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Headed South to the Mediterranean

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  Day 8: Ancient Aspendos Sat, May 02, 2026 We'll begin our day with a tour through Konya, including the busy maze of its sprawling bazaar — a time-tripping treasure trove of hardware, household items, clothing, jewelry, religious paraphernalia, and cell phone accessories. Then we'll head over the Taurus Mountains and stop to visit Aspendos, one of the best-preserved Roman theaters of the ancient world. In the late afternoon we'll arrive in the Mediterranean resort town of Antalya, where we'll take an orientation walk and set you free for dinner on your own. The following 7 pictures were from the Aspendos site, from 160AD. First 4 are from the theatre and the last 2 were from the walk I took I. The archeological site where there were medieval buildings.  This was our view from the lunch restaurant!  Rainy start to our stay at the Mediterranean town of Antalya.  We entered the city thru Hadrians gate (built in 130AD to honor the Roman emperor Hadrian’s visit).  ...
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Mosque Visit and Mevlâna's Konya

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  Day 7: Mosque Visit and Mevlâna's Konya  Fri, May 01, 2026 This morning we'll travel to the village of Güzelyurt and meet with the local mosque's imam (counterpart to a  minister or rabbi), with an opportunity to ask questions about the Muslim faith and the separation of mosque and state in Turkey. After lunch we'll hit the road and, like Silk Road travelers hundreds of years ago, stop to admire the intricate carvings of a medieval sultanhani caravanserai (unlimited camel parking). Today's destination is conservative Konya, famous as the 13th-century home of Mevlâna Rumi. We'll tour the poetry-filled Mevlâna Museum — also the site of the mystical philosopher's tomb, a Muslim holy place - before sharing dinner together. The younger man in the right is the local imam and our guide (on the left) translated all of our questions about the Muslim religion.  Along with Judaism and Christianity, it is one of the Abrahmic religions.  He explained the 5 pillars of...
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Cappadocia’s natural beauty

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  April 30  Day 6 Surrounded by Cappadocia's otherworldly "fairy-chimney" rock formations, we'll do a little of this and a little of that today. First we will visit the Three Sisters rock formations and then Pigeon Valley.  Afterwards we will visit the carpet weaving school and learn about the centuries-old tradition and artistry of Turkish carpet.  Then we head to a hike at Paşabağ Valley, where we will walk among the rock formations.    At the end of the day we will finish up with a group wine tasting.  —— Today’s pictures will definitely have a LOT of BIG rock formations.  All formed over thousands of years after a volcano covered the area in volcanic ash!  Enjoy!  If you look closely in the distance between these two fairy chimneys you can see a snow covered volcano.   This formation above is called The Three Sisters.  Below, while in pigeon valley I climbed up to this rock to look at the pigeon roosts up close, I didn’t th...
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