Beysehir / Beyşehir

Tuesday 25th May

This was another travelling day, involving four buses and two taxis. We got a taxi to the Egirdir bus station, then a bus (two hours) to Beysehir's bus terminal, where we left Gabi's large bag in the emanet (left luggage) and just made it onto a local bus from there into town.

The big attraction in Beysehir is the flat-roofed 13th century Seljuk mosque. This is not so dramatic on the outside, but inside it has lovely wooden pillars, a tiled mithrab and a decorated door arch. It is apparently the oldest surviving mosque of its kind. There are a couple of other attractive Seljuk buildings nearby: a Bedesten and an unused Medrese.

We had a cheap "kebab and ayran" lunch in a place looking over the river and an attractive Ottoman railway bridge that now carries pedestrians. (We forgot to try the lake fish, which is a Beysehir speciality.)

Then we got the local bus back to the bus station and then a bus — a smaller shuttle — to Konya. As usual, everyone was very helpful, from the German-speaking left-luggage manager to a young woman who was also travelling to the bus station and assured us we were at the right place and then made sure we got on the best bus for Konya. In Konya, rather than wrestling with the metro and a bus, we got a taxi from the bus terminal to our hotel.

Next: Konya
Previous: Egirdir
Up: Turkey