Today we have a 380 km drive to Beysehir as we leave our cave hotel.
The morning drive is across a very flat dessert to our morning tea stop at Sultanhani where there is a huge caravansarai of the Seljuks built in 1229 that would have serviced the Silk Road traders. As we park in front of the caravansarai the Mayor of the town comes up to us and welcomes us to his town and invites us to his office for tea, which we accept. First we visit the caravansarai that has a large open area in the middle for the camels in the summer and an equally large covered area for the camels in the winter. Along one side are rooms for sleeping and on the opposite side there is an under cover trading area.in the middle of the open square there is a small mosque where the traders would pray. There is some restoration work being carried out, but the building is in remarkably good condition.
We then Visit the Mayor in his office and he tells us about the towns relationship with Sinopec the Chinese oil company and how he has been able to improve hospitals & schools in his city. He is most interested in the fact that we have 2 Chinese cameraman from CCTV travelling with us and recording our Silk Road trip. We have tea in his office and then he presents each driver with as town flag before he comes to say goodbye at the cars and we head off to Konya our next stop.
We have lunch in a restaurant and try the local dish which is a slow cooked lamb shank served without the bone and with flat bread and salad, delicious and tender. We then visit the Mevlana museum which is the former lodge of the whirling dervishes. Rumi who later was known as Mevlana started the whirling dervishes and his tomb, along with 66 others are in the main building of the museum. There is also a Mosque and various artefacts including a casket with strands of Mohammed’s beard in a glass box that we see visitors kissing. This is considered a very holy place for Muslims to visit and is a popular pilgrimage site.
We also visit the war memorial briefly that is in a magnificent new building.
We continue our drive to Beysehir which is located at the southern end of Lake Beysehir, driving out of Konya and through lush green countryside.
Before we have dinner we walk around the lake to the Esrefoglu Mosque that was finished being built in 1299. It has a timber roof and pillars which are in excellent condition because the snow & rain was allowed to enter the centre of the mosque which provided moisture for the timber so it hasn’t dried out & cracked.
Next to the Mosque is a covered Bazaar that was also built in 1299.
Behind the Mosque is a Madrese that has a lovely porch but is now closed although it was used up until 1912.
We walk back down to the lake past some very old quaint houses.
Walking back to the hotel the sun is setting which looks magnificent over the lake and the reeds.
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