East , Turkey , Central Anatolia , Konya en-us Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:54:04 +0000 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 14:54:04 +0000 Not too much has transpired between this Friday and last besides work. I did want to post some more pictures from the site and from last Friday's carpet shopping. A exciting thing for me but maybe not as much for most of my audience on here was that I got the opportunity to learn to excavate an infant burial out of one section of our trench this past week. It was fun but difficult since it was s http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-429923.html On Sunday night we got another nice evening of turkish culture with a performance of the whirling dervishes on our terrace. The whirling dervishes are actually the mevlevi order and this religious order was founded in konya during the 13 century. The whirling is a form of dhikr remembrance of God. Dervish is a common term for an initiate of the Sufi the order's path the whirling itself is kn http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-428124.html I made it to the site very late last night. I have very limited internet access here and will be doing updates and stuff on Fridays. We start work tomorrow http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-424991.html I knew nothing about Sufism till a few months before this trip. The mystique of the Whirling Dervishes held nothing for me. I may have read even watched docufilms about them but none registered. It didn't help that the drive from Denizli to Konya took all of 6 hours across plains that were extremely flat and featureless. The only excitement was offered by a brief pitstop in Dinar's Apamelo http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-398076.html MerhabaHello Everyone I am alive and I'm really sorry I haven't been able to write sooner I have my entries pretty much typed out but I have to f305gure out what's going on with my computer. Look out for my backed up blogs either tonight or tomorrow.Love you allGoule Goule http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-397473.html Auch dieser Tag fing wieder sehr gut an. Alle sind frueh aufgestanden und machten ihre Erledigungen. Joschka lie sich in einem der lustigen und bdquogarantiert verkehrssicherenldquo Taxis durch die Stadt chauffieren um uns einen neuen Stossdaempfer zu besorgen. Irgendetwas was nach Stossdaempfer aussah und auch momentan seinen Dienst als solchen erfllt konnte er dann auch besorgen. Waehrend http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-324232.html After the Dervsh Shrine we headed out into the city. We had about 2 hours to explore the covered bazaar a sort of traditional local market which still exists in most Turkish cities. I needed to buy glue because some of the decorations had fallen off of Silmarien's doll and tape and scissors for the scrapbook our small scissors made it through US security but were confiscated in France. http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-310054.html We stopped here briefly on our way to Konya. Just the four of us walked over the the Caravan Serai the others stayed for drinks and postcards. The building dates from before the Ottomans the walls are plain but the doorway is very ornate. Inside there is an outer unroofed section used in the summer and an inner roofed section used in the winter and a small mosque between them. It was http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-310048.html So now we are in a town called Pamukkale. We are only here for a night and then we are heading for Cappadoccia early tomorrow morning. But yesterday we went to a few more ancient ruins... the ones Priene Didyma and Miletus. Those were all really cool especially Didyma because there were huge pillars and they were all standing. It reminded me a lot of the Temple of Karnak in Egypt. We ate at a l http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-265733.html Travels through Turkey continue as I am currently making my way east from the coast of the Aegean and Mediterranean area. Since I left Istanbul the first stop was the ancient city of Pergamon which once boasted one of the largest libraries next to Alexandria until it was moved to Ephesus. I have seen more Roman era ruins since entering Turkey than Hellenistic sites. At least one exception howe http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-265729.html December 5 7 2006TuesdayWe arrived at the Konya bus station approximately 15 kilometers outside of the city center after dark and apparently in the midst of rush hour. Completely clueless we followed the crowds from the bus station to the city tram line. Wedging our voluminous bags into crowded public transportation has become one of the most enjoyable aspects of our trip and this was no ex http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-204728.html Jamil. Hi it's me Jamil. We are in Alanya which is a big city in Turkey. They have good food here like doner kebab and cheeseburgers and the beach is nice because of the blue water. Yesterday we went to Side a small town on the mediterranean where the beach is not as pretty as Alanya but they have a lot of ruins from the Roman period about 2000 years ago. They had a hospital a library and a http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-179125.html The overnight bus from Istanbul was smooth sailing. I had heard of the good reputation of turkish bus companies and they certainly lived up to my expectations. Quality buses no hassle. I'd even say they're a bit boring. Anyway I got in Selcuk in early morning and quickly found my way to an ANZ hostel the first one I stumbled upon. I got a dorm bed for a good price after only a little bargaining http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-114705.html Another early morninghellip.another buffet breakfast Today we had a long drive across Turkey. We traveled for 12 hours. We had an interesting stop at Konya which is a city that has a lot of Middle Eastern investment. It is a very conservative place and it has the museum of the Whirling Dervishes This is an Islamic sect with a very interesting history.We arrived in Pamukkale quite late. The hot http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-58149.html Det r nr jag kommer till Konya som jag bestmmer mig fr att jag befinner mig i mellanstern. Turkiet gr ju att placera bde i Europa och Asien ocks men nu KNNS det mer som om jag har passerat en annan grns. Konya ligger nstan mitt i landet och hr till de mest religisa stderna i Turkiet prglat av muslimsk mysticism och en sufiorden mest knd fr munkarnas ihllande snurrande dans de http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-55544.html Ett tag tnkte jag att jag inte skulle skriva om det som retar mig mest. Fast nr den femtioelfte fraren mellan Denizli och Konya slnger ut tv colaburkar i vgrenen blir jag pltsligt riktigt arg. Allt skrp i bilen hamnar i vgrenen hr bilarna andra sidan r alltid blnkande rena.Det hr rkar dessutom vara samma frare som har en ko p flaket fastspnd med bara ett kort rep om djurets ha http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-55527.html About 75km east of Goreme is the 3900m volcanic Mt Erciyes. It has a small ski resort on it and the Lonely Planet had some directions on how to get there. The Dutch guys got there a day before us and said there weren't any hostels to stay at near the slopes so we opted to stay in Kayseri a huge industrial town about 15km away. There weren't any hostels either but we eventually found a cheap hote http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-46266.html Bedreddin's adventures are now featured on the Highlights section of the main travelblog.org page. Yeah babyThe roughly 2 weeks since my last blog were spent in the stupor that comes over me when I go to Istanbul. During that time I met old friends sat around a lot and picked up a new timekiller pastime learning the Ottoman script. The Ottoman empire used a slightly modified version of http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Central-Anatolia/Konya/blog-2074.html