Cheeky Chaplain reaches Iconium

31 October:
Having overnighted at Beyşahir, we made an early start for Iconium (Konya). We arrived in Konya just after midday and began looking for the hotel we were going to stay at for the next three nights, the Dervish hotel. On asking directions from a man in the street, who had no English, he contacted one of the two brothers (Mr. Mehmet Ucar) who own the hotel, by mobile ‘phone. Within a matter of minutes Mehmet Bey was on the spot, jumped in the car and guided us to our destination. The centre of old Konya is the Mevlana Museum and the resting place of Mevlana, also known as Rumi, the founder of the mystical Sufi branch of Islam. The open mindedness of the Sufi way and the teachings of Shams-i-Tabrezi the 12th century poet and philosopher appealed to both of us. Sufi ideas were embraced by the Sikh Gurus for the their truthful simplicity.
1 November:
We visit the Konya Archeological Museum and see the important inscription on the stone from the site of Lystra as described in the Lystra web-page. Then it’s off to Aladdin’s Hill with its ancient mosque and the remains of the palace of Seljuk sultans.
According to buy levitra an ancient Egyptian legend, the world was originally submerged under water and thus darkness. Rush to the doctor cheapest tadalafil online to seek help in such case. Erectile dysfunction is said to be a dangerous and annoying disorder which is said to be not good for prices cheapest levitra your body. Men must make sure that they take order generic cialis the desired pill and the desired treatment for the problem. In the evening we are joined by Pinar, a young lady from Konya who stayed with Javinder and his family in Bristol for four months a few years ago, who together with her cousin and husband gave us a brief tour of the city. By the time we had something to eat it was 11:30 and the end of the day.

Cheeky Chaplain at Pisidian Antioch

30 October:
We left Eğirdir at about 10:00 this morning and travelled along the eastern side of the lake, north east to Pisidian Antioch (Yalvaç).

While there are no medical tests to help with this determination, typically through conversation the doctor can determine the problem. canadian viagra samples After the intake of Visit Your URL generico levitra on line Generic Cilais people face a good flow to the penis which makes erection possible in an efficient manner. It soothes your nerves to get relief from viagra tablets anxiety and stress. ED sufferers can order purchase cialis this medication online and receive the packet from your doorstep. Both of us felt the increasing remoteness of the landscape which was fertile enough to sustain extensive apple orchards. The sense of remoteness and the profound silence of the place was particularly acute at the site of Pisidian Antioch itself. The combination of autumnal light, the massive stone blocks of the ruined city and the stark backdrop of the mountains was breathtakingly beautiful. Before entering the ruined city by its western gate, we followed the course of the aqueduct on foot for 1km and could appreciate the context of the site in the wider landscape.
Within the city were many inscriptions, almost all of which were in Latin rather than Greek. This is a very extensive site with only a small proportion having been subjected to archeological examination. From a personal perspective, the highlight of the visit was standing in the apse of St. Paul’s Church, on the site of the earlier synagogue where Paul delivered his famous sermon, and reading out loud Acts 13, 14-52. By this simple act, I was deeply and unexpectedly moved by the strength of the Spirit. Our three hour visit to Pisidian Antioch was hardly sufficient, but we had to push on to our overnight accommodation at Beyşahir about 100 km away. We arrived after dark and eventually found our hotel. Beyşahir itself lies on the lake of the same name, an unpretentious town well off the tourist map.

Cheeky Chaplain Arrives

 

16 October:
The take off of the flight to Paphos was two hours late due to brake failure!
Arrived safely, took taxi to Athena Beach Hotel getting in at about 10:30 local time.
17 October:
Today I visited the archaeological park at Nea Paphos and all the things that I saw are recorded in the diary.


18 October:
Visited the Sanctuary of Aphrodite at Palaepaphos (Kuklia) by bus, then on return to Paphos I visited the tombs of the kings and finally returned back to the hotel.


19 October:
This was a very full day. I started off by taking a taxi to the bus station in Paphos and then by InterCity bus for two hours to Nicosia. On arriving at Nicosia Solomon Square at about 11:30 I strolled along the old city walls are looking for the border crossing to North Cyprus at the Ledra hotel. Walking up through the UN demilitarised zone towards the border crossing was truly a very strange experience, with ruins from the hostilities in 1974, including the onetime premier Ledra Palace Hotel still present along the roadside.
I had a heart stopping occasion at the border when I couldn’t find my passport. I thought it was lost but found it in another pocket so I was able to cross and breathe again.
Since I had about two hours to wait until my higher car was delivered I decided to have some lunch served by a lovely lady who ran a small business near the crossing.
The car turned up on time and the representative helped guide me towards Girne where my hotel for the next few days was located. I finally arrived at the Bella View hotel and was ready for a good dinner and slept very well indeed.
20 October:
This being on Sunday, I decided to have a really nice easy day. During the morning I walked to Bellapais Abbey. These striking gothic ruins are probably the best of their type on Cyprus. They still have a profound peace.


21 October:
This was a very long day and I decided to visit Salamis by car as planned. The journey took me over the five finger mountains, otherwise known as the Beşparmak mountains and then onto the Mesarya Plateau. The mountain road was very winding and made driving an exercise in concentration, but was repaid by excellent views.
On the approach to Salamis I visited the monastery of St Barnabas built on the site where, according to tradition, the body of St Barnabas was discovered buried with a copy of St Matthews Gospel. The monastery is now an icon and archaeological museum. Most of the icons are fairly modern and to my taste not the best I’ve seen with respect to execution. Still, very much worth visiting as it represents a real contact with the fellow traveller of St Paul, murdered by the Jews of Salamis just 10 years after the journey they shared through Cyprus and into Galatia.
Sexual record Medical record Psychosocial record A physical test is essential for every sufferer; accentuate the genitourinary, vascular, & sildenafil viagra neurologic functions. Not all generic suppliers are reputable and reliable, and when you are purchasing something that you are required to take each time before going to perform sexual activity, thereby causing problem in marital relationship. viagra samples The previous health records of kidney disease, buy tadalafil cialis liver dysfunction, disorder of heart beats and a long stay of QT syndrome can prevent the drug use as these conditions are extreme sensitive to tolerate the drug’s active impact. Osteoarthritis and Joint Pain is a degenerative joint disease, which causes the breakdown of the cartilage in the learningworksca.org online cialis joints. Just a view miles further on and you arrive at the ancient city of Salamis itself. It’s a truly beautiful and extensive site with a real feeling of isolation and a wonderful spiritual opportunity to connect with my namesake.
By far the most stunning visual remains on the site are the ruins of the gymnasium and bath complex together with the partially restored theatre, which date from the time of Augustus and therefore would have been seen by St Paul and St Barnabas on their visit. The Roman forum and temple of Zeus are also first century buildings and again would’ve been seen by the travellers. The ruins of two basilicas on the site reaffirm a very powerful Christian connection, particularly the basilica built by Epiphanios as Bishop of Salamis (386-403 AD) and destroyed during the Arab raids of the seventh century.
Altogether I spent about three and a half hours at the site and in the hot sun and high-temperature I did feel a little desiccated but understood more fully the meaning of pilgrimage.
The drive back to Kyrenia (Girne) is about 90 minutes, and on arriving back at the Bella View hotel was ready for a good shower and a good dinner, the end of a very very good day.


22 October:
Another easy day spent relaxing at Bellapais and enjoying a really super lunch with four fellow guests of the hotel at a lovely little restaurant on the seaside called “The Hut”.
23 October:
Today was time to leave Cyprus. I really enjoyed my short visit to the island; it’s people are wonderful and life in the north of the island is much more restrained and a little more rustic than in the south. Departed my hotel at about 8 o’clock, returned the higher car and was driven by the company to Ercan airport for the 11:20 flight to Antalya. The plane arrived on schedule at 12:20. Hello Turkey. Taxi to the Tütav Adalya Boutique Hotel, my base until Tuesday 29 October.
24 October:
A fairly inauspicious start today I’m afraid. I took a taxi to the Antalya Rotary club dressed in fairly formal kit for their meeting scheduled at 12:20. It turned out that the Talya hotel where they meet was closed for renovations and there was no further information available on their website which had not been updated! During the taxi ride back the driver got lost so nothing further to do but to get out and walk back to my hotel.
The afternoon was spent visiting Antalya Museum. The museum and its grounds are very impressive and it houses one of the best collections of second century statuary I’ve ever seen. The majority of these were from Perge and give me a wonderful preview of the ruined metropolis of Pamphilia, which I hope to visit as part of an organised tour on Saturday. I took lots of photographs and purchased a lovely book on the statues at the Museum.
25 October:
I spent most of today looking around the old city of Antalya called Kaleiçi. Walked around the ancient walls and visited Hadrian’s gate, built to commemorate the Emperor’s visit in about 130 AD. I also took time to visit the Kaleiçi Museum, which has a great collection of 19th-century photographs of street vendors, a remarkable reconstruction of the interior of a town house of the same period, and an extensive collection of local ceramics housed in what had been St Georges Church.


26 October:
Today I took a day trip to Perge (Perga), Aspendos and Side organised by the Nirvana travel service. The trip cost 147 Turkish lire but was well worth it. I started by being picked up at the hotel at 7:50 in the morning and by the time all 14 members of the trip were picked up we arrived at Perge at 9 o’clock. It was early enough to avoid most of the other coach trips so we had the site almost to ourselves. The site is very large and takes about two hours to walk through it at a normal pace. For me some of the highlights were the Agora, the basilica, the Roman baths and the palaestra. Outside the boundary of the site there was the truly magnificent stadium and also an excellent theatre which unfortunately was closed during my visit since it was undergoing renovation. The interpretation of the site was substantially helped by the visit to Antalya Museum where the marvellous collection of statuary is to be found, which is mostly second century however. It does not take much imagination to envisage Paul Barnabas and Mark present in the city.
Aspendos is probably best known for its ancient theatre probably one of the best remaining in of the Roman world. The city itself is quite a steep climb up above the theatre with many remains to be seen but the climb was well worth the effort for the superb view of the ancient aqueduct system with its inverted siphon to bring water to the city. Had a pleasant lunch with the tour group on the banks of the River Eurymedon, which a mile or so downstream is crossed by the famous late Roman bridge. Side has some interesting remains including a large theatre and the temple to Apollo. The trip concluded with a cool and refreshing visit to the Manavgat waterfall. The trip organisers dropped me off at 17:00 in the middle of Kaleiçi and I walked back to my base by the Roman harbour.

27 October:
It’s Sunday and the eve of the Turkish national holiday which celebrates the foundation of the republic, but more importantly for me it’s the eve of the arrival of Javinder and the start of the next phase of the journey. I intend to meet Javinder on his arrival at Antalya airport by travelling out by the airport bus which departs from the city bus terminus (Autogar). This is about 3 miles from my base at the harbour and I walked there just to find out all about it, which took about one hour. I returned by the city metro service which was a lot easier and which I will definitely use tomorrow.

Cheeky Chaplain Starts Out

Tomorrow Cheeky Chaplain starts out on his first journey in the footsteps of St. Paul, and like his namesake begins with a visit to Cyprus. During his week in Cyprus he hopes to visit Paphos and Salamis, then during following two weeks it’s over to Turkey where he hopes to visit Attalia (Antalya), Perga (Perge), Pisidian Antioch (Yalvaç), Iconium (Konya) and Lystra (Zoldura Höyök) – all visited by St. Paul on his first journey.

Please add your comments (and prayers) to this blog, particularly over the next three weeks, as Cheeky Chaplain lets you follow his progress during this first leg of his pilgrimage.
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Hello from Cheeky Chaplain

St_Paul_IconJust to let you know that this web-site is currently under development and aims to provide information on the four journeys of St. Paul.

Any comments on the site are very welcome.
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Over the next twelve months or so I hope to visit as many of the historic sites mentioned as possible.