Travel Journal

2002-10-27

Internet cafes are cheap here...

And here we thought the one in Istanbul, which charged about $1.20 per half hour for one computer, was pretty reasonably priced..."

Leaving Cappadocia

At 9:30, we walked down a long hill to the old "church mosque", so named because it was once a church and was later converted to a mosque. The senior Imam had just retired 2 months earlier, but he joined us anyway ( he didn't look old enough to be retired!), as did the junior Imam.

First, Lale told us about the history of the church, which had been built by Saint Gregorius of Gregorian Chant fame in 385. Then, we had a chance to ask questions of the Imam. The senior Imam answered most of the questions, and we were a curious bunch! We asked questions about everything from the basic tenets of Islam to their thoughts on the corrupting influence of western culture (they thought a lot of the new technology coming out of the west was great, but that our western TV shows teach young people corrupt social values.) We could leave anytime we wanted to, so John and I wound up leaving a few minutes after 11 to tackle the long hill back up to the hotel. (We missed the Imam singing the call to prayer, which was apparently very beautiful.) On the way up, we encountered a man and his two children on a donkey, and they asked me to take their picture. It turned out well, and they enjoyed getting to see it on the screen right away; I also got their address so I can send them a print later.

Back at the hotel, we got our stuff packed before lunch, which was just as delicious as dinner had been the night before. Meals are served buffet style at Otel Karballa, and they put out an amazing array of salads and appetizers, so it's really not possible to try everything. I particularly enjoyed the shepherd's salad with feta cheese and garlic yogurt.

After lunch, we packed up the bus and headed toward Konya. On the way, we stopped at an old Caravanserai, in Sultanhani. It was built in 1229, and was used until the sixteenth century to provide accomodations for caravans travelling the silk road. Lale told us that the local authorities found it useful to build these Caravanserai, which are dotted about every 30km throughout the region, because it encouraged the caravans to stay and sell goods in their area -- and they collected taxes every time a sale was made. The one we visited was solidly constructed of stone, and beautifully decorated with geometric carvings. There was a large central courtyard, rooms along the left side, a very large room across the back, and a covered more open area with columns and arches along the right. Apparently, the open area was used for the caravan to sell their goods, the rooms along the left were used as offices and a jail, the room across the back was winter quarters, and the open covered area on the right was summer quarters. There was also a small mosque in the middle of the courtyard. the area on the right would have been divided with wooden partitions to form living quarters, and the winter quarters would have been divided into two levels with a wooden structure -- the bottom for the animals, and the top for the people. Two teenage boys asked me to take their picture after watching me photograph the dome inside the winter quarters, and I got their address too.

When we were done there, we resumed our trip to Konya, where we are staying in a large modern hotel in a fairly loud part of the city -- a far cry from the villages of the last few nights!"

Güzelyurt

Caravanserai