Hoping to wake early in order to catch an iconic hot air balloon ride over Cappadocia, I slept poorly. While some of it could have been attributed to my head cold worsening briefly, I also felt like it was my bubbling anxiety of whether the ride would go ahead or if it would be cancelled. When the allotted time for when the guide would call us about the situate came and passed (about midnight), I was able to drift into an uneasy slumber.
Only to wake intermittently until 4:30AM when I began getting ready for the day. Just as I was about to venture out at 5:20AM, the call came from the guide that the hot air balloons would not be able to fly and the event was cancelled!
Disappointed, I lay back on my bed, hoping to give my body some additional rest to shake my sudden illness. And also to counteract the terrible sleep I had.
With no hot air balloon ride to hold us up, we departed the hotel at 8AM and stopped briefly to admire the ‘fairy chimneys’ of Cappadocia. How they got their name remains a mystery to me, however the guide was quick to tell us that the fairy chimneys were a result of volcanic activity and the spewing of molten rock up into the air and erosion, resulting in the below pictures.
In order to take photos of these uniquely shaped rocks, we had to get up onto a wooden platform. The going was slow because there was a thin coating of ice covering the wooden planks. One member of the tour group even slipped and fell!
Later, we drove down to the Sultanhani Caravanserai for a quick pit stop on our long drive down to Antalya. The Sultanhani Caravanserai was a fitting area to stop at as the building itself was previously used to meet the accommodation and needs of travellers in the distant past.
The caravanserai itself was built in 1229CE under the order of the Seljuk Sultan Alaeddin Keyk bad-I. It was later expanded by a local governor in 1278. And although it was used to provide food, water and shelter for travellers in the past, it now hosted an assortment of precious rugs.
Lunch was had at Konya, a city in Turkey. Afterwards, and I was profoundly sick of eating the same old Turkish food of doners and soup (which is not to say that I dislike their food but after having it day after day, meal after meal, I was looking forward to a bit more variety), we entered the Mevlana Museum.
Fun fact, by the way, but Konya was the capital of the Seljuk Turks’ Sultunate of Rum in the late medieval period. It also hosted the special known order as the Meslevi. Which is also known as the Order of the Whriring Dervishes, famous for the Sufi dance known as the Sema ceremony. The Mevlana in question was Jalaleddin Rumi and his doctrine was passed down through the ages through the efforts of his son, Sultan Valad and Ulu Arif Chalebi.
A lot of what the Mevlana wore also became the uniform of the Order, which became symbolic throughout history: long caps and wonderiful flowing coats. As for the dervishes themsleves, according to the rites of the Mevleviyah, a dervish that completes the 1001 days of suffering is granted the title ‘dede’ and a cell. Following another ordeal of 18 days, they become what is known as a Mevlevi Dede and they train nevniyazs on Masnari, poetry, music, calligraphy and guling, along with providing a spiritual discipline for moral development.
Long story short, the Mevlana was a Muslim saint and was known far and wide for his poetry and being a mystic in the old times. The museum dedicated to the Order that he fathered was visited by locals and tourists alike, with some praying to him for health or luck in their endeavours.
After hopping back onto the coach, it was another long afternoon drive. We stopped several times for quick bathroom breaks but it was as we were driving through the Taurus Mountain range that everyone seemingly woke up to take quick snaps of the beautiful passing landscape with its snow-capped mountains. It helped too that the afternoon sun was finally peeking through after an entire morning of heavy grey overcast clouds.
It was almost 8PM when we pulled up at the Ramada in Antalya. Our guide was quick to inform us that the area was a popular tourist destination for Germans and Russians. After was was declared in Ukraine, the population also exploded as many citizens of Ukraine and Russia who fled the region wound up in the warm southern city close to the Mediterranean.
And looking at the signs that were written in both German and Russian, the story our tour guide told felt like it was most definitely based in fact.
While we didn’t make it to the Aspendos Ancient Theatre during the day, tomorrow is another day that promises to be worthwhile if tiring.
