Happy Sabbath everyone!
Today we had our second and last Sabbath here in Turkey. However, this time we spent the Lord’s Day traveling around Anatolia and checking out amazing new sites.
After having breakfast in hour hotel in Konya, we all got our luggage ready and boarded the bus that would take us to Cappadocia, our next destination. We left the hotel at around 9:30 and traveled east for about an hour until we arrived at Sultanhani. In this small town we visited the largest and best-preserved caravanserai in Turkey. Once inside the fortress, Nolan gave out a very useful presentation about the history of caravanserais in general, and the one in Sultanhani in particular. Apparently the Seljuks built this fortress in the 13th century and used it to provide shelter to the merchants that used to travel in the Anatolian region to trade or sell their goods.
By the time we finished taking photographs of the caravanserai, and drank a cup of tea in a teahouse across the street from the fortress, it was almost lunchtime. That had been planned ahead, however, and after heading east for about another half an hour, we stopped at a restaurant to eat. After about an hour, we were back on the road and we drove non-stop for another hour and a half until we finally arrived at Cappadocia. However, a short distance away from our hotel, we stopped one last time to check out Ushisar Castle. This place was unbelievable! The castle, along with other small houses and tombs, where carved out of huge rocks. The castle is situated up a high and steep hill, and the houses stand at the skirts of the hill and beyond it. The top of the castle provides a magnificent view of the city and other small towns and cities around it. It was particularly interesting to observe the contrast between the modern brick and cement houses and those that had been carved out of the stone that stood near them. It was a breathtaking experience!
After another short drive through the city, we finally arrived at the final destination of this day: Perissia Hotel. We all had a couple hours of free time and then it was dinnertime. A few delicious plates of food later, we all met in the lobby of the hotel for our last experience of the day: the Semâ ceremony (Whirling Dervishes ceremony).
As we approached the entrance of the caravanserai were the ceremony was about to take place, we all noticed the geometrical figures that were carved on the stone doorframes– part of the characteristic Seljuk decoration. We all walked past the entrance and into the courtyard. Past this courtyard, straight ahead of us, was the entrance to the hall where the Whirling Dervishes ceremony was about to take place. The whole group sat on the first three rows of the small and short bleachers, and from there we were able to watch first hand the magnificent ceremony. The instrumental music, the dervishes’ greetings, the reciting of the Qur’an, and of course, the whirling, all composed an exciting and interesting ceremony.
Experiences like the ones we had today are making this cultural trip evermore interesting and fun. Every day we’ve spent here in Turkey has been fascinating; however, now that we are traveling a lot more, days are now passing by faster and faster. We are getting closer to the end of the trip and pretty soon we’ll be back home. Nonetheless, I’m sure that we will keep enjoying and learning from this wonderful experience until the very end.
Today we had our second and last Sabbath here in Turkey. However, this time we spent the Lord’s Day traveling around Anatolia and checking out amazing new sites.
After having breakfast in hour hotel in Konya, we all got our luggage ready and boarded the bus that would take us to Cappadocia, our next destination. We left the hotel at around 9:30 and traveled east for about an hour until we arrived at Sultanhani. In this small town we visited the largest and best-preserved caravanserai in Turkey. Once inside the fortress, Nolan gave out a very useful presentation about the history of caravanserais in general, and the one in Sultanhani in particular. Apparently the Seljuks built this fortress in the 13th century and used it to provide shelter to the merchants that used to travel in the Anatolian region to trade or sell their goods.
By the time we finished taking photographs of the caravanserai, and drank a cup of tea in a teahouse across the street from the fortress, it was almost lunchtime. That had been planned ahead, however, and after heading east for about another half an hour, we stopped at a restaurant to eat. After about an hour, we were back on the road and we drove non-stop for another hour and a half until we finally arrived at Cappadocia. However, a short distance away from our hotel, we stopped one last time to check out Ushisar Castle. This place was unbelievable! The castle, along with other small houses and tombs, where carved out of huge rocks. The castle is situated up a high and steep hill, and the houses stand at the skirts of the hill and beyond it. The top of the castle provides a magnificent view of the city and other small towns and cities around it. It was particularly interesting to observe the contrast between the modern brick and cement houses and those that had been carved out of the stone that stood near them. It was a breathtaking experience!
After another short drive through the city, we finally arrived at the final destination of this day: Perissia Hotel. We all had a couple hours of free time and then it was dinnertime. A few delicious plates of food later, we all met in the lobby of the hotel for our last experience of the day: the Semâ ceremony (Whirling Dervishes ceremony).
As we approached the entrance of the caravanserai were the ceremony was about to take place, we all noticed the geometrical figures that were carved on the stone doorframes– part of the characteristic Seljuk decoration. We all walked past the entrance and into the courtyard. Past this courtyard, straight ahead of us, was the entrance to the hall where the Whirling Dervishes ceremony was about to take place. The whole group sat on the first three rows of the small and short bleachers, and from there we were able to watch first hand the magnificent ceremony. The instrumental music, the dervishes’ greetings, the reciting of the Qur’an, and of course, the whirling, all composed an exciting and interesting ceremony.
Experiences like the ones we had today are making this cultural trip evermore interesting and fun. Every day we’ve spent here in Turkey has been fascinating; however, now that we are traveling a lot more, days are now passing by faster and faster. We are getting closer to the end of the trip and pretty soon we’ll be back home. Nonetheless, I’m sure that we will keep enjoying and learning from this wonderful experience until the very end.
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