Joining the Brotherhood and other Tales

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Woolly says – This is ridiculous I was woken at 6.30am on a Friday morning!!!! I mean, REALLY! Don’t they know I need my beauty sleep? At least I managed to fit breakfast in which was a bonus. Ollie blinked sleepily at us as we climbed in and Ian checked his fluids, all done and we were on the road for 8am.



Much though Woolly might have moaned we wanted an early start after yesterday’s lack of progress. We had an eight hour drive in front of us and hopefully a campsite at the end of the journey. We flew through the mountain roads with Ollie eating up the miles, past the town of Malatya where we had previously planned to spend the night and back into the mountains again.



Woolly says – the views were incredible and as each mile past we were treated to more delights, before I knew it we were driving through the leafy town of Elazig and pulling up at the ferry. The ferry was one of the unknown entities of the trip but as we reversed on followed by another couple of vehicles it chugged off across the reservoir. For 10 TL (approximately £3.35 GBP) we were treated to the views of a castle perching on a rock completely isolated from the mainland, one of the largest reservoirs in Turkey and the gulls flew overhead as we passed another ferry bound for the other side.



The ferry worked out well for us and saved us 80KM of more mountain roads, alighting we tried for a coffee but only Cay (tea) was available and that didn’t fit the bill somehow. The road from Perteck wound higher and higher round the peaks and with the never changing sheer drops off the side we were glad to find ourselves motoring downhill at quite a rate and dropping into the valley below.



Woolly says – the valley went on for hours, it was fascinating though with maroon coloured rock faces and huge solid formations perched on what appeared to be fresh air. Ollie stormed his way through tunnels and over bridges passing a lovely waterfall at the side of the road, I was quite sad to reach the end of all this splendour. We arrived on a two laned dual carriage way with only 30KM to go. Popping into the local Migros Ian and Jo stood smiling happily at the alcohol section which they seemed to have missed over the last four days when no alcohol has been available. Obviously I hadn’t missed it as a drop never passes my lips. Stocked up for the night we sought out the campsite. We drove up and down the road for the directions we had but not a camp or site was to be found.



Ian had checked this site twice online and as there were reviews we had thought it might actually be there unlike the other two which were on the missing list. We added this one to the list and pondered what to do, drive for another three hours to our next destination, find a hotel, cry, throw Woolly out of Ollie for muttering the immortal words ‘will it be teatime soon?’ We went for the keep going option and so following the signs for Trabzon we turned right and found ourselves faced with another mountain range to tackle. Petrol came the cry from Ian and so turning back we went to the main road only to find a sign for Ricardo’s Hotel Camping, was this a real open site we wondered. Since it was only 5KM away we decided it must be worth a try and ……



Woolly says – IT WAS THERE!!! It didn’t look very open but we drove down the driveway and pulled up. A young man came and assured us that we could camp although I wasn’t sure where as the grass was nearly as tall as Jo but for 20 TL (approximately £6.45 GBP) we went for it. I might never be seen again in the grasses but this didn’t deter Jo and Ian and up went the tent.



They were a lovely family and although the place obviously hasn’t been used for a long time they cleaned the whole toilet block for us and sorted out hot water, we couldn’t have been made more welcome and if Woolly is daft enough to venture into the undergrowth we will at least have a quiet life!



Woolly says – I know they would miss me really. It was a lovely quiet night though a lot colder than we were used to. The site could be very good with some finishing off, mowing and a few other jobs completed but at the moment it is more than a little basic. We headed off towards the mountains again for our trip to Matka. The scenery was totally different again and much more industrial this time with quarries scattered along the length of the road. We had 247 KM to go and the road seemed to be one long lane of repairs, construction or resurfacing and unlike the UK, where Health and Safety reign supreme, there is little or nothing here. With nothing much to do Jo and I started keeping a count of the various safety requirements and differences:

Over the distance we estimated that at least 85% of the road was being worked on

· Number of workers on the road 160 plus over the 247KM

· Number of traffic cones – 73!!!!! In the UK that would be millions!

· Number of hard hats – 2!!!! And these were hanging on a wall

· Number of Hi Viz jackets – 18 ½ (the half because one worker had two Hi Viz stripes on his coat but not a full jacket)

· Number of safety goggles – 0

· Number of ear protectors – 0

I tried to count the number of men wearing slippers but it was difficult to check everyone’s feet! I’ll probably get in trouble for telling you this, but Jo needed to answer the call of nature in the mountains. For over thirty KM she kept her legs crossed but there was no sign of a garage or café. At the top of a mountain she persuaded Ian to pull over and after a quick trip outside, we were off again. Not 100 metres up the road we went round a bend and there were the W.C.s! I was laughing so much I had to hide in the boot so Jo couldn’t throw me out!!!



I’m warning you Woolly!!! Anyway, back to the game. This kept Woolly occupied for the whole journey and arriving in Macka, James our Sat Nav seemed unsure of where to go. Spotting a sign for Sumela Monastery we veered round the bend and started to climb through what looked like Switzerland with pine forests and chalets, you could almost be mistaken for thinking we had changed countries.



Woolly says – I couldn’t believe my tusks, all we needed was some cow bells and it would have been complete. We carried on climbing higher, with the clouds getting lower (or were we getting higher?). The temperature had dropped to 14 degrees and I was debating putting on my scarf. I knew we were heading to the Monastery but that we also wanted to find the campsite. No one was more surprised than me when the campsite came into view, not only was it there but it seemed to be open.



Finally a site where it should be, the only problem for us was it was getting colder and I had developed a cold and with feeling pretty grotty the last thing I needed was to be sleeping in what felt like minus ten conditions. We considered the problem and decided to view the monastery and head to the next site on the list in Trabzon. On we went through mini Switzerland until we found a pay booth, 15 TL (approximately £4.85 GBP). Not too bad we thought and asking where the monks were the ticket man pointed and told us 3KM. Up we went higher into the pine forests, the roads were narrow and with a lot of vehicles coming down and very steep bends to contend with it took Ollie and Ian all their concentration skills to get us to the top.



Woolly says – it was worth it though, the views were incredible and the monastery looked non to shabby. Parking up we walked the half mile or so to the turnstile, Ian was muttering something about robbing buckets as we handed over another 16TL (approximately £5.20GBP) for our entry. Up the steep steps I went and into The Virgin Mary Monastery, dating back to the 6^th century. Most of the work was done during the 13^th Century except for the fresco’s which weren’t painted until the 1800’s. It was invaded by the Russians during the First World War and has been abandoned since 1923. Inside looked a bit like the village in Permerrion in Wales, tiny buildings with even smaller doorways, the monks must have been very short. We wandered building by building, taking in the library which didn’t seem to have much room for books and the kitchens with walls covered in graffiti. I liked the Priest House which was so tiny even I would have problems fitting all my belongings in.



The main focus of the monastery was the Rock Church, covered in fresco’s depicting stories of the Bible, unlike the ones we had seen in Bulgaria these were badly damaged and covered in daubs of people who think writing their names in marker pen is an achievement in life. Inside it was larger than expected but again except for the ceiling much had been spoilt. Into the dining room where Woolly started checking for his lunch and then to a minute chapel which had further fresco’s showing more marred paintings. The rest of the buildings were closed to the public so we could only stand, not to close to the edge, and admire the breath taking views that must have greeted the Monks every day.



Woolly says – having decided not to take my vows we made our way back to Ollie and set off for Trabzon, the starting point for us of the Black Sea. It wasn’t a long drive but nothing to write about and before I knew it we were looking for the campsite. With the drizzle starting it wasn’t looking pleasant.



Well…..we found where the site should be but like many others before it was no longer there. It was, in fact, a building site! With sheet rain coming down on Ollie Ian navigated our way through the city and onto the coast road, the debate of do we look for another site (‘there’s one four hours away’ Woolly told us!) or settle for yet another hotel. Feeling pretty rough by now and thinking of a long drive and then putting the tent up in pouring rain was too much for me.





Woolly says – I was only being helpful! We followed the coast road and after checking out two possible hotels we opted for the second, 100 TL (approximately £32.25 GBP) and we have a small chalet for the night facing onto the Black Sea, which everyone has lied about because it is definitely blue!

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Comments

[Dancing Dave]

SENSATIONAL
What an amazing monastery...amazing locale...one of a kind

[traveltalesofawoollymammoth]

It Certainly was
It was definitely one of a kind, wouldn't fancy having to walk up there though!