Wow.

I was looking forward to Capadocia the most; it did NOT disappoint.

The landforms remind me of what I know of the Badlands, but they are different. Two different kinds of volcanic rock----hard darker layer on top, soft more vulnerable layer on bottom----creates this landscape.

It is magical.

Goreme Valley is an open air museum with over 300/365----depending on with whom you speak---churches carved into the softer bottom layer. The first time I was here, I was told that it was for early Christians to rotate to a different church each day to escape persecution from the ruling Romans.

There are also abandoned settlements of houses carved into the soft layer---that is how soft it is. In past trips, I have stayed in pensions that are still carved into the soft layer---essentially the room is a man made caves.

Lastly, we saw the Whirling Dervishes. Wow. I mean, all I can say is.....wow. Those who know me will express zero shock that I was moved to tears. It was eloquent and spiritual and peaceful.

Sufism is a branching off from Islam in which followers of Rumi, from the mosque we visited yesterday, whirl to achieve a trance like state. It is hypnotic to witness and you wonder how they don't wipe out. The monks who are the dervishes train and train. They tip their heads a certain angle to keep equilibrium in their ears so they stay balanced.

There are different arm positions: crossed in front to symbolize being full of love and mercy, both arms extended to the sky to receive from Allah, and finally one arm extended to the sky and one to the ground to symbolize the Dervishes become links between heaven and earth. The word dervish comes from the Persian word for door and expresses the ultimate goal of opening.

It has a very calm vibe. The whirling is more of a spinning and the movement of their arms from crossed in front to down at their sides to extended above is not rushed.

The thing that spoke to me was the expression on everyone of their faces. Eyes closed, serene, no tension----the entire time. They may have been concentrating or sleeping; you would never be able to tell. As they moved around the floor, they would occasionally half open an eye, but when they were whirling in one spot, they were mostly blind and in their own thoughts.

The music was also vital. The whole thing opened with a solo acapella that hauntingly beautiful.

I don't have pictures as they were not permitted. I am kind of glad as I think it certainly would not do the experience justice.

Ramadan Begins.

Today was the first day of Ramadam which is called Ramazan here in Turkey. It begins Thursday evening after sunset. Which means that from sunrise to sunset for the next month, Muslims who observe Ramadan won't eat, drink, or smoke from official sunrise to official sunset.

We didn't really see a big difference as we move from one city to the next almost everyday. But Orhan, our tour guide, said that the traffic coming into Konya was much lighter. Also, there were fewer people out and about.

Ramadan during a summer like this with the heat has to be much more difficult than later in the coolness of fall. Ramadan follows the lunar calendar so the placement of it during the year falls at different times each month.

Our hotel offers Sahur two hours before sunrise. I am not familiar with this term but from what I can gather this us meal prepared and eaten before sunrise so you have something to go on until sunset. You can request it delivered through room service at 3 am.

When I was here the first time, Ramadan fell somewhere in March of April. I was in a home stay at the time and remember waking up to the beating of a drum. On the 15th floor of a high rise in Istanbul. That was done on the streets below waking the women of the house to begin preparing the Sahur. It was a service the city provided....that makes sense in a nation that us 98 percent Muslim.

I don't know that I could show such devotion. I don't know that I would want that obligation.

Chatalhoyuk.

Two majorly old sites in Turkey: Gobeklitepe.....was just in National Geographic within the last year as evidence of human existence earlier than previously thought.

Before Gobeklitepe, the oldest was at Chatalhoyuk....I think 7000 years ago---if I remember correctly. First evidence of hunters and gatherers settling down for the first time and farming and domesticating animals.

That is big time, people.

I was here 22 years ago and don't remember ANY of what I saw today. I am for sure looking in my pictures from then when I get home.

Rumi Mevlana.

I didn't really know what Whirling Dervishes were....an idiom to connote a massive amount of frantic energy?

Today we went to the mosque in Konya where Rumi Mevlana is buried----he is the found of the Sufi order of Mevlani monks also known as the Whirling Dervishes. We will see the demonstration tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it. It has done Buddhist favors to it fro. What I can tell and that intrigues me.

He is buried in the mosque über the green tiled tower.

Changes I Noticed From 20 Years Ago.

Pamukkale in the picture: the first time I was here, you could walk anywhere, loll around in the pools, there were hotels right there and no shops. Yesterday? Hotels gone, major amounts of tourists---particularly Russians---, police blowing whistles when people went outside the reduced area where they were permitted, and tons of souvenir kiosks.

Bathrooms at rest stops already have been addressed in an earlier post.

Women covered: they are more frequently seen than 10 years ago and for sure 20 years ago. The current first lady is the first in the Turkish republic history (1923 established) to cover her head. There is growing divide between secular republic Turkey and increasing conservative faction of the Turkish population.

Temple of Aphrodite.

I cannot believe how complete the stadium at Aphrodite is....how well preserved it is, and how flipping huge it is--- I couldn't even get it in one picture from where we were allowed to be.

All of it under a functioning farming town that was eventually forced to move in order to accommodate the archaeological dig. The stadium? Under some guy's tobacco field. Museum store? Mayor's house. I like that the national government prioritized their history (they paid to move the town), but I totally get how pissed the townspeople were at having to move.

Ephesus.

St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians....was it Paul? Regardless, Ephesus is old. Whoever was writing the letters to the Ephesians was preaching to the Romans that were still praying the their pagan gods.

The ruins that are there have been restored and reconstructed to give a comparatively strong impression of a city, rather than the usual solitary building or temple.

The library is beautiful and impressive. Everyone loved the latrines outside the roman baths.....you can see them in the foreground of the picture with the library again in the background.

I really enjoyed walking down the marble road. Most places I visit, whether it is a modern functioning city or a historical site, I picture what it would like to live there or have lived there. The road made it very easy to time travel.