One day in December, I was invited to the union celebration of Rumi. In Konya. I thought this was a marriage celebration, but in fact, it’s the union of Rumi with God — the celebration of Rumi’s death.
Other than a few quotes and knowing that Rumi was famous, I didn’t know much before that weekend.
Rumi, or Mevlana as he is often called in Turkish, was a Sufi mystic and poet, born in 1207 in the Persian empire. Fleeing the Mongol hordes, he eventually settle in Konya in what was the Byzantine Empire, or Easter Roman Empire. He was called “the Roman” or “Rumi” and that is what he is known as in English. There is so much to know about Rumi but I won’t go into it here.
Rumi said that the soul’s ultimate goal is to return to the divine through unconditional love, mindfulness, and the dissolution of ego. Down through the centuries, Rumi has become famous for his poetry. Most people have heard of the whirling dervishes and many have seen them “perform” but it’s more than that. Each rotation is a delicate prayer sent heavenward. The whirling dervishes were created by Rumi’s sons.
Personal.
The cultural center in Konya makes it easy to visit and appreciate the poetry and philosophy of Rumi, both for believers and non-believers. Every night, there is a whirling dervish performance at 7 pm. But, in December, there are special prayer sessions at 8 pm. These are hard to get tickets. It must be planned years in advance. For some reason, I thought it might be a solemn experience. It was a spiritual one. But also a very human one. All around me were people live streaming the songs and prayers via their telephones, often back to a loved one who was too sickly to make the event in person. The center also had lots of stalls where one could buy inexpensive crafts, Turkish delight, tea, and souvenirs.
Mevlani’s tomb.
Visiting the mausoleum of Rumi and his family was a quiet experience. There are many items on display so the place is a bit like a museum. But, there are also people there who are praying so it’s a bit like a mosque. One has to put on shoe covers, and women can, if they want, cover their hair. Scarves are available.
Loaner scarves.
Konya is a conservative city but during Rumi tourism time in December, it’s accommodating for foreigners. But the city gets crowded so plan ahead.
The hot summers: It gets up to 110 F (44 C) almost every day for a few weeks and the rest of the three or so months (mid-June through mid-September) the temperature will be above 90 F (32 C) during the day for months on end. This heat is not too sticky but it’s not completely dry and you still sweat. A lot. There is one good thing about this heat and that is that there are minimal outdoor activities or anything outdoors during this time. And there is lots of air conditioning.
The smoking. They smoke. A lot. Even inside restaurants.
The traffic. Yes, it’s bad. In the city. The roads are in bad condition. Not everyone follows the rules. Is the traffic worse than Dhaka? No.
Chaos but no animals in the streets.
The flies — well that ONE fly that goes straight for my mouth when I step outdoors. Or buzzes around our food at the breakfast places. Ugh. Usually it is not a big fly. But after I bought the electric fly swatter, life changed. Now I just have to figure out a way to attach the fly swatter to my face…
The lack of international items other than Japanese sushi rolls. No real Indian food. None. There is pasta with curry or rice with curry but it’s nothing like curry.
The language. It’s hard.
Other parts of Turkiye look down on this city. Many treat it like the ugly step child… It seems like lots of people come from Adana but have left.
But, even with all these negative things about Adana, I like this city. Maybe because it’s the underdog.
As I have done for all the places I’ve lived these past 15 years, I write about the pros and cons. This is the good stuff about living in Adana as a foreigner.
It’s a chill place even though the weather is hot in the summer. People are fairly relaxed here about dress code, lifestyle, smoking, drinking, etc. Live and let live. Cover your hair if you want. Wear shorts if you want. Hijabs next to mini skirts.
There are lots of coffee shops open late into the evening so that one can go out without going to a club.
Cups for sale.
There are thousands of restaurants in all price ranges. Every place will serve Turkish breakfast (kahvalti). Just ask.
A local eatery. A fancier restaurant.
The locals are friendly. Everyone has a phone so they can use a translator app.
There are no tourists. I mentioned that already in another article.
The great things about living in Adana are that it’s a vibrant city full of people going about their lives. Food is fresh and good. People are friendly. Taxis are cheap.
Recently, I saw on the news that some places are being overrun by tourists. That locals are tired of tourists. I get the feeling. For me, the feeling has been a slow burnout for many years. Even though I realize that tourism is good for the economy (see my article on what to see and do as a tourist in Adana) and that it helps make a person more cultured… I don’t want to do it anymore.
Living in Adana has made me realize that I’m tired of tourism. Adana is the first city in which I’ve lived that is not a capital city or mega tourist destination. I have lived in Rome (35 million tourists visited in 2024 — in a city with over 4 million residents) and Washington, DC (25 million tourists visited in 2025 — the city has 6 million residents in the greater metropolitan area) — both cities with lots of tourists. Of course, it is possible to live out where there are no tourists in both those cities.
That’s another reason that I love Adana. Apparently there are a million tourists per year. But what I see is two million people living their lives. Most of them not working in tourism. I can’t even find an English-speaking tour guide! I’m not sure that they exist.
To answer the question from my previous article about how many of the touristy things I had done in Adana… only a few. Mainly the food related ones. Adana is known for its food tourism… I have been a food tourist. Sigh.
I was surprised to see these sheep grazing on this street in town.
This leads to a much deeper question of “seeing it like the locals” form of tourism. Maybe I’m that type of tourist. A sheep gawker tourist. Sheep are perfectly normal in Adana. But for me, it’s not normal. So maybe I’m a “novelty tourist?” Or a “sheep gawker tourist.”
At the super cute puppy stage. This one lives at the kayak club.
Türkiye is famous for the cats and dogs who live on the streets and “belong” to everyone. The dogs who have been fixed so they can no longer produce, have a tag on an ear. There are bowls of water and food in front of many shops and people generally take care of these animals, including grooming them.
This dog has a tag on the ear.
So if you don’t want to have your own pet, you can just get friendly with the ones on the streets. I am accustomed to the one dog who hangs out by the exit to the mall. And the other two who sleep on the steps. It just seems normal.
Dogs napping on the mall steps.
As for the kittens and puppies, watch out. You might end up adopting them.
One should only expect that every pilaf eatery is host to its own Turkish drama.
As I mentioned in another article about the meat market, I was actually on my way to a famous pilaf restaurant. After the meat market, I found my way back to the rice eatery. This type of rice restaurant is most common in Istanbul but there are some in Adana. This particular one has been open for 60 years. Now the grandson runs it on a daily basis although the grandfather does show up to keep the wait staff in order (like to tell them to get to work instead of talking to me… oops, sorry)
Like in most local places, or so it seems, the young teen touts are the ones that get you into the shop. Here there were two of them. One was wheeling a scratched blue wheelbarrow containing a large tinfoil covered cauldron. I followed him in. He proudly lifted the cauldron onto the counter and lifted the foil to reveal the steaming broad beans simmering in tomatoes. I did not order that. I was here for the rice pilaf with chickpeas (garbanzo beans) with shredded chicken breast meat on top. And the potato vegetable sauce. Oh, and the yogurt dressing not to be called tzatziki. It is called cacik (jaw-jik) here. But that is also another story.
I ordered and was guided to a table near the action. Once I sat down, the teen waiter sat down across from me with his lunch. The other teen waiter chatted to me from the next table as he used his Google translate to find questions for me. As I tried to eat without spilling (almost impossible when being watched and filmed?), the 20-something manager and the teen waiters asked me questions… Are you married? Where is your family? Where are you from? Are you here alone? Why? What do you do for work? Is America beautiful? Why are you not married? Take me with you. Mostly the teen waiters asked me these questions. I tried to deflect them as vaguely as possible and with my own questions. How old are you? Why aren’t they in school? They leave school at 12? The other waiter, a man who looked familiar in that way that he looked very Turkish, stood quietly and said nothing. I am sure I have seen his face somewhere. Maybe on the eatery’s social media.
Salt and spicy pickled chilis to taste.
Then, a man entered. He had a strong jaw and longish locks of hair curling over his thick brows. Omar worked there as well. The other boys and men in the pilaf shop extolled Omar’s English skills. Omar (I don’t recall his real name so I’ve named him after the main character in Black Love Money, a Turkish drama) had worked in Istanbul for six years at a deluxe hotel and that was why his English was as good as it was. Omar took a plate of food and sat on the tiny stool next to me. He had a moody sort of attractiveness about him that I could see the ladies might like. He looked to be about 38 so he was probably 22. Life can age one here, especially for those working since the age of 13, and smoking from before then.
Omar had recently returned to Adana. To fight with his family. He has ten brothers and sisters. He fights with his mother, his father, his brothers, and his sisters. The teen waiters and the grandson manager told me this. The silent one, who looks so familiar, nodded in concurrence. Omar fights with his family. Yes. It is so.
I asked why.
It seems that Omar lives, lived, his life as he wants and is not married with children, like he is supposed to be. Omar then said that life is bad here. He wants to go to America. The teen waiters chimed in at this point. One told me that he wants to go to Germany. Omar, and the teen waiters, wanted me to take them to America. (This reminds me of a taxi ride I had a month or so ago when the driver, through my friend’s translation skills, at first suggested that I marry him and take him to America… but then, when I told him that he was too young, offered to be adopted by me. As a joke, I said that I would have to give him a new name as well. He spent the next ten minutes laughing and saying, “Give me a name! Adopt me!” which made my Turkish friends laugh so that the taxi was rocking with our collective merriment.) At the rice shop, the question was, “When do you go? I go with you.” As if life were so simple.
Rice pilaf with chicken and meat gravy, yogurt sauce, and bread.
Speaking of proposals, this is when the drama gets Turkish. And romantic. And tragic.
Omar told me that he had met a Lithuanian girl. They fell in love. She went back home. He was going to move to be with her. Then, he found out that she had died in a car accident. As he told me this, Omar quickly wiped the corner of his eye and said, “I am not going to cry. My heart is broken.”
What a sad story.
Always tea.
At that moment, the grandfather gave a command and Omar got up. There were tables to clean. Customers to serve. Not.
I got up and paid. I had places to be. One of the teen waiters told me to give them a five star rating.
If you are wondering, the rice pilaf with chick peas was good. My meal cost 130 Turkish Lira ($3). I left a 200 note. One of the teen waiters said, “Ah, the tip” which I am sure they got from the YouTubers who made this place famous. I am not sure that the Turkish drama is told every time.
Some people do load up their bikes when they shop.
Grocery shopping in Adana can be done at Groseri, a large chain. Easy to remember. Bu that is not the only place to shop. There are different levels of fanciness in grocery chains and the level of foreign food products also depends on how expensive and fancy the chain is… Here they are from highest in price to lowest.
Macrocenter and Kiosks is the fanciest and has the most Whole Foods or fancier vibe. There is one main store and lots of smaller kiosks. I find the kiosks are more like liquor stores with drunk food and drink. Owned by Migros.
Macrocenter has a Dean § DeLuca feel.
Metro is a Costco type store for restauranteurs. They have all that you need to open a sushi and maki place. Sushi is the rage in Turkiye. You have to sign up for a membership but it’s free and fairly easy to get the first time you go to the store. The store is a cavernous warehouse like most Costcos and you can buy glasses, furniture, etc. plus food.
Metro Center has a warehouse feel.
Groseri is probably my favorite chain. They have some interesting imported items, they make fresh food at the deli, and often there is a lady making fresh cig kofte which are vegetarian meat “balls”.
Carrefour is a French chain. The store in the M1 mall is huge while most of the neighborhood stores are average size. Imports from France include butter and other items that the Turks enjoy.
Migros is your average grocery store. They are a Swiss chain.
BIM is the largest retail grocery store chain in Turkiye. The stores are not always huge but they are like Aldi or Lidl in style. The middle aisle can have treasures or an air fryer.
BIM and most other places sell unmentionables.
A101 is a discount grocery store chain often found along with BIM in mixed income regions of town.
Migros Jet is also owned by Migros and is a discount chain.
Şok is also owned by Migros and is even more discount.
There are also open air markets and street vendors if you want to avoid grocery stores.
Adana is distinctive for its river which runs through it and along the old town. The number one pastime for Adanalis (people from Adana) is to “grill” or picnic. They will set up wherever they think will be nice. Many spots along the river and lake have setups for grilling. I have been trying to “breakfast my way around the lake” because the views are so aquamarine. I love it.
The Seyhan Lake is an artificial lake that was created by the dam (and hydroelectric station) which opened in 1956 to protect old Adana, 15 kilometers to the south.
The lake is a popular place for restaurants, fishing, kayaking, and much more. Many nightclubs and shisha bars line the lake. One can drive around the lake (and on this site, one can learn more about the lake and the activities available.)
As I do for every place I’ve lived since I started this blog, I write a “realities” article where I talk about the downsides or less than lovely things about where I live (read about Rome here). This is about living in the greater Washington,DC, Maryland, and Virginia are (the DMV).
The traffic. The commute takes over an hour.
The prices. Everything seems to be expensive.
The politics. However one feels about politics, the reality is that this is a town based on it. So it is hard to ignore.
Seven dollars with tip.
Tipping: So much tipping and on EVERYTHING. 25 percent at some places.
The size. This is a spread out city. There are pockets that are cute, but in general it’s big.
The heat: In the summer, it is brutally hot and humid here. It is a swamp, after all.
The lack of authentic Mexican food: This is not really a problem for me, but for most gringos whom I meet around the world, this is a problem.
For $95 per person, you get a whole lot of history and trivia about Chinatown Manhattan and New York City (what Chinese dish was invented in Manhattan? That sort of thing). Oh, and you get to eat at five different places.
Chinatown Manhattan
I won’t give away all the places on the food tour, but it was definitely worth it. We went with Ultimate Food Tours.
Steamed buns.
Our group had ten people and the tour took three hours. Along the way, our guide shared lore, etiquette (how to eat a soup dumpling properly!), and stories about the Chinese in America.
Soup dumplings.
The guide was awesome and he left without waiting for a tip!
Do you love the Southwest of the USA? But wish it was in South Africa? Then you are in luck! Here are some of the things to do in Clarens, South Africa. The Golden Gate National Park is right there, and this town is near Lesotho, so it makes for a good stopping point. The area has a frontier, southwest USA, feel to it. It’s about fours from Pretoria.
Golden Gate Park.
Cheese tasting at Baris: This farm cheese shop is so fun. Go for lunch and order a cheese tasting.
Cheese tasting platter at Baris.
Hiking: This is the real reason many people visit this area.
Gorgeous sunset in Golden Gate Park.
Gin tasting: At Clarens Brewery, they have a gin store, Junipers Craft Gin Bar, and they do tastings (plus they have some yummy food including their ‘chips’ or fries and they have Bunny Chow, a curry-in-a-loaf-of-bread specialty of South Africa.
View over my Bunny Chow.
Shopping: Lots of artwork, souvenirs, cards, clothes, and gin. I almost bought paintings by this local artist, Johan Smith. There are other cute shops including the Purple Onion. Make sure to check them all out. They are all next to each other. Everything from art, fudge, cards, shoes, clothes, and antiques.
Clarens has a Southwest wild west feel.
Entertainment: This town has live entertainment including a local guy who is famous in this local town.
Old timey feel at Purple Onion.
Eating: Surprisingly good restaurants for such a small town. The Italian one, Bocca di Lupo, run by a guy from Bologna, is divine. Excellent pizza and pasta.
Spicy spaghetti.
Sleeping: You can stay in a castle. I stayed at the Protea, a Marriott hotel because it was about four minutes downhill by food from the Clarens square with the shops and restaurants. Made for an easy commute after shopping or eating.
The shop at Highland Brew.
Outside of the town of Clarens, there are other things to do and see. Other than the cheese place, there is also a dinosaur center. If you want another cafe with views of the mountains and hiking areas, check out Highland Brew. It has food and drink, plus a shop selling jam and coffee.
When baby elephants galumph, that’s when they are cutest.
I’ll admit that I wasn’t all that excited about going on another safari (okay, do I sound jaded?) but then, my friend reminded me that it was springtime in South Africa… and there would be lots of baby animals. And who, who (not I), can resist the cuteness of baby animals (I’m jaded but not a monster!)?
Going on safari entails not just the bit where you see the animals but also the “hotel” bit of the stay. The part where you see the animals is called the “game drive” because you drive out to see game. Most safari places have two game drives per day, one for sunrise and one for sunset. Depending on the place, you may have to get up at 4 in the morning. Others it’s 5 am. Our driver/guide told us that he would call us at 5 am and he wasn’t kidding. Every day for four days. We went on a four day safari so we went on eight game drives. There are also walking tours to see the animals. We did not do that, but you can if you want to. Each game drive lasts for three to four hours. Usually with a “pit stop” for a breakfast snack or a sunset cocktail snack. We were back at the safari lodge by 8:30 am every day, just in time for breakfast. Then again from 4 pm to 7 pm, back in time for dinner. After a lunch and a “tea” — going on safari is like a land cruise. You eat all the time!
Looks serious. I think it was an eland.
One’s safari experience depends heavily on where you have the experience. When I mentioned that I was going on safari, friends said, “oh, like glamping” — no, absolutely not. There is no tent involved. At least not for me. Some people like the idea of sleeping in a tent. Out in the bush where the warthogs and hippos roam…
I could even see the elephants from my bed!
I prefer to be separated from the animals when I am sleeping. We stayed at Madikwe Hills in the Madikwe Nature Reserve. Our place was fancy. The rooms are separate houses and ours was the size of an apartment. We had a sitting room, fireplace, large bathroom area with bathtub, shower, separate toilet room, and an outdoor shower. Outside, we had a wrap around balcony/deck and a private dipping pool. Our pool and deck had resident “rock wallies” which are a type of native rodent, like a guinea pig but slightly bigger. They moved away when we went outside and were not aggressive. Below is a slide deck of lots of the animals.
I liked the game drives at Madikwe. The guides from all the lodges are connected via radio and they make sure that no more than three vehicles are at any animal siting. This keeps it from being a circus. Often, it was just us and the animals. Our tracker sat on a chair on the front grill of the safari jeep (a nine seater + driver and tracker) and spotted animals and animal tracks for us. The driver/guide knows how to use a rifle and takes that with them when they go on walks (a “bush walk”). It takes a different sort of license. The truck is kitted out with blankets (they do safaris all year round) and the crew take well care of the guests (it is just like a cruise). They even fried up a “venison” meat every night, although the game venison was always sourced from a food source and not from the reserve.
What does it cost? Well, that depends on how lux you want. Madikwe Hills cost around $900 per night but we used one of their last minute deals that was 55 percent off. There is also the cost of tips, game drives, park fees, and park conservation fees. Don’t visit Madikwe if you are trying to do this on the cheap. Madikwe Hills is one of the most luxurious of the safari lodges. I chatted with some South Africans who were at the lodge and they mentioned this.
The gatehouse at our lodge with our vehicle waiting for us.
Most people go on safari in Kruger National Park. It is a bit more exclusive at Madikwe and the crowds are smaller. One night there was a cultural performance by the staff and a buffet “boma” which is a dinner around a campfire. The word, “BOMA,” comes from “British Officers Mess Area” and that factoid was my favorite part of it. Okay, not really, but I am a bit of a word nerd.
Looking into the interior dining area.
As for clothes, one reads about not wearing blue clothes or anything too bright. In Madikwe, that was not necessary. I had brought lots of lightweight long pants made of linen but in the end wore shorts and a linen shirt. It was hot. Like an oven hot. And in the early morning when it was cold, they provided blankets which were two layered with a fleece side and a windproof side.
Our tracker found a lost GoPro.
The animals in Madikwe do not include hippos or large elephants (in Kenya the elephants are much bigger than the ones down here) as those are not native to this part of South Africa. The lingo around safaris is different — there is the “big five” (African lions, leopards, rhinoceros, elephants, and Cape buffalo) which refer to the types of animals that you hope to see to check off your bucket list. We did not see a leopard.
Happy Hour on the game drive. Biltong, or dried meat, on the left.
I had never heard of the “little five” (Elephant Shrew, Ant Lion, Rhinoceros Beetle, Buffalo Weaver and Leopard Tortoise) which are related in name to the “big five.” The big five originally was a phrase used for big game hunting, but now the hunting involves camera shots only. Also mentioned was the “ugly five” but beauty is in the eye of the beholder so we had fun debating that list (warthog, vulture, wildebeest, Marabou Stork, and hyena).
This is the view you will have most of the time. Unless you have a zoom lens.
In Madikwe, the baby animals are allowed to spend their first six months not being watched by tourists which may make for less cute photos but is better for the animals. We did get to see cheetah “teens” who had just turned six months old so we were allowed to look at them. There are also a lot of birds. Lots. If you are a birder, then this is a joy. Take a huge camera lens. Otherwise, you will see the birds, but may not have photographic proof. The lodge gave us a little booklets so we could mark off what animals we had seen, including birds.
Zebra crossing…
Even if sitting in a dusty hot open air jeep is not your idea of a good time, you kind of get into it. I did. It was fun to learn about animal droppings. And to learn that lions pretty much just sleep all day.
One of the vehicles.
Was it dangerous? No and yes. No, because the animals are accustomed to the vehicles. So far, no tourist has been harmed (in 2018, a lion mauled a woman to death) recently. Yes, dangerous, because the vehicles have no windows. The animals are wild. We were told not to lift our butts off the seats because if the animals see a different profile in the normal “jeep” shape that they are accustomed to… as our guide said when one of our group started rising up to get a better photo… “that lion can get here in three seconds” — got it!
Let’s just say that we looked out for each other (as in we all yanked him back down onto his butt!). Because none of us wanted a lion attack. If you do get attacked by a lion, the advice is to face the lion and look as big as possible. The key is to not act like a source of food so no running like a gazelle. And, try to find well-fed lions.
