Mountain and a Monastery

11th May, Day 24, Kaya Camping - Mountain free camp, Turkey

An early start from the campsite this morning for 2 nights free
camping on the way north-east to Sumela Monastery, near Trabzon,
Turkey.

After leaving Capadocia, which is an amazing place, the country
became flatter and more barren dotted with industrial
installations which have seen better days. Not the prettiest part
of Turkey after the beautiful (and touristy) Capadocia. We
continue pretty quick on fast roads, until we stop in the small
town of Zara. Here is the true Turkey - a small town where the
tourists don't go, with only squat-toilets, and no English is
spoken anywhere, although many Turks seem to have German as a
second language. "Sprechen sie Deutch?" is a popular question, to
which, unfortunately, the answer has to be "Nein". I buy some
Turkish tea for the group. Hopefully people will like it.

After leaving Zara, we start to see the occasional snow-capped
mountain in the hazy distance. We gradually start to see more and
more mountains in the distance, until the entire horizon in front
of us is filled with them. I didn't know there was a mountain
range in Turkey. I do now, we were headed straight for it.


We start climbing into the foothills. The countryside is now very
pretty and green. We've already attained a fair altitude by this
point and we are looking for a place to camp, but everywhere is
either farmland or too rough or sloped. We continue out of the
foothills and into the mountains proper. The trees stop. The
snowline arrives, and we then find the perfect spot, a short
distance from the road through the mountains at an altitude of
2200m (7200 ft). It a stunning place. Walking around you can
certainly feel the altitude, I get breathless more quickly than
usual here, and it is a very bitterly cold wind. Not surprising,
there is still some snow around.

Last thing before bed, the night sky here is a sight to behold.
Looking forward to the Himalayas now more than ever.

12th May, Day 25, Mountain camp - Riverside camp, Turkey.

It's a steep road down the mountain this morning, and we lose 2km
in height in no time at all. It's warm again. We arrive at our
other free camp, beside a river and behind a restaurant, by
lunchtime.

After lunch, a group of us take a walk along the river to a small
town (even smaller than Zara) where we tourists quickly become the
main attraction in town. We get the feeling that the locals don't
often get foreigners in their town, and we are surrounded by a
friendly group all wanting to talk to us. It is tricky because
none of us speak a word of Turkish and none of them speak a word of
English, but it doesn't seem to matter. I go into a shop because
after buying the tea yesterday, I really need a tea stainer to go
with it. I know Turkish for Tea, but not 'Strainer'. Some
gesturing later, the shop keeper has shon me tea pot, tea spoon,
and various other tea paraphenalia, but no tea strainer, until a
draw a picture of it. Got there in the end. I come out proudly
brandishing my tea strainer when a Turkish man offers to buy us
tea from the cafe next door. These cafes seem to be the centre of
the community like pubs are in the UK, the men sit outside all day
drinking tea and playing backgammon. You never sea a women there,
though. They do all the work, it seems. So Joy and I sit down and
get treated to tea, and attempt to string together a basic
conversation with virtually no shared language.

13th May, Day 26, Riverside camp - Sumela via Trabzon, Turkey

A quick drive to Trabzon for a spot of sight seeing. The most
interesting thing going on in Trabzon is a man sitting on the edge
of a tall building threatening to jump off. The authorities have
deployed a huge air cushion beneath him. As Joy and I are buying
something to eat in a cake shop, there is a gasp from the crowd of
spectators, so we miss whatever exciting has happenned. But when
we come out, the man's not there any more.

The day before yesterday, I bought some tea. Yesterday, I bought a
tea strainer. Today, I decided to buy a tea pot. I find a suitable
shop in Trabzon and buy one. Whilst buying it, we get invited to
sit down and once again get offered tea, and an opportunity to try
and hash out a converstion with virtually no shared vocabulary.
One day, I will get used to it, but it is quite difficult to do.

The Turkish are an incredibly friendly people, and they find us
fascinating.

14th May, Day 27, in Sumela, Turkey



No travelling today. We visit Sumela Monastery. It's perched halfway up a cliff and is a gruelling climb. It looks more impressive from the outside than it does inside because only a small portion is accessible. Seeing anything Christian in Turkey is unusual because every day since entering Turkey we've heard several calls to prayer from various mosques, Turkey is predominantly Muslim, although officially secular.

Tomorrow we will leave Turkey and enter Georgia. I have really enjoyed Turkey - the country is very beautiful and the people very friendly. In Istanbul the friendliness seems to have an ulterior motive to make you part with money, but it is still a wonderful place to visit. When you get off the tourist track, there is a really genuine friendliness and fascination with us.