Going East, Istanbul and the Black Sea coast

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So what is the first rule of our travel life - avoid cities and rush hour! So how did we find ourselves now wending our way through Istanbul's rush hour traffic in the dark ?!?!

Well the border crossing took a little longer with only a few cars infront but each seemed to have issue's with their paperwork. It has been a challenge to keep up with what each country requirements are but it appears we were more prepared than the few car's in front! Also we have now jumped another hour making it 3hrs ahead of the UK. So as we make our way through the traffic forwarned of Turkish driving I try to soothe Graeme through the chaos. Surprisingly the 2 lane carriageway becomes 3 with drivers using the bus/hard shoulder to manoeuvre themselves in and out of the chaos, the dolmus that stop with no warning and a Sat Nav that keeps trying to force us (succeeds once!) on to the local road which runs aside the main carriageway! The 30km takes us an hour + and we are tired but have already seen in a short distance the friendliness of the locals, accelerating at speed to come level with us just to give us a thumbs up, or a wave. One van is so enthusiastic he nearly hits the rear of the van ahead, we all laugh at his near miss. We arrive safely to our parking spot a car park for 4 nights, right in the heart of Istanbul, the handbrake goes on and we relax.

Explaining a city like Istanbul is almost Impossible, yes I can talk about the must see sights. The Blue Mosque, an Ottoman masterpiece adourned with blue tiles, hence its name, The Sophia Dagia the original Mosque standing side by side with the Blue Mosque, the Beautiful Topaki Palace home to all the Sultan's for some 400 years, The Grand Bazaar and its labyrinth of alleyways selling all manner of wares. But to me the thing that you want to talk about is the life and heart beat of this city it is intoxicating, the noise, the sheer number of people, barrow boys carting huge loads up and down the narrow roads, the almost impossible amount of cars which try to navigate it's streets with the inevitable fracar, the honking of the horns, with other drivers stepping in to keep arguing drivers at arm's reach, the travelling vegetable trucks which randomly park here and there to supply the locals, side streets all ordered on their selling each area dedicated to a type of ware, street vendors, restaurants, call to prayer, all done to an order worked out many many years before. All the while daily life continues and as a tourist, aside from when in the Grand Bazaar you are almost invincible, which makes it even better. The four days of wandering gives us a real idea of how this mesmerising city works but city life is draining so it's time to move on. We make a decision to travel, as the weather seems better, to the North and the Black Sea Coast looks warmer. Other than the 30km stretch west from Amasra which is supposed to be picturesque and that at this time of year there are very few campsites open we temper our expectations.

Our first stop out of Istanbul is to an animal park, we're not here for the animals but a free campsite with electric hook up! We take our spot next to Aziz and Fatima, he has a very nice self converted motorhome. A business man from Istanbul he tells us he enjoys this park at the weekend and his family meet him there enjoying time and good food together. We too share some of Fatima's stuffed vine leaves delivered by Aziz, the only thing we get wrong, as we now know, is we handed back an empty but clean plate, not the done thing, the plate should not be empty when returned, lesson learned. We chat about our life and enjoy their company for the weekend, on their departure we are given a present, we know that Turkish People's hospitality will be our overwhelming memory of Turkey.

We make an enjoyable stop at Safranbolu, which from the 13th century to the advent of the railway in the early 20th century was an important caravan station on the main east-west trade route, the Silk Road. Safranbolu's architecture influenced urban development throughout much of the Ottoman Empire. Many of the old Ottoman houses still stand - The Mosque, Old Bath and Sulevman Pasha Medrese which were all built in 1322. The town is also known for another commodity, Saffron, hence its name!

The first point on the coast we touchdown at is Amasra, allegedly the finest town on Turkey's 2,000km Black Sea coast. There are two coves divided by a long thin promontory jutting out into the water, with two small islands a stone's throw from its tip. The larger of the two is ringed with white craggy rock and the remains of fortifications, funnelling towards a small Roman bridge connecting to the mainland. Red-roofed houses are arranged over the cambered promontory. Our home the harbour car park gives us easy access to the many fish restaurants and two beaches and whilst the local street dogs are not that welcoming to Poppy she does have some off lead fun.

After a restful 3 days we leave. The drive further east is some 750km and we have a hotel booking for the 23rd of December somewhere unique. We think we can manage the distance in time. We had no real idea of what the Black sea coast would hold and as you leave Amasra the road climbs steadily and twists and turns as it heads east. The first 30km are described as the most scenic and we would agree, the sun is shining and its around 17c so we are not unhappy. We do have a couple of issues in that campsites are understandably closed, and there seems to be a massive road/car park improvement underway and even getting across the carriageway to get to the few car parks we see is challenging as we are on the wrong side of the carriageway going east! We find a couple of nice beach park ups, one an absolutely beautiful bay, but has the most dogs we have ever seen and although friendly Poppy has become more cautious as the trip has gone on. It is a relief to find one with no dogs surrounded by hundreds of washed up huge trees, none go to waste as the locals armed with chainsaws come to the beach and collect them for the now smoking chimneys that are keeping their inhabitants warm. As the hills of the East give way the road hugs the coast, some beaches appear near to the towns along this stretch but no real tourist areas are evident with virtually no hotels that we can see.

After a few days we arrive at the city of Samsun, the largest along this coastline, and what a great city it is, very cosmopolitan in its appearance. Turkey seems like a lot of other European countries prides itself in supplying outdoor space, this maybe because so many people live in flats but we are finding these great park ups for us and our travelling companion. Samsun’s claim to fame is that Mustafa Kemal Ataturk considered to be the founder of modern Turkey landed here and organised a national resistance which marked the beginning of the Turkish War of Independence and the establishment of the republic in 1923. There is a broad avenue which runs right along the coast and memorials celebrates Ataturk at different stages of his arrival here back in 1919 including a full size replica of the boat he arrived on. We enjoy two nights here and experience again the incredible hospitality of our neighbour with a delivery of a plate of fried fish and pickles, we also experience our first meal at a Lokanta. As my cousin described them, like a British cafe but good home cooked food, soup a main dish with the accompanying rice and bread, water and Ayran a yoghurt drink, with chai to finish, and the cost 120tl or around £7.50.

Our last stop on this coast is Giresun a lovely but smaller coastal town. It’s claim to fame are its hazelnuts and if you came during harvesting time they would be laying on Hessian sacks all along the street drying off, there are of course shops selling all manner of hazelnut produce, we don’t leave empty handed. Our research yields that Turkey is the third largest producer of nuts, and that is explaining the miles and miles of trees we are beginning to see on our route.

Our plan to make a stop at Trabzon and the furthest east of our route doesn’t happen as with the rest of the coast road it is being given a makeover so we quickly re programme and make our way to Sumela Monastery. As we arrive the car park attendant says The Monastery is closed, disappointment No1, but as we park up, hungry and tired we are summoned to the awaiting minibus which transports you the next 2km for the entrance. He drives through more roadwork’s and we alight for a 20 minute walk towards the entrance the trouble is you don’t really ever get to see the Monestary, Disappointment No2 that said the valley is a beautiful place. As we return slightly subdued to the van we decide our last job of the day is to walk Poppy and as we do one of two street dogs comes in with force and has Poppy pinned to the floor, by her throat, Graeme manages to get it off with some force and we retreat to the van. The subsequent forays are me leaving from the front of the van with biscuits to move the locals away, whilst Graeme leaves from the passenger door so Poppy can relieve herself. It is a bad end to our coastal foray and leaves us deflated. We're road weary and a knock or two can change the mood of the trip. Time to move on and find some of Turkeys gems.

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