Cappadocia to Trabzon

Last night we arrived in Trabzon after a grueling journey through endless mountain passes and twisty roads. What was expected to be a four hour journey turned into a ten hour expedition, through mountain passes of 3200m, in the mist, clouds, and hill sides covered in pine trees. There was even snow and a flock of very woolly rams.

The landscape changed dramatically from the dusty rock scape of Cappadocia. We passed through lush green plains, next to poppy fields and inland lakes until we reached alpine scenery. I took many photos along the journey as the mountain roads provided breath taking views. Unfortunately I felt very dizzy, but thankfully I survived with the help of several motion sickness tablets. Eight hours of those roads was exhausting and I was very glad to arrive, even if Trabzon is possibly the ugliest town that I have ever seen! The weather here is pretty similar to at home. It's cold and grey, with stormy looking clouds. Not quite the Turkish seaside resort that I was expecting. However, I went to see an old church this morning with some of the group and then wandered around the town. There were streets of brightly coloured clothes shops and market stalls with fabric and fresh fish. I tried to buy a silk head scarf but I couldn't find a colour scheme that suited me. Most of them tended to use floral prints in bright colour and I decided that the choice of head scalf represented the wearers personality. There are times when blending in is really useful, but when I walk around on my own I don't seem to have many problems since many of the local girls have curly brown hair and western style clothes.

Despite there being not a lot here for tourists to see, it's an interesting place with lovely fresh bread and great fish restaurants. I enjoyed walking through the narrow streets, which showed a very honest representation of the way of life here, in industrial Turkey.

This afternoon we took a trip out of town to the Sumela Monastery which is built into a cliff face, hidden in the forested Karadaglar mountains. It was incredibley atmospheric, covered in mist, with a vertical rock face that continued as far as the eye could see. Inside the monastery were religious frescos that covered the entire surface area. Although the visibility was pretty bad, and we weren't able to see the building from the valley, it was still an interesting trip.