Arriving in Konya we quickly took the tram downtown and headed off towards the museum for the whirling dervishes and where the famous tombs are. On the way we stopped off to grab a bite of the famous Konya pizza and we enjoyed eating a delicious meter long pizza each. After lunch we continued towards the Mevlana Museum to see it. We entered the museum to find it packed with tourists on bus tours but it was still quite enjoyable and definitely worth the visit. We started off by walking around the complex and seeing the museum parts surrounding the main tomb where inside we got to see samples of the traditional dress and also wax figures showing their traditional way of life. After seeing all the surrounding parts we entered the main tomb and museum building and were amazed at the how beautiful and peaceful it was inside. After examining all of the tombs and museum part which mainly consisted of old copies of the Koran we left the Mevlana museum to head towards Alaaddin Hill.
Alaaddin Hill is a well kept and very green park that contains several tea gardens and the Alaaddin Mosque. We first decided to enjoy a cup of tea in one of the shady tea gardens here and while doing that we met a fantastic old Turkish guy who insisted on giving us a tour of the mosque and the surrounding area after sharing a cup of tea with him. After tea we got a great tour of the huge and well preserved mosque, remnants of an old palace that was on the hill and the entrance of the Ince Minare Museum which has a fabulously carved entrance way. After this tour the guy had to rush home for dinner so we returned to the park to enjoy the sunset and some more tea while playing backgammon. The evening was dedicated to enjoying an absolutely delicious meal at a hard to find restaurant and using the internet before returning to the bus station to catch our 1am bus to Antalya.
We arrived in Antalya bright and early the following morning and after getting into the city centre and finding a hotel we proceeded to take a nap for most of the morning as we were both tired after our overnight bus ride. In the afternoon we proceeded to check out the Antalya Archeology Museum which was absolutely fabulous and enormous. The museum started off by going through all the different civilizations that had ruled Turkey and talking about how they evolved, then it proceeded to show loads of marble statues of Greek gods that were found at nearby Perge. The majority of the museum was dedicated to displaying the statues of the gods as well as sarcophagus's that were found there also. The museum was so large that by the last section we weren't able to absorb too much so their displays of modern Turkish items we quickly passed through. All in all it was a great museum and definitely worth checking out. After the museum we returned to our guesthouse to organize a tour to Termessos the following day. The rest of the afternoon was spent hanging out in the guesthouse and checking out a nearby market that only occurred once a week. The market was really big and sold nothing but fruits and vegetables almost so it was interesting to wander through it and watch all the local people buying their groceries for the next week.
The next day mom, Ben (a fellow tourist) and I got in our taxi and headed to the ruined city of Termessos. Arriving at Termessos, which is just north of Antalya, we proceeded to leave the car park and start the short walk up through the forest towards the ruins. Our first stop once reaching the ruins was the gymnasium and baths which were quite stunning. Termessos has been left to let nature reclaim the ruins and so it hasn't been restored at all and this gave the result of feeling like we were true explorers wandering around the ruins, it also helped that we were almost the only people there (the only fellow people present were a group of graduate students and their prof from the archeology department at the University of Calgary and so they gave us a few pointers of where to find the best sites which was awesome). Leaving the gymnasium we continued to the theater which is the probably the most spectacular sight at Termessos. The theater is in excellent condition considering that it's never been restored and its location sitting on the edge of a cliff makes it just that much more amazing. After the theater we continued wandering around the site and looking at the other buildings but most of them had fallen apart so much that you could no longer tell what they once were, and without the help from the fellow Calgarians we probably wouldn't have ever found out. At the end we made our way back down to the car park a different path following the edge of a cliff face that contained several rock tombs carved into it, an interesting change to the ordinary way down. Returning back to Antalya we had planned on spending the rest of the afternoon on the beach but unfortunately the weather started to change and instead we just spent the remainder of the day at our hotel or wandering the streets of Antalya. All in all it was a great day though as Termessos was a truly spectacular sight and we were very glad that we got to wander around the ruins.
The next morning we got up and enjoyed our breakfast before catching a bus to Olympos, the place where fire shoots out of the rocks and where we were going to catch our Blue Cruise from. But more on that next time.
Mom and our retired economist guide at the Alaaddin Mosque.
Mom pondering her next move in backgammon while the sun sets in Konya. Part of the old palace is visible in the background too.
One of the statues of a Greek God that was found at the site of Perge and now resides in the Antalya Archeology Museum.
A view of the ruined theater at Termessos.
The streets in the old part of Antalya in the evening.
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