Around and Around in Konya

It was early morning as we packed the family into our car for a long drive to Konya, home of the “Whirling Dervish”. What exactly is a Whirling Dervish you may ask? Well we were not to sure either since the only time we had heard this term before, was perhaps to describe Colleen selling realestate, or Natalie cooking for a dinner party, so we were a little curious to say the least.

Coincidentally, it seemed that we were arriving for the festival of Whirling Dervishes, so, based on our only frame of reference, we were assured of an impressive spectacle of Turkish men wielding pots, pans as they try to sell us carpets (we now realize that normally Turkish men only wield glasses of tea as they play cards, but they will always know someone that can do you a deal on a carpet).

Fortunately the Lonely Planet, our ever present companion and guide book, was able to shed some light on this unique religious group and we learned that the Dervish are a Muslim sect that whirl during worship to reach a trance like state.

After spending the morning learning more on this religious group, we assembled with the almost exclusively Turkish audience to take in the whirling. At the start of the ceremony, the Dervish solemnly stroll out in black cloaks and shed them (symbolising the shedding of earthly bonds) and begin to whirl around, and around, and around. With one hand facing up as they reach for heaven and one hand facing down as they hold onto their mortality, on they whirl …. for over an hour they twirl around and around. Putting themselves and the audience in a trance or to sleep. A very relaxing experience to say the least.


We have a much longer video, but I think you get the idea.

The whirling over, we decided to have an early dinner and some wine at our hotel, but having a wine or beer in Konya highlights this city's other reputation. No alcohol! It took some searching and questioning, but we eventually found a small place down a side street that would sell us the much frowned upon fluids. It felt like we were trying to score some hard drugs!

A family dinner of bread, chiselled pastrami (thanks Amir and Adrian for the hard work) and goat skin wrapped cheese finished a unique day.

Two more blogs until we reach Australia!

We hope everyone at home has a safe and happy Christmas. Our thoughts will be with you all.