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Sinop, 08/07/2008

The first part of the cycling is behind us. Today we are resting our legs and bums in Sinop a delightful Black Sea deep sea port, where we arrived last night.

A flash back …

The past two days treated us to a new dimension of the Black Sea coast. After leavıng Asmara we cycled against the wind (..Bob Dylan), coming from a persistent North-Easterly direction. The scenary remained green and hilly, occasional drifts in land and frequent sights of the Black Sea, showing pebble beaches, cliff faces and breaking waves, a sort of permanent tourist brochure. Travelling down river mouths and up the other side became a sort of routine. Even the climbs became less ardeous, even though the day totals of up hill climbing increased.

İn İnebolu we had dinner while there was a wedding part going on. There was obviously something amiss with the affair as hords of people were seen moving of the scene, while the cake still needed to be cut and the evening was still young. We treated ourselves to a bottle of Turkish red, that went well with variety of ‘mezes’ and fish we ate.

Against the wind …

The followiıng morning brought assembling dark clouds, lingerıng humidity and a blanket of heat. The bakery gave us some sweet fudge for energy, a second bakery stopped us to drink some tea. We felt good and special with such friendly expressions across the language barrier…. We thought we could cycle ourselves away from the lingering storm…the clouds darkened, a new wind blew from the west, the flat sea increasingly became turbulent and thunder started to crack overhead. Gusts of wınd made the cycling easier and we smiled, briefly thinkıng that we had managed to get away from the centre of the storm. A grey shadow of rain came from behind and the drizzle turned to a downpour. This pattern repeated itself as we hid in a wooden cafe. After a long wait we felt the worst had passed and mounted our bikes again. Half way in the next river valley the drizzle turned to rain . We stopped in a bus shelter and waited, after a while a heavy set boy with cap casually strolled up to the shelter, as Sib emerged from a call of nature. İn a friendly tone he asked ıf we were OK, if we were hungry and handed us a bag of plums. We discussed the sad ending of the football championships, we turned down his invitation to his house and put our feet on the pedals again. The drizzle started and the rains caught up with us 5 km’s later, eventually waves of rain appeared on the road. The next village was close by so we thought, water dripped through our rain flimsy’s. We went for the first sea side cafe and took lunch. We emerged with the sun shining and a comfortable breeze from the West. The afternoon turned to early evening as we arrived in a sleepy beach resort. We were invited to put our bikes in the main room, headed for the breaking waves and crashed curling crests of waves as the sun set. Pıcture book stuff!

Day and night…

The night showed that the sleepy resort had entertainment ..the whole night long!!!! eventually the night birds gave way for the first call of light and the sound of breaking waves. We rose early planning to reach Sinop early afternoon, the Kurdish hotel staff was still in deep slumber as we carried our bags down. There are still some clouds, less than the day before. After findıng some local chicken-lentil soup for breakfast, we were back at the hotel for the rains to start. After the hotel roof showed need for major repairs and the rain cloud could only be seen inland we put our wheels to the road again. Sinop, an ancient port colonised by Greeks, Romans, Italians and Suleyman called. The road took us deep inlnad and the highest hills we had encountered to date, wooden houses reappeared, women carrying large loads of cut grass and the familiar half constructed houses dotted all over the landscape stayed wıth us. Road side villages showed surprised faces and the array of calls: ‘hello, hello …What ıs your name? …Güle güle…Marhaba…or  rıght hand to your heart…’. So Sınop today and tonight the bus to Trabzon (Trabezone) for the serious mountain ranges. Keep you posted!

 

Asmara, 02/07/2008

The fırst 450 kilometers are behind us, and so far it is great! A selection of highlights along the way:

The landscape and seascapes are often spectacular! At a later point we wıll sort out how to upload some of the pictures. Along the sea cliffs, sudden beaches and the water appears crystal clear. Inland the landscape often opens up to more agrıcultural use and rolliıng hills. The lesson appears to be that seaside routes have sharp curves and steep hills, while inland the hills and roads follow the contours and are easier.

Small fishing ports along the Black Sea are our lunch stop venues, so far every lunch has consisted of fresh fish, grilled or fryed and with a taste that tantelizes your tastebuds. As we are cycling the fish is accompanied wıth tea and fresh water, and fantastıc green salads that have only improved as we have moved further away from Istanbul.

Now that we have moved well away from daytravels from Istanbul, things are more relaxed the houses are a mixture of modern stone buildıngs, and older buildıngs of wood and stones or lime. So far water has not been a problem, there are an endless array of roadside shops that sell water and many types of fruit. Yesterday we bought a fresh water melon and in the setting sun, overlookıng Bartin we cut up half and replenshed we started on the final 15 km’s. We arrived just as the dusk was ending and took the first ‘pensyon’ that we were directed to.

The day before we had travelled through an ındustrial area of ship buildıng, iron works and black coal mining and ended up in a place were beer was B-A-N-N-E-D. So the golden liquid was served in heavily decorated glasses that hid the contents. İt only made the taste better!

Yesterday we followed this super scenic road that sadly had ’some road works’ for more than 20 km’s we were tarred wıth small stones and black muckdrops. The white cooking fuel and thinner later showed there multiple use as I cleaned the back of Sib’s legs, while the men watched and we were treated to a fantastic lunch and seaswim later.

Istanbul, 27/06/2008

We arrived in time for the afternoon traffic rush. As often the case bicycling proved to be a faster method of transport. As yet there not many of the cycling breed around… This first day we  visited the city on foot, started with a first visit to the Aya Sofia and moved on to the Grand Bazar, while we visited a few more mosques along the way. As before the Turks surprise with their politeness and their cleanliness. The city remains somewhat mystical wıth the scattering of old buildings and ongoing business, especially trade that is everywhere. One of the other highlights was an afternoon nap in the park with a gentle breeze to ease off the day heat and people picknicking and playing on the grass.

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Introduction

This is the weblog of Sibrenne and Russell’s cycle tour from Istanbul (Turkey) to Baku (Azarbeidjan). During the tour we will do our best to publish Dutch and English stories. We do not plan to make full translations of each addition, we do invite input in either language and will use these to expand the blog as the journey unfolds.

Under the heading Trainenyou can find a map of the Turkish section of our journey. Starting point will be Istanbul, where we will dip our backwheel in the Bosperus to mark the start of the trip. We will then go along the Black Sea Coast to Sinop, possibly further to Sinon. From there we will use a bus, as the State ferry company has folded, to Trabzon. From Trabzon we plan to get through the first mountain range before we hit the Anatolian “Outback” (Rough Guide 2008) on our way to Georgia.