Monday 16 September
Today was very long. Although our coach is comfortable, with good aircon and WiFi, and even though we make frequent stops, our 700km journey today from Pamakkale to Cappadoccia begins at 7am and ends 13 hours later (though we did stop off in Konya for lunch and the Mevalana Museum and at Sulthani Caravanserai, one of the camel hotels on the silk road).
Wrenching myself out of my lovely comfy bed at 5am, after breakfast we gather in the lobby to board the coach and are treated to the sight of many hot air balloons on the horizon gently drifting into the distance. I think everyone fell asleep until we made an early stop of diesel and loos - petrol is dead cheap here, about £1 per litre. People smoke with impunity at petrol stations, and not that far away from the pumps!
The second pitstop is at a big souvenir emporium, packed with local stuff like tea, rose oil and hone, but also a fair bit of knock-off replica stuff. Although our party wasn't impressed, the coachloads of Chinese tourists kept the traders busy. I made a tentative enquiry about some shoes which were similar to some favourites of mine, only to discover that apart from the fact he wanted dollars, I'd be paying at least £15 more for them.
We drive on into the Central region of Anatolia, with a distinct change of landscape as arable farming is key here, and with Stone Age/Neandertal origins. We arrive in Konya for a late lunch - it's bigger than Istanbul in terms of area, but with only a sixth of the population. Just for once the restaurant offer is not a buffet, and I have a very nice chicken kebab (my first of the trip!)
We walk to the Mevalna Museum around the corner, which honours the Sufi faith and the cult of the Whirling Dervish. It's rather a lovely museum, with some interesting sarcophagi, some contemporary copper plate relief pictures around the courtyard with small rooms showcasing historic objects, but with really horrible toilets.
On to the camel hotel (Sulthani Caravenserai) which is another lovely building that was a stopover for merchants and their camels. There's also an exhibition of antique carpets (along with a trio of ladies demonstrating their craft, but not selling anything). Apparently camel wrestling festivals are a very popular family day out, where camels basically use their necks to wrestle the opponents' heads as near to the ground as possible. And camels can travel up to 200km in a day, but their riders can only realistically manage 100km, hence the hotels along the silk road route.
After what feels like the longest drive ever, though is really only just over a couple of hours, Mustafa belts along in the gathering darkness until we arrive at our hotel which is built in traditional kind of quadrangle style with lots of terraces, thick stuccoed walls and antique- looking fittings. My room is a bit gloomy but comfortable with rather lovely dark wood carved doors and bedhead. We dump bags and head for the dining room which is huge, crowded, noisy and with the typical buffet selection. It felt like school dinners. Mustn't grumble as much of this is all-inclusive, but getting a bit fed up with the same old same old. But they do have wine, and we've also been given a half bottle as an apology for our room cock-up at the beginning of the holiday.
Two of our party have a very early night as tomorrow they're taking the hot air balloon trip, and I set my alarm to get up at 6.30 to watch the spectacle in the sky. At least I won't be back on the bus until 9.30
No comments:
Post a Comment