Ruang Terbuka Hijau di Konya, Turki

Saya terpesona sekali dengan banyaknya ruang terbuka hijau di kota Konya Turki, pusatnya para sufi. Bahkan di depan Masjid Alaaddin ini, ada taman besar dengan teater terbuka dan mainan anak-anak yang bisa dikendarai serta kereta api kereta api. Tidak jauh dari taman itu adalah Kebab Haji Sukru yang saya pernah bahas di postingan sebelumnya.

Di depan pertokoan ada pelataran pelataran besar tempat bangku bangku untuk orang duduk. Di Mesjid depan makam Rumi juga ada taman untuk orang beristirahat sejenak. Konya kotanya tidak besar, tapi tamannya banyak.

Firin Kebab Haji Sukru (Konya, Turkey)

One of Konya's traditional food is said to be the Firin Kebab. This type of Kebab is not like the one you usually taste in Europe.

Firin Kebabi is made of a young sheep. The meat is therefore very tender and succulent. You can eat Firin Kebab in almost every restaurant in Konya but according to the local, Haji Sukru's Kebab has been speacialzing in making Firin Kebab since quite a long time. I did saw some newspaper articles featuring the restaurant on display in the shops' 'Salonu'.

The location is not too far from Alaaddin mosque. You will have to walk through past the nice looking park and fountains, straight to the direction of the mosque. The cost is 14 lira. They gave a free cay, ask them to do the same to you, perhaps by showing them this article :p

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Travel: Review of OTEL TUR, Konya, Turkey

4 star for budget hotel called OTEL TUR in Konya. Address: Mevlana Caddesi Aziziye Mahallesi, Es'arizade 1 Sk. No. 9 Konya, Turkiye. Tel: 0332 351 98 25, fax: 0332 352 47 65, email: oteltur@hotmail.com.

The hotel (otel in Turkish) is situated on a small road exactly accross mevlana museum (the mosque), after OTEL CINAR. The hotel is clean, the breakfast is good, the room is equipped with real hotel facilities (bathroom inside, toilet with seat, hair dryer, tv, air cond, heater, towels, etc). These facilities are rather old and not shiny/new like in real hotels. But they are clean.

The hotel staff are really nice. Not all of them speak English, but you can always borrow their computer to type on google translator what you want to say. (I wish I had given the room cleaner a tip since he was very helpful, but I was running out of lira back then).

The hotel rate is perfect if two or three people are traveling together. The shared cost will be like 20-35 Turkish Lira per person per night. If you travel alone, you may have to pay for 40-50 Turkish Lira per night.

I really enjoyed staying there. And would definetely recomend couples or triples who need a clean well equipped place to stay without paying more than 12-15 euro per person per night.

However, we heard places outside Mevlana museum may offer cheaper price. And since there are not many more places to visit in Konya, staying outside Mevlana area can be a good idea to save money. You can easily move around using mini busses for 1-3 Turkish Lira (depending on the distance).

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Restaurant menu at the TCDD train (Istanbul to Konya)

The TCDD trains from Istanbul to Konya has a restaurant cart. The price, as you can see, is quite reasonable. The food is not bad either. There are peddlers hopping on and off the trains, so you can buy things on board if you are hungry. Be sure to keep your belongings safe when going to the restaurant wagon.
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