Friday, May 31 Konya

Friday was Cam's first official day off.  We had breakfast together and then walked over to the Mevlana Museum.  This museum is the reason Muslims and non-Muslims come to Konya.  It is the former lodge of the whirling dervishes and houses the tomb of Celaleddin Rumi, a mystic philosopher. After his death, his son organized his followers into a group called Mevlevi or whirling dervishes.

And the bathrooms should be on the list of the world's worst.  Honestly I don't know how a place with an international reputation could get away with such horrifying bathrooms.

When you enter a mosque, you must take off your shoes and ladies must cover their heads.  Here we found these fun shoe cozies.  No photos inside of course.  There were plenty of people around Rumi's tomb praying quietly. There were also beautiful examples of calligraphy in many old Quarans.

Each little room was a cell or bedroom for a dervish.  Now they hold artifacts with descriptions in Turkish and English.

This is the master instructing the pupil.  We got to see an actual dervish ceremony in Cappadocia.  I won't soon forget it.

This large mosque is beside the Mevlana.  It is under renovation and we couldn't go inside. We saw three new mosques being built as we crossed the country and lots being refurbished.  It's our understanding that the state pays to keep the mosques open and pays the Iman's salary.

The doors are so beautiful - but look at the gap!

There are beautiful tile mosaics.

After a bite of lunch and some shopping, we walked back to the hotel to get the car. Our hosts, came out to say good-bye one more time.