Woke at 7am due to early light and went for breakfast which included the pansiyon owner’s own blackberry jam (which actually tasted more like treacle). Then we headed off to Şenyuva via Çamlıhemşin and the lovely traditional bridges on the way.
Black Sea Travels – Day 6, Trabzon to Ayder (via Rize)
The journey towards Rize began with bright, if cloudy, skies and we decided, after slight rainfall, not to stop along the way at Of (yes, there really is a place called ‘Of’!). However, when we came to Rize, we could see the storms ahead, and so knew our planned stop there would be more than necessary. Mark skilfully found an on-street parking spot and then we headed off to find tourist info. The guides there were pretty friendly and we had two good maps in no time. Then we went back to the Deragh pastanesi around the corner for elmalı poğaça (apple pastry) and hot chocolate. The poğaça was dusted with as much icing sugar as the Kaçkar mountains are with snow – Deeeelicious.
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Black Sea Travels – Day 5, Trabzon
Up early to breakfast – the usual, plus melon and cherry jam. Then off in car (via a new, quick route from the hotel manager – hurrah) to Sumela Monastery, one of the iconic sights from the region. The drive itself was gorgeous as we wound through a verdant yet craggy gorge-like river valley with towering cliffs above us. Much to our delight, the weather was gorgeous too!
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Black Sea Travels – Day 4, Perşembe to Trabzon
A quick breakfast in the car after a lie-in till 9am, then off along the coast again through Ordu and on to Giresun. Drove through Giresun and stopped (after driving around through some extremely hilly back roads and then back down the coast to a very crowded otopark) to go to the castle. We didn’t get to any castle in the end, but we did find a lovely view (below) and some one-eyed cats…
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Black Sea Travels – Day 3, Amasya to Perşembe
Got an early start and were at the car (via bread shop) at 8am prompt to avoid getting a parking ticket (a good job as the ticket inspector was waiting to ‘label’ our car!). Loaded the car and drove up, up, up the hill rising in the centre of town to see the castle on top. Wow! A VERY steep climb to the top but absolutely incredible views from the top.
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