The bus from Egerdir to Konya on Friday 3/11 at 0645 never turned up, with no explanation or warning. Having got up even before the first call to prayers, was not amused. Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers: a passenger waiting for a different bus phoned the company I had a ticket for, and over a 10 minutes conversation, I was rebooked on an afternoon coach. It was nice by the lake, but after 8 hours I was glad to get going. It was good to have the company of Dominika, and Hamish, a newly arrived Australian who was going to do volunteering through the Workaway scheme (in exchange for bed and board). Dominika also told me about CoachSurfing, which sounds interesting, but probably not for a single person.

The Dervish Whirling happens on Saturday evening, and my hotel, the Konya Dervish Otel was within walking distance. It was an oasis (tucked away at the back of the Mevlana Museum and the mosque, but currently surrounded by rubble car parks and wasteland), and Momir the manager most welcoming, offering guidance, advice and recommendations as required. The tomb of Rumi is the place of pilgrimage for many – not only Muslim believers. Rumi/Mevlana was the highly regarded 13 ct poet, scholar, Sufi mystic and the man who “is responsible” for the dervish whirling as a path to enlightenment/union with god. (Konya also has a large (Magnum) ice cream factory, as our friend Julien informed me. 🙂

The dervish whirling was performed (?) in their own Centre – a large, covered amphitheatre (there is also an open one next to it: makes one wonder what future generations will make of that). The music is eerie, the ceremony slow and solemn. And the whirling is mesmerising.

The road from Konya to Capadoccia (“The Land of Beautiful Horses”, as every guide will tell you) goes through a flat, open valley, dry and dusty and exceedingly boring. This makes the geological wonder of the Capadoccia region even more wondrous, appealing and spectacular.

Took a couple of tours around the area as sites are scattered and one needs a vehicle: there have been homes and churches in the “fairy chimneys” for centuries; there are a number of underground cities in this porous tufa rock – one had 12 floors, of which 8 are still accessible (and we visited) – the bottom 4 have collapsed. The ingenious way the builders devised for providing air (sort of chimneys), the deep water wells (some going down 60m and more), the stables, graves, meeting areas, and a warren of anthill-like tunnels makes you realise how inventive and capable the inhabitants were. The underground cities were used to hide in from invaders or persecution and people sometimes spent months in them.

The balloon ride over Capadoccia is a must. The price fluctuates with demand – an hour in the air can be anything from €70-€400. (I arrived on Sunday; the Monday flights were cancelled “because of wind” – though, come Monday morning, none was felt on the ground, so it must have been higher up. The price went up for the Tuesday flights:)). And I could hear the woosh of the balloons filling from around 05:30 in the morning (not sure but it takes at least an hour?), though the nearest take off area was some 200-300 meters away.

Ah, the food: it does not look likely that one could lose weight easily here. The breads are delightful, the meat, vegetables, fruits and nuts plentiful, the spices exotic and fragrant, the presentation pleasing to the eye and sometimes amusing (such as having a light show and a bit of techno to accompany a flaming potted kebab).

Met Nicky from Sligo on one of the tours. She is on a couple of weeks’ holiday, moving to Antalya and on to Istanbul as I am moving east. She was a great companion and it was lovely to share Capadoccia with her. We walked the Pigeon Valley (lots of small pigeon holes made in the chimneys to encourage pigeons – the locals used the eggs for food and the manure for the fields) up to the Uchisar castle – super views.

We ate well and enjoyed local sharap (wine), especially with the potted kebab – served with panache and showmanship. (It is full of flavour as the meat and veg cook in their own juices). After that there’s no room for baklava… but the ice cream is very nice too, with a much firmer consistency than usual because they use a percentage (17%? someone said) of goat’s milk in making it.

Must not forget the 3 lovely women I met on the first day in Goreme (main Capadoccia village: 2000 inhabitants and 300 hotels…). They were on a day trip from Nevshehir, local school English teachers, and we had a great afternoon walking and talking.