Western Black Sea 1

The Western Black Sea area is not an especially popular destination for foreigners. But maybe they should re-evaluate the place that many Turks flock to on holiday. I joined a well-researched five-night tour organised by a small but highly professional Turkish company called YESIDO. With 11 others I flew to Ankara to join a minibus that would take us to Bolu, Devrek, Amasra, Safranbolu, Kastamonu, Boyabat, Vezirkopru, and finally Samsun. Several of the group contributed photographs to this blog, including Ann Kennedy and Keith Buckley, as well as driver Ali Gultekin. 

                                    

We swopped the warm sunshine of Izmir for a largely cloudy and sometimes rainy Black Sea region. But the sun finally broke through on our last full day in Samsun.

No sooner had we left Ankara airport around 2pm, than the wheels on the YESIDO bus went wobble, wobble, wobble, all through the town. It turned out that a bearing in one wheel was faulty and not that our group had suddenly collectively suffered a bout of Parkinson’s disease.

Driver Ali stopped at a service station and as luck would have it there was a tyre-repair shop adjacent to the pumps. Less than 30 minutes later we were back on the road, wobble-free.

It’s a two-hour and 10 minute drive from Ankara airport to Bolu, our first overnight.

                                          

                                                                    Köroğlu

          

 We passed a statue to Bolu’s own Robin Hood, a chap called Köroğlu who defended people's interests against the corrupt Bolu Governor in Anatolia in the 16th century. He is known as Köroğlu - “son of the blind” - because his father had allegedly been blinded by Bolu’s ruler. Köroğlu and his followers used the Mehter instrument (a kind of drum) to communicate and to intimidate the enemy in the battle.

A decision was taken to have dinner before arriving at our hotel in Bolu. We stopped at the delightful Mercan-i Restaurant (www.mercanirestaurant.com) which boasted an extensive menu, from kebabs to bonfile.

                                                   

 We stayed at the Silver Inn, in Bolu, once called Claudiopolis, in the Roman period after Emperoro Claudius, with a modern population of around 184,000.

After breakfast on Day Two we headed to the local national park in search of Yedigöl (seven lakes).    

                           

 The national park, is located 42 kilometers north of Bolu. A steep climb through mist and clouds took us past a number of logging activities. Families bid for the rights to cut certain pre-selected trees and among men with chainsaws were women with calloused hands, stripping bark from the fallen trees.

                                   

                                                                         Loggers

                                   

                                                     Bloggers, well a couple at least

 In clearings, there were several wooden cottages for rent. The basin of the park consists of seven lakes, formed as a result of sliding masses blocking the fronts of the valleys, connected to each other by surface and underground flows.

                                    

                                                                 Wooden houses for rent

 We stopped for a coffee at a small cafe (The Squirrel Cafe) which boasted a selection of stuffed animals, presumably local to the forest.

      

 Lunch was taken in Devrek, a small town famous for its walking stick artisans, called bastonlarci. Each stick takes three days to make. Prices ranged from 2000TL (about £51) to 10,000TL.

     

           A stick-maker hard at work                            Our group window shopping                  

               

                            Snake's head top                                Guide Volkan with a cobra headed stick

On the journey to our hotel in Amasra we stopped for a hike to a headless eagle, carved in the rocky escarpment, alongside a Roman road. Guide Volkan said it was probably in honour of a Roman victory. Next to the eagle is a headless statue, probably of a man, but it's difficult to tell.

                                                          

 Next time: Amasra, Safranbolu and Horma Canyon. Thanks for reading.