After such an exciting day yesterday, we arose eagerly for our next destination, Konya. This begins our journey back towards the Western Aegean coast of Turkey. Our first stop on the way was Sultanhani. This was a Karavansaray, or Camel hotel along ancient travel routes. There are many Karavansaray throughout Turkey and they are spaced approximately 15 miles apart, the average distance a camel could travel in a day.
As we arrived in Konya, we stopped for lunch at a place serving one of Konya's most famous dishes: pidas (long pizza style flatbreads).
We left Konya to our first stop: Catalhoyuk, the oldest city in Anatolia. (established in approximately 6500BC, home to nearly 10,000 people). Currently this site is being excavated by British archaeologists. While walking through the remains, we discovered many pieces of obsidian stone tools, fine pottery, and cooking wear.
Reconstruction of one of the houses.
We also noticed today about Turkey is that one always has to be prepared for animal crossings. We saw both sheep and cows on our way to our next stop back to Konya.
To end our day, we visited the Tomb of Rumi, a sufist. Suffism is the mystical aspect of Islamic religion. The tomb was located in a mosque.
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| The Koran |
In the courtyard outside this mosque/museum we noticed that we appeared inadvertently on a Turkish film set either for a movie or a soap opera. Keep on the lookout for any Elmira students that may rise to fame on Turkish television!!
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