Whirling Dervishes

We had an early start this morning.  I was up at 6am. showered, and packed my day bag.  I packed everything else into my suitcases because we are checking out of our hotel this morning.

Don't worry.  We planned this.

Today's schedule is to check out of our hotel, drive to the Cappadocia region (which is about 4 hours South of Ankara), and tour this cavernous region of Turkey.  It's going to be a lot of traveling, but it should be worth it!

The four of us met down in the dining room for breakfast, and we went to work filling our bellies.  It was a breakfast buffet, so there was some variety.  It wasn't my favorite meal, but it was filling, and I was thankful for putting a stop to my rumbling stomach.

I had pancakes (they were about 3 inches in diameter… I had 3 of them with honey), scrambled eggs (with cheese), goat cheese (similar to feta, but I didn't like it much), sausage (which was really mini hot dogs in a watery ketchup sauce), and bread.  Oh, the bread!  Back in the States, my trainer has me watching what I eat… not too many carbs, not too much sugar, more on the protein.  Well, outside of the US Border, I'm free to do what I want (within reason).  The bread here is delicious.  Crusty on the outside, soft and moist on the inside, and perfect spread with butter.  I must've eaten half a loaf myself!  But I digress.

We finished off breakfast, sympathizing with Scilla's electrical problems (she fried her alarm clock last night), and chatting about what the day will hold.  We then brought our bags to the lobby and left them with the front desk.  Our guide and driver were waiting for us next to the Mercedes minibus that would be our magic carpet.  Mehmet, our guide, is a helpful guy in his Forties that is insanely knowledgeable about everything relating to Turkey.  When Hillary and Chelsea Clinton came to Turkey during Bill's Presidency, he was their guide to Cappadocia.  He's the manager of the tour operation here, and we are very fortunate to have him guide us around.  Our driver, Usef, is a quiet guy in his late Thirties that doesn't speak much English.  He's very gifted at what he does… driving in Turkey is something that isn't very high on my wish list of things to do!

The minibus was soon humming down the streets of Ankara, and after some creative maneuvering by Usef, we were on the open highway heading South.  Mehmet gave us a basic history of Turkey, and then he asked us to ask him questions.  Well, he got his wish, because once the questions started, the didn't stop!  He was asked about everything from his decision to become a tourguide to how weddings are performed in Turkey to people's feelings towards Ataturk.  And he answered everything with a smile!

Mehmet had Usef make a few stops.  We stopped off at a gas station that had a convenience store/rest stop/restaurant/grocery store near it.  The tinkletorium was used, dried fruits and Turkish candies were bought, and we had an opportunity to stretch our legs.  Another stop was at a Salt Lake south of Ankara.  Because of the rains, the lake level was high, and instead of beds of salt, we saw murky water.  Because of the minerals in the water, the overcast sky reflected very nicely.  As Martha Stewart would say, "It's a Good Thing."  The last stop we made was lunch in Cappadocia.  The restaurant looked clean and Mehmet told us the owner was a friend.  The food was delicious (we had a clay pot chicken that was fantastic), and we enjoyed a glass of tea.  As our meal progressed, we came to find out the restaurant was pretty new.  Actually, it was *VERY* new.  It's opening day was 10 days ago!  The building was actually a leather shop that had outgrown it's home, and the restaurant had moved in and in no time was serving meals.  It was really cool the way the history of the building made its way into the decor of the restaurant.  The tablecloths were a soft leather, the ceilings were textured in places, and there was a faint musk of leather in the air.  Very cool atmosphere.

So I felt kinda embarrassed on my way to Cappadocia.  I have this thing with transportation overseas.  If I'm not driving, being in a bus or a train or a plane puts me to sleep.  Maybe its the droning noise.  But I got real sleepy on the way to Cappadocia, and I kept nodding off.  I felt bad because Mehmet was giving us all kinds of great information, but I didn't catch a lot of it.  But no one seemed to mind, and once we got out of the bus, I was wide awake and rarin' to go.

The tour of the caves in Cappadocia was actually pretty cool!  There are these strange rock formations in this part of Turkey (at about 3,000 feet above sea level), and Christians evading capture from those that would oppress (i.e. kill) them for their religion used these formations to hide.  They dug out caves into these formations using chisels, and soon made their home here.  They also built many churches to teach each other about Christianity, as well as monasteries and nunneries.  

It was fascinating to learn about these churches.  There were incredible wall paintings that dated back as far as 12 century BC.  In some caves you could see the chisel marks where people dug the caves out.  In others, the walls were smooth.  In a lot of the churches, the Roman soliders defaced the paintings once they were discovered.  It's still pretty amazing, though.  Take a look at the pictures and see for yourself!

You'll notice in the pictures that I point out Pigeon Homes.  These are literally homes for pigeons.  They were encouraged to roost here so that later, the villagers could collect their droppings to use as fertilizer.  No joke, folks.

The weather kept shifting from sunlight to rain, and by the time we were done with the tour, we were getting pretty tired.  We jumped in the Benz and were taken to a Carpet Shop.  The owner is a friend of Mehmet, and when we went in there, we learned how the carpets are woven, how to spot a quality carpet, the differences in materials used, and how the silk is spun.  Mehmet disappeared, and the owner of the Carpet Shop then led us into a showroom.  He started giving us a sales pitch, and two of his minions started rolling out carpets.  We learned a lot about the different types of carpets from the different regions of Turkey, and I tried my best to turn it into a business visit to learn more about the Carpet industry.  By the time they were done, we had a thick bed of Carpets in front of us, and the owner asking us to let him know if we're interested in one.  The carpets are really very expensive (considering it takes some carpets a FULL YEAR to be made!) and we weren't really interested.  We asked questions while the minions rolled all the carpets up, and Mehmet reappeared.  As we walked back to the Benz, we were left wondering if that was all done to teach us about carpets or if it was to get a sale?  In any case, we walked away knowing more than we came in, and we got a chance to see many beautiful pieces of art!

On our way to our hotel, we stopped in Urgut to get some SIM chips for our phones.  Will went with TurkCell, and I went with vodafone.  We're gonna need Mehmet's help tomorrow to get the new lines up and running!

Usef really showed us what he could do on the way to the hotel.  To get there, the van had to go through some pretty tight alleys, and he needed to make some pretty ambitious turns to do it.  I'm still amazed that he didn't scratch the van at all!  Once he made it through the tight turns, we all gave him a rousing round of applause… he acknowledged with a fist pump!

The hotel staff welcomed us in, and offered us beverages while we waited for our rooms to become ready.  Once we got to our rooms, we were a little blown away.  We knew that the rooms would be "in caves," but I don't think we expected them to be as nice as they were!  Take a look at the pictures.  The best thing about the rooms, though?  Two words.  Heated.  Floors!  It's pretty damn awesome.

Scilla and I had arranged with Mehmet to go to a Turkish cultural show tonight.  They'd feed us dinner, and we would have the opportunity to see a wide variety of Turkish dances, music, and wardrobe.  The food was good, the staff was very kind, and the dancing was good!  I was particularly excited to see the Whirling Dervishes, but we actually didn't get to see much of them.  They walked slowly around the stage for about 10 minutes under black light (which isn't that illuminating), and then they started whirling.  The lights came up and we actually saw about 20 seconds of whirling before the dancers left the stage to prep for their next dance.

So what's the story behind the Whirling Dervishes?  From what I understand, it is a way to commune with God.  The dervishes wear white robes (signifying what is worn when you die), with a black overcoat (to represent a funeral shroud), and a tall hat (to represent a tombstone).  They spin in circles with their right hand facing up (to represent receiving all from God) and with their left hand facing down (to represent giving all that God gives to others).  The concept is cool, and I think the idea behind the whirling is to desensitize yourself to your surroundings so all that you are thinking of is God.

After the Dervishes, we saw a parade of beautiful dances and cool music.  We ate, we watched, and we enjoyed.  The waiters were friendly, and one even was insistent that Scilla and I should be a couple!  He talked about it for a good 5 minutes, and then mentioned it again as we were leaving.  We were a little embarrassed, but I think that's what he was trying to do.

After the show, Usef collected us, we jumped in the Benz, and we began our ride home.  Usef started opening up to us, and was trying to ask us how we liked the show.  We got the general point across, and he tried to teach us some Turkish.  He then got quiet again and focused on the road, and in no time flat, we were watching Usef navigate the tight alley turns to get us back to the hotel.  (he got another round of applause from us)

Today was a great day.  I learned a lot, I saw things I've never seen before, and I felt like I made a friend with whom I don't have a language in common.  Some things are universal.  Friendship and generosity are two of them.

So now I'm getting into bed.  In the morning, Scilla and I have a hot air balloon ride scheduled.  But because the weather has been rainy, it may be canceled.  The concierge is going to call us at 4:30 in the morning to let us know if we are going to be ballooning tomorrow or not.  Seeing as how it's 1:15am, I'm going to take your leave and get some sleep.

I hope you enjoyed today's blog.  There's really SO much more to tell, but those stories will have to wait for another day.  I'll see if I can do some extra blogging on the drive back to Ankara.

Being new to BlogSpot, I'm not sure what's up with the comment feature.  I absolutely *LOVE* to see your comments (it's always nice to hear from home), but I'm hearing that it won't let some people post.  I'll try to get to the bottom of that mystery and hopefully, once resolved, you guys can start leaving me comments!

Thanks for reading.

Be safe and be kind.

With love,

SoJo