Blogs from Trabzon, Black Sea, Turkey, Middle East - page 2

The bustling border crossing at Hopa was nothing like the sleepy, rural, countryside post I had crossed to enter Georgia two days earlier. Tractor trailers, vacationing Russians, and a much more official (border-ish) mood filled the air, and made it rather unpleasant. To the left, handsome tall green Turkish mountains rose up to towering heights. To the right, the Black Sea stretched out coldly under an ominous, cloudy, late evening sky. We were routed between barbed wire and chain-link fencing, as the crossing is under heavy construction. Presumably, this means trade between Turkey and the Caucasus countries - 2 outta 3, that is - is enjoying healthy growth, and that the border is being expanded to accommodate the resulting traffic. It was a push-your-way-to-the-makeshift-kiosk type of queue for immigration. With a few questions in Turkish and ... read more

Litt utpå formiddagen den 14. mai dukket noen velkjente fjell opp i horisonten. Knausen som er bedre kjent som Tyrkia steg fram over vannet. Furet, værbitt, anyone? Da det velkjente bønnegaulet fra nærmeste moske blandet seg med havnestøyen og bilglammet, var bildet perfekt: Vi hadde forlatt slavernes velordnede verden, og ankommet tyrkernes brautende og blide anarki. Deilig. Faktisk oppleves kontrasten mellom Russland og Tyrkia sterkere enn da vi kom hjemmefra... Vi bevilget oss et par dager i Trabzon, og vasket klær og sykler (sistnevnte operasjon framprovoserte atter en gang at vi ble påspandert kruttsterk te) og sjekket litt logistikk for hjemreisen fra Georgia. På fridag nr. to la vi inn et besøk ved den mest omtalte turistattraksjonen i området. Området rundt Trabzon har litt til felles med Asterix og vennene hans fra Gallia: de holdt ... read more

Tuesday March 15. As I had planned I took the bus to Gerade to miss out the heavy traffic. It was a good decision as the traffic is scary along this stretch. The memory of Dave Cook underlines that choice. I set off cycling at 1 pm and made good progress as I climbed higher into the mountains. It got very cold and started to snow. The snow was driven by a strong wind and visibility was reduced. Lorries were seeing me too late but the main problem was the cold and the possibility of hyperthermia. I was seriously cold. I stopped at a petrol station which had a wonderful hot stove. After one and a half hours I felt better but the snow was still falling so I flagged down a bus and they ... read more

Monday March 19. I left Ordu at 7.45 am. As part of the upgrading of the roads they have put in new tunnels and have not yet put in any lighting. It was very nearly my undoing. I checked that there was no traffic and set off furiously to get to the other end. It became absolutely dark and my front light was useless. I was following the white line in the middle of the tunnel with my front light. I heard truck approaching at speed so I went for the side but couldn’t see a thing. I hit a concrete retaining wall, went over and into a culvert in the pitch darkness. I landed across another wall on my right side .At first I thought that I had broken ribs. It took some time ... read more

Da vi kom oss på hjul og rullet videre neste dag, ble det klart at vi hadde vært for kjappe med å avskrive byen. Noen få hundre meter vest for hotellet fant vi et helt greit sentrum med strandpromenade og en liten borgruin. Syklingen fram til neste mål i Ordu gıkk problem- og begivenhetsfritt. Byene ligner hverandre, med en hellelagt strandpromenade (eventuelt med furutrær, og beskyttet med steinsatt strandlinje der det er mest værhardt). For å skille seg ut, hadde en av landsbyene satt opp et tyvetalls paviljonger langs vannet - hver av dem med en overraskende kitschy statue på taket. Fargeglade utgaver av kjempeegg, ørner, hus, esler, Spiderman og andre tegneseriefigurer kjempet om oppmerksomheten. İnnenfor lıgger hovedveien, og etter den en smal stripe med sentrumsbebyggelse som omkranser en basar. Neste overnattingssted ble hotell Kervansaray i ... read more