Turkey June 9

10:51 We head to Konya. At a road side checkpoint the authorities check an electronic device on our bus to determine if it's had been speeding. We were ok!

Konya is a very conservative area in Turkey.

11:31 This beautiful tourquise structure belongs to the mosque we are about to visit. The mosque is the home of the Mevlevi Order, also known as the Whirling Dervishes. We visit the monestary museum here.

11:38 We enter the grounds of Mevlana Museum

Nurdan gives us the history and answers questions before we head into the various buildings.

11:41 Young men wanting to become a Dervish would have to spend 24 hours as shown. The cook would watch the young men. If he thought they were worthy he turned the shoes pointing inward and if not worthy he pointed them outward.

11:41 Mevlana Museum - the cooks.

11:41 Mevlana Museum- "a meeting for the Mevlana"

11:41 Dervishes

11:55 Tombs. The top sections (sarcophagi) are empty. The bodies are buried below these structures in tombs.

11:57 The Sarcophagus of Mevlana (Rumi), also known as Mevlana's Tomb. We learn at this point in our tour that the beautiful turquoise dome seen earlier sits above this exact spot!

12:00 A Quran from 1314.

12:02 A more elaborate Quran from 1278.

12:03 Informal group photo.

12:11 We visit a series of small rooms where the trainees stayed.

12:15 Each room had information about the students and being a Sufi.

12:24 A typical room.

12:45 Group photo with that pretty turqoise dome in the background.

12:54 We walk through a cemetary close to the museum.

The call to prayer. We heard it often.

1:10 Restaurant that has yet another retro radio!

1:14 At lunch we have a soup containing the ochra like we saw on strings at the market.

2:06 Leaving the restaurant after lunch

2:06 Heading back to our bus where we will spend the next several hours traveling to Antalya.

2:41 Leaving the city of Konya.

2:44 Heading west out of Konya.

2:49 Driving past Altinapa lake.

5:34 Approaching the town of Serik. We are now near Aspendos.

5:45 Before getting to Antalya, we stop in Aspendos to visit a well preserved amphitheatre.

5:48 This ancient theater described.

5:51 The amphitheater in Aspendos

5:57 A wide angle view looking down into the amphitheatre. Linda and Marilyn.

6:03 Another view from the side.

6:14 Nurdan does a great job taking this group selfie!

6:12 Our group on stage - ta da!

6:23 An aspiring thespian.

The only song we could think of at the moment. The show must go on and we did our performance.

7:31am Having arrived last evening at the Dogan Hotel in Antalya, we walk to breakfast and pass the hotel pool- lovely. We take advantage of it later.

9:01am After breakfast we meet with a retired archaeologist at our hotel. He was knowledgeable and had a nice dry sense of humor.

He talked a lot about his long, interesting career and passed around a lot of pictures for us to look at.

9:41 One of his prized finds was the head of a statue that he came upon accidentely by kicking over a large stone.

9:52 More photos from his past digs.

10:03 Our group will visit the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations later this morning.

Here's the front of our hotel as we head to our bus to visit museum. (BTW -The sea port is a short walk from our hotel.)

11:36am We visit Museum of Anatolian Civilizations.

11:39am Early bronze age ceramic.

11:46am More on ceramics.

11:48am It took a long time to reassemble this broken statue.

11:57am A room with many statues.

Noon - An informal group shot.

12:05 Apollo.

Zeus.

12:09 Emerson standing statuesquely.

12:13 One of several elaborately carved sarcophagi dating to the Roman Era.

12:37 The Mother Goddess Statuette

12:38 Terracotta from the mid-6th century BCE.

12:40 Father Christmas lived in Anatolia.

12:41 Relics of St. Nicolas

12:45 Old coinage

12:47 Tools for making coinage.

12:54 A traditional custom of Early Bronze Age man was placing the deceased in a wide-bodied, hand-made pot.

1:00 Outside the museum we spot this pretty peacock.

1:18 We pass an Antalya store window with circumcision costumes. Circumsicion happens around age 7 or so and is an important event in families, which includes much partying.

3:34 Our next day's schedule.

3:40 Walking back from our bus we pass familiar landmarks near our hotel.

3:45 This street is above the seaport below.

4:01 Down near the seaport level.

4:02 Another view of the docks.

4:45 From our room we say hello to Rolla, Stephen and Marilyn as they enjoy a swim.

6:49 Another walk down to the seaport area.

6:49 Arrrgh matey!

7:03 A statue to Ataturk.

7:03 About the statue.

OAT tours always include a home hosted meal. Our group divided up between two different hosts who lived in the same area of Antalya.

6/10 7:45 Our hosts' 12 year old daughter, Ipek, took this photo as we prepared to enjoy our home hosted meal. Unfortunately, she didn't get Roberta in the frame!

7:50 A delicious meal. We had an interesting conversation touching on Turkey and Erdogon. The rural areas are much more supportive of Erdogon than the urban areas. We were asked why a rich country like the US seems to have so many homeless people. Good question.

9:12 We learned that this couple haven't been married very long. However, it did seem to us that stepdad Halil has a good relationship with Ipek.

9:16 On our way back to our bus we passed this coffee shop. Ipek accompanied us and even got on our bus to chat with us until we were ready to leave. She was really friendly! (Unfortunately we didnt snap a photo of her.)

10:33 Seaport at night.

7:24 View from our hotel room window (that's the pool below).

7:33 Heading downstairs.

8:15 The outdoor dining area where we enjoyed breakfast each day.

8:15 Outside our hotel.

8:48 Excalator down to our bus parking garage. We bus to Perge this morning.

9:34 We begin our visit to Perge by viewing this relief map.

9:40 A Roman stadium. One of the better preserved ones.

We're inside the stadium and Jason and Roberta, who are not at all competitive (right!) decide to race! Those crazy kids!

9:47 One of many stadium entrances.

9:49 Perge Stadium is one of the best preserved ancient stadiums in Turkey. It was used for athletic games such as wrestling, boxing and gladiator fights.

9:53 Exiting Perge Stadium

9:54 Perge Stadium was capable of holding from 12,000-20,000 spectators. It's well preserved seating was supported by this barrel-vaulted structure.

9:55 Another look at one of the barrel vaulted structures/entrances.

10:11 Perge map.

10:20 We head to the the Roman Gate in Perge.

10:25 We're now inside the Roman Gate.

10:25 A description of this Roman Gate.

10:29 Chris pours a little water to help bring out colors in the mable as Roberta looks on.

10:34 Perge

10:43 Chris, Stephen, Melinda, Pat, Marilyn, Phil and Roger.

10:44 Linda and Emerson

10:49 Phil listens as Nurdan explains about these tiles and how little effort is being made to protect them.

10:58 Perge

11:06 Perge

11:06 Jason checking out The Agora (market) of Perge.

11:11

11:18 Water used to run from the aqueduct down the middle of the main avenue.

11:22 Pat, Melinda, Phil and Marilyn.

11:24 Mosaic flooring.

11:25 Mosaic flooring described.

11:34 Hadrianus Arch

11:34 Hadrianus Arch description.

11:39 Roger by the opening where water entered the main avenue. Note the crossing over the water way.

11:41 Roberta and Jason went exploring higher than the rest of us. The previous picture was taken from the archway.

1:10 We return to our lovely room for a break before heading out again.

2:59 Stopping in front of Hadrian's gate in Anatolya as we head again for the bus.

3:12 Our group in front of the Hamam (Turkish Bath).

The ladies before their Turkish bath experience.

4:30 After our Turkish bath and massage the guys enjoy tea and relaxation. It was a good experience.

4:35 Some tea for the Pat and Chris who are already finished with their massages. (Nurdan did not participate in the spa activity.)

8:02pm Linda and Nurdan as we head to dinner.

8:33 Nurdan and Emerson.

8:42 Roger and Melinda

8:44 Group photo before being served our evening meal.

8:49 Chris and Stephen.

8:53 LD and EM

8:55 Nightime

7:44 A cat is about to get some breakfast from Phil as Pat proceeds to eat her last breakfast at this hotel.

8:34 As we walk away from our hotel, we pass a large murel along the street.

8:43am We head for the bus and say goodbye to Antalya.

10:23 Heading away from Antalya, we make a brief rest stop (Jason trys on a Fez).

11:12 On the road again.

11:15 Pretty southern coastline of Turkey.

11:21 Still heading for our next stop.

11:42 Cat nap on the bus.

11:50 Map of Demre which is town nearest to the Myra arecheological site.

The Lycian rock tombs at Myra archeological site have a honeycomb appearance. Myra was an ancient town in a fertile alluvial plain.

11:59 Roberta taking a peek in at one of the buildings in Myra.

Noon - Myra Ruins

12:07 Our group.

12:10 This was the local Roman theatre in Myra.

12:25 Group photo in the Roman theater.