Horon Hotel Trabzon

... zmíněným prudkým deštěm, a tak jsme zůstali pod peřinami a koukali na turecké televizní kanály. A nebyla to špatná volba trávení zadeštěného dopoledne. V Turecku je totiž dnes 86. výročí založení Turecké republiky, a tak Atatürk kouká z každého snímku obrazovky (všechny kanály přidaly kromě svého i logo turecké vlajky s potrétem slavn ...

The blue sky in the morning was really a nice change to the miserable weather of the last days. We make big plans to go into the mountains over a route wıth 3 passes!

We move to the gas station in from to the hotel and we had a major desaster. The driving belt of Lillis bike was broken. It had already more than 100'000km and was obviously worn. How can we repair this? We started to call all our contacts in Switzerland and receive part numbers ...

It
turned out that Mestia is one of those places where coming was much
easier than going. The system was so disorganized that nobody knows
if any other minivans will leave on a certain day besides the one
that leaves at 0600. So everyone wanted to go on that 6 AM bus
and the scrambling for a place in it resembled an evacuation scene in
a war zone. I ended up sitting on someone’s suitcase squeezed
between seats, and my back was not a happy camper after ...

4 hour drive to Sumela Monastery - we approach it through Alpine like forests, the houses are different here - more like Swiss cottages! There it is on the sheer side of the cliff - WOW. This is stunning - go inside the cells,take pictures. See the pulley system for getting food up there, look inside the ...

... was goýng on. He gave me a couple of frýendly toots as ýf to say 'grab a hold of thýs one mate'. Once the last 3 tyres have passed, ýts speed synchýng týme, the steeper the hýll, the slower the truck, the easýer. A few stomps on the pedals and I,m movýng ýn closer and lookýng for somethýng to hang on to. Thýs one had týe-downs perfect for holdýng on to and the drýver kept well left, giving mee heaps of smooth tarmac to traýl along behýnd to. Týrýng work, but not as týrýng ...

... out and ready, we left for Trabzon. First, we stopped at Nunu's uncle's house where we dropped off laundry. Then we took a very long ride to the Virgin Mary (Meryem Ana) Monastery or Sümela in the mountains. It was so high up. There were waterfalls everywhere. My words cannot explain the beauty of the area and I don't even think the pictures I took will do it justice. You will have to see it for yourselves! Nunu even thinks it could probably be one of the wonders of the ...

... Nunu followed me and asked what was up. When I told him that I was bored, he made a plan to go to the bottom of the mountain and visit a new mall that was built in Trabzon. I came to realize, as we headed down the loopy road, listening to a really good euro beat in Nunu's friend's car, that my problem of being bored was/is that I am 27 years old NOT 47. I've been miserable since we've been here because I am being treated like I am a lot older than I am. I can ...

... we watched both on offer on subsequent nights). We had our first hammam (Turkish bath) of the trip which was very relaxing and generally just walked around in sub 30 degree weather which was a nice change. Trabzon, beautiful one day, perfect the next. Truly one to check out if you're in the East. Not much else to report from here really so I'll sign off for now. Next pod, Sumela - Turkey. Love, Nath and Kat.

... to the Sumela Monastery. It was a frustrating journey again, like many. Although the minibus was marked 'Sumela', the driver pulled over in the town of Macka, some 16 kms short of Sumela. As there were no other passengers going that far he wanted an additional $40 to make the trip. He spoke no English. I speak very little Turkish. I made it clear to him that I thought he was a ******. Keep in mind that I only know how to say that word in Greek, not Turkish. But my ...