Konya - the land of Dervishes

On the bus to Konya I thought maybe I had made the right decision because it was alternating snow and rain. Lots of trucks piled high with sugar beets.

Decided to try out the advice of my Canadian friends. I ignored my reservation for 80 lira. (they said the hotels in the guidebook are double- just look for something nearby.) I walked around to 3 hotels to see what deal I could get. I got a room in a rather new hotel one block from the Mevlana Center for 40 lira. He showed me a room on the 2nd floor, but I preferred the room on the 4th floor. When I returned after 5 pm and noted there was no heat, he explained that there were no guests on the 4th floor so they turned the heat off. The technician was gone for the holiday so they could not turn it on now. It was about 30 degrees with just a dusting of snow. Why he didn't mention the no heat situation when I considered the 4th floor- I do not know.

Konya is the focus of Sufic mystical practice and teaching. It is a place of pilgrimage for the whole Muslim world. Konya is the adopted home of Celaleddin Rumi, better known as Mevlana (our master,) the Sufic mystic who founded the Whirling Dervish sect. Supposedly it is a very conservative city. December 10-17 is a big celebration because Mevlana died on 12/17. I thought the place would be real crowded.

There was not a lot to do in the city. I visited the Mevlana museum on Wednesday. It used to be a medrasha, but the government shut down Dervish lodges after the founding of the state. I would think this would be of concern to the more religious Muslims. The museum consists of quite a few tombs, cases of sacred texts and other artifacts of the Dervish life. I thought a lot of foreigners who were into this mystic cult would be hanging around, but no such luck.

As usual, I headed out to the market. A lot was closed because of Bayrum. I did find the section where they blow torch the heads of animals. Later I learned that if you add lemon and potato you have a delicious soup! There was a special section of the bazaar just for cell phones. They also sell loose tobacco and roll cigarettes.

In the evening the place to be was the Mevlana Cultural Center- a huge new complex. This week they were having the Whirling Dervishes dance performances every night. The place seats over a thousand in a round auditorium with a pitched roof- like a big circus tent. The guidebook said the dervishes weren't practicing - they were just paid performers - so I couldn't get into the solemnity that they tried to convey. The next night I went to a film at the center about the period of 1789 when the Sultan asked the French to set up an army. A Dervish was involved so it was interesting to see how life was depicted in the lodges during this period. The funniest part of the film was I thought I heard the call to prayer during the film, but alas it was just the ringtone of a woman's cell!

There were lots of vendors selling pictures, musical intruments and other Dervish-related materials.

I enjoyed just wandering around the city- most tourists seemed to be Turks enjoying Bayrum. Seemed natural that all the women wore scarves and long coats. I always felt comfortable walking around, even late in the evening. Wednesday morning walked around for 1/2 hr. looking for coffee. The place was so quiet- even at 8 am, these Turks know how to relax and enjoy their holidays! No luck, had to settle for the nescafe and powdered milk at the hotel.