Usta Park Trabzon

... Přeběhli jsme na Atatürkův meydan (meydan je turecky náměstí) a nechali se odvézt již čekajícím minibusem na Trabzonské letiště pro zítřejší letenky do Istanbulu. Procedura byla bezproblémová, tak jsme se nechali opět odvézt na meydan.
Pak jsme si zašli na oběd, jídlo bylo klasicky turecky perfektní, jen Petr si vzal druhı nejjednoduš ...

... same 'Chınese' guy I saw at the aırport was ın the same van. I sat next to hım and we started to talk. He's actually Korean, slıghtly eccentrıc and very anımated. Hıs name was Kım and he quıt hıs job (I shooked hıs hand and I saıd 'me too') as a socıal worker for the old folks. So he has no tıme lımıt to hıs travels and hıs next country ıs goıng to be ...

... hours on a
bumpy road.

That
was the first leg of long journey back to Turkey. I need to be in
Malaysia on Sept 9 for my high school class re-union, and time is
running short, so I have decided to forgo Central Asia and India, and
fly from Istanbul to Bangkok instead. I could spend a large sum to
obtain the visas and spend a week in a Central Asian republic and
another week in India so that I can claim I have been there, but I
didn’t want to ...

... the left of us while the small waves of the Black Sea met with the shore to our right. We also saw some of the first rain clouds we have seen in weeks, but their bark was much worse than their bite - only a little sprinkle here and there. We stayed dry. Trabzon is the largest port city along the eastern coast with over 300,000 people. There is a sizable population of folks who once called the former Soviet ...

... I don't want to blab on too much about headwınds but I wıll say progress was hard goıng to Malkara. It was a town on a pretty steep hıll and gave me a taste of what was to become for the rest of Turkey - plenty of stares from locals and constant horn-honkıng. The old boys that sıt around the streets and seem to do nothıng all day were always keen to poınt ın the general dırectıon of a hotel whıch was helpful. The next day I weaved my way down out of the hılls and was ...

... just eatten. Back ın Trabzon we begın the story of Ismaıl's hospıtallıty. Sıttıng ın a resturant by the sea we were relaxıng ,passıng tıme playıng our favorıte game,scrabble, and havıng our fırst Turkısh beer. Well as beer tends to make ons bladder full I went ın search of the WC. After beıng ushered through the kıtchen I found releıf. Exıtıng the facılıtıes a group of men at a near by table waved me over. They were partyıng and I must have a Rak ...

... not that anyone understood me, but it erupted out of me), "It's Ramazan and you are all yelling! You've all broken your fast, what a waste!" It got really quiet. Nunu's brother said something and set off Nunu again which set off his mom. But the rest of the trip was quiet. We went to what I think is the highest point in Trabzon, Boztepe. That was a nice view. They have a sign kind of like the Hollywood sign that says TRABZON. The backside of each letter is covered in ...

... to drive it. We drove to Akçaabat and back with Nunu handing the car back over to his friend only after not being able to drive up an extremely steep ramp. The statement, "Burn rubber" is a lot more meaningful to me now. Anyway, when we returned to the house where we began, it started raining...hard. It was accompanied by thunder and lightning. The electricity went out. There goes my shower...again. And quail hunting was out of the picture as it was now ...

... why into my eyes he stares he thinks "a spy!" my height, my beard and temperament his suspicious glance at my travel mate of chinese descent he wants to put us behind a fence. what did we do? what is the matter? I can tell you! the sooner the better! to the airport we traveled, on roads far and wide. carrying a secret: a german army knife. it is the gift of a friend who knows ...

... the 9th century, is also too incredible for words. As the tourist season is drawing to a close, I appear to be the only non-Turk remaining here. I am the lonely guy in Trabzon, and it is the same here up in Sumela. Returning to Trabzon, as I am leaving here tomorrow, I make some swift decisions and decide to post a few things home. Basically there is no room left in the pack given my new 'Trabzon Collection'. With goods stuffed into a box I walked to the PTT ...