Monday, March 12, 2012


Konya - Located in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey, about 700 km southeast of Istanbul, Konya is certainly a bit quieter and more conservative compared to where I live.

But it's full of a rich history and things to see - the Selçuk era historical monuments, nearby Hittite excavations and, of course, home to the Whirling Dervishes and a shrine to Sufi leader Rumi.

We flew to Konya late Friday night to spend the weekend exploring this city's history and treasures. We had a great time with another couple living as expats in Istanbul. I took 163 photos and have only begun looking through them this afternoon.
Saturday's sunrise in Konya - taken from the Dedeman Hotel.
Stay tuned for more information and photos from Konya this week!


Definitely another place to add to your travel itinerary in Turkey.
It was amazing to see the snow-covered Taurus Mountains surrounding Konya.
Long wagons like this one were filled with tennis shoes and other goods.
A view of Konya from the top of Alaettin Hill.
The mosque and the mountains in Konya.

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9 comments:

Natalie said...

I have drove through Konya on my way to Cappadocia but would love to spend some time there exploring. Wanted to go for the celebration of Rumi in November but the hotels were so expensive, maybe due to the event

Julia said...

Another place we need to visit properly. As Natalie said, we've been through but never stayed over. Now we just need a fairy godmother to sprinkle us with money to go there! :)

Unknown said...

Konya is never a place I would rush to visit. But who knows? Maybe it is changing - we went years ago and I mean years - and it was absolutely awful. The hotel .... ugh. Love your pics.

jaz@octoberfarm said...

the places you take me!

Joy said...

@Natalie and Julia, You guys seem to enjoy exploring random back streets, museums and such as much as I do. So I'm sure you'd enjoy Konya too. We took advantage of Pegasus's cheap flights - 104TL per person.

Joy said...

@Claudia, I'm sure times must have changed then. =) We stayed at the Dedeman Hotel about 4 km away from city center and it was one of the nicest hotels we've stayed at in Turkey! Our friends had a baby so they wanted to stay at a nicer hotel and this one had bathtubs as well.

Joy said...

@jaz, glad you can travel to Turkey with us! And I enjoy seeing all your delicious recipes.

Andrew Graeme Gould said...

That must have been a nice trip, Joy. Beautiful tones in the first shot, and I particularly like how you caught the couple at the bottom of the second photo.

Joy said...

@Andrew, I still have to go through all my photos! Why is it as photographers you end up taking so many photos, but then there's never enough time to go through them all? =)