Voyage Anatolia

Sufi Gate at Cappadocia , originally uploaded by voyageAnatolia . Gate of 13th century sufi Haci Bektas Veli at Cappadocia.

Timber ceiling detail of 13th century sufi shrine of Hacı Bektaş Veli at Cappadocia. PHOTO: Ceiling of Sufi Shrine at Cappadocia , originally uploaded by voyageAnatolia .

Sufi , originally uploaded by voyageAnatolia . "My Shrine is the Human being!" . . . "Heat comes from fire, not from iron, Power comes from wisdom, not from crown, Look inside you, whatever you look for." Statue of Hagia Bektash Veli, sufi lived in 13th century at Cappadocia.

Sufi Shrine at Cappadocia , originally uploaded by voyageAnatolia .

Photo: Gate of Haci Bektas Veli, sufi mystic tomb at Cappadocia.

Sufi , originally uploaded by voyageAnatolia . "My Shrine is the Human being!" . . . "Heat comes from fire, not from iron, Power comes from wisdom, not from crown, Look inside you, whatever you look for." Hagia Bektash Veli, sufi lived in 13th century, statue with symbolism of lion and gazelle together near Cappadocia.

Stay in a cave hotel in Cappadocia , go to hot air ballooning, horseback riding or trekking among fairy chimneys . Go to a sailing trip at Aegean Coast aboard a luxury yacht charter, a traditional Aegean schooner, gulet, which can be cheaper than you think. >>> Travel Istanbul aboard a ferry cruise in Bosphorus Strait between two seas, Marmara and Black Sea, and two continents, Europe and Asia, like argonauts did. Have your dinner at sunset at Kadiköy pier at the end of the day. Order Yakut for red wine or Cankaya for white. >>> Walk around Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul seeing Hagia Sophia , Topkapi Palace, Treasure and Harem of Ottoman Sultans, Blue Mosque , Archaeology Museum , Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar . See the Sufi performance of the Whirling Dervishes of Rumi at Sirkeci Train Station , terminus of the Orient Express in the evening. >>> Go extreme: Go hiking on the old volcanos of Eastern Anatolia! Climb Mount Ararat! Join an expedition...

This collection presents, for the first time in English, a compilation of seven centuries of the mystic hymns of Turkey's rebellious Sufi poets the popular folk counterparts to Rumi whose poems are characterized by a passionate and unorthodox commitment to Truth. At the time Rumi was writing in ancient Anatolia, many other great mystics in the region were also composing wild, ecstatic, and controversial poems that were circulated among the people as spiritual songs and are still played and sung today in sacred dervish ceremonies and gatherings. The poems present a spiritual tradition from the Islamic world that bravely challenged orthodox religion and emphasized universal mystic love and tolerance.