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.

Continue reading Black Sea Travels – Day 7, Ayder →

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.

Continue reading Black Sea Travels – Day 6, Trabzon to Ayder (via Rize) →