Forsake the beaten paths of tourists’ Turkey to trek through the mountains of Kurdistan to visit the shrine of one of the world’s most revered mystics, the 13th century Hazrath Jalaluddin Rumi –YOGINDER SIKAND Partly in Asia and partly in Europe, Turkey is one of the most fascinating countries to visit. I had been to Turkey (pop. 84 million) twice before, on both trips confining myself to Istanbul, the world’s only city that straddles two continents (Asia and Europe), and nearby towns in the western part of the country — the well-beaten tourist trail. But on my latest trip, I was determined to explore other Turkish regions including those visited by few foreign travelers. I was certain that I wanted to visit Konya, which hosts the shrine of one of the world’s most revered mystics, the 13th century Hazrat Jalaluddin Rumi. I also wanted to trek the mountains of Kurdistan, the vast eastern part of Turkey adjoining Syria and Iran, where Sufi communities, for many decades persecuted by Turkey’s formerly radical secularist Kemalist regime, still exist. This time I wanted to experience Turkey’s rapidly fading, but once glorious, Sufi past. The cheapest ticket I could procure to Turkey entailed arriving in the town of Antalya (pop. 1.3 million), of which I had not heard. Antalya, I was to discover, is one of Turkey’s most attractive holiday resorts, with a mild Mediterranean climate almost through the year, long, palm fringed beaches, ancient mosques and castles and, above all, endearingly welcoming people. I checked into an old Ottoman building renovated and converted into a lodge. A little pool was the centre of an ornately decorated courtyard, surrounded by easy lounges — the sort one imagines Ottoman princes and nobility would have taken their ease. Calligraphy engravings on the walls gave an inkling of what life must have been for Ottoman elites a century ago. Like most towns of Turkey, Antalya presents a fine blend of cultures. The majestic Hadriyanus Kapisi in the heart of the city is a massive gate built by Roman Emperor Hadrian, and dates back to the second century AD. Close by are ancient monuments, including several finely decorated mosques and Sufi lodges. The port, dating back to Roman times, is Antalya’s most attractive quarter, dotted with old cottages overlooking a natural harbour, comprising massive rocks. The sea is unimaginably placid like a giant swimming pool. A narrow donkey-track, fringed with flaming bougainvillea, leads down to the beach at the far end, while on the other side, below a Roman lighthouse, sailing and fishing boats, in a splendid variety of shades and colours, bob on calm waters. The well-maintained 30,000 sq mts vast City Museum houses exhibits stretching back 10,000 years, to the Stone Age, through the Hittite, Greek, Roman, Christian Byzantine and Islamic eras of Turkish history. Its most curious item is the purported skull of Santa Claus, who, a plaque explains, was the bishop of a town near Antalya in the fourth century and is remembered as…
