Sunday, July 11, 2010

Sunday, July 11, 2010 - No comments

Road Trip Chronicles #7: Konya

"Gel, gel, ne olursan ol, yine gel." (Come, come - be whatever you are, just come.")

- Hz. Mevlana

Partly out of necessity, partly out of curiosity, we heeded Mevlana's call and spent the night in Konya. Home of the mystical poet Persian Mevlana (aka Rumi), the whirling dervishes, and my personal favourite, Konya Sekeri (a confectionary treat), Konya is a city in a category all its own. Konyans pride themselves on their city being a shining example of Islam, and the general attitude is that all of Turkey should be like Konya. As a result, the spiritual atmosphere is one of extreme conservatism and piety. Religious pilgrims come from far and wide to see the tomb of Mevlana, giving it an air of something akin to Mecca, complete with all the "religious souvenirs" you could possibly want. Check out these prayer beads - each one is the size of my fist!











We donned our headscarves, checked out the sites, snapped some photos, and decided we more more than ready to get outta Dodge. Being in a city that had that stifling sense of darkness over it made us even more excited to cross the mountains and come down towards the sea and the sunny sight of HOME!

0 comments: