Got back on Thursday night from our Black Sea trip, which also doubled as my ‘meet the future in-laws’ trip. We had a thoroughly relaxing and much needed break, and really enjoyed ourselves.

Started off catching the overnight Metro bus from Istanbul to Amasra. Have travelled with Metro many times, and the drivers always smoke, which I know is probably the case on every bus, but it really pisses me off. Every bus seems to run a couple of hours late too, but the buses are clean and comfortable & the drivers have all known the roads well and driven safely. Metro’s also the only bus we found that goes to Amasra. Ticket was 35 or 40 ytl. We caught the service from Mecidiyekoy to Alibeykoy but the bus then goes to Atasehir. There was night roadworks just past there, and it added 45 mins or so to the trip.

Amasra is a pretty small town, with not a lot to show, other than a nice beach and some dramatic mountainous landscapes. Didn’t manage to get a whole lot of sleep on the bus, and it got in to Amasra 2 hours late, at about 8am. We headed straight for the hotel (Balkaya Pansyon – 50ytl double), but couldn’t check in until 11.30, so we grabbed our bathers and went to the beach. It was pretty empty at that hour, but was lovely and warm, and we managed to pass the hours swimming and lazing about. Beach is free, but you pay a few lira for the lounge chairs & umbrellas, change rooms & toilets. Checked into the hotel a few hours later – was nice and clean and new, although the room was very small. Enough for 1 night though. Went back to the beach, got completely fried (finally recovered from the pain and itching), and went wandering around the town late in the afternoon. As with a lot of Turkey, the main feature of the town is the old fortress. All that’s left of it now are the surrounding walls, and inside are some lovely houses. Had a chat with a few local kids, who were very excited to play tour guides for a while and show us the best places for views over the town. Sky was grey, and the clouds were sitting on the top of the mountains. Town is definitely best viewed from above. Back in the centre of town, there’s not a lot to do. One street of souvenir shops, and 2 harbours. Dinner was at a restaurant near the hotel (think it was called Amasra Sofrasi), and turned out to be possibly the worst meal we have eaten in Turkey. Meat full of fat. Also happened to be the same place we had to go for our included breakfast the next day, but thankfully you can’t go too wrong with boiled egg, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Next morning we caught the minibus onto Bartin (they run every half hour or so and take about half an hour I think), where we waited an hour to get on another minibus to Safranbolu (just missed the previous one). Think it was about 9ytl and takes a couple of hours, with a tea break in the middle. They stupid system worked like a local minibus, and even though there were proper seats like a service bus, they crammed in a whole bunch of extra people which made the ride less than comfortable. There are also 2 direct big buses from Amasra to Safranbolu, but the first was at 8.30am and the other late in the day.

Dumped our bags at the Metro bus office in Safranbolu and taxied down to the old town. Spent a few hours wandering around there, admiring the houses and taking lots of photos. Had a delicious & incredibly cheap lunch at a place opposite the toilets, next to the old baths called the Meydan Cafeterya. Didn’t spend any time there. Back to the Metro office to catch the bus to Giresun overnight. Ticket time said 4.45pm, but first we had to catch the service bus (think it left about 4.15) to the bus station, which was only about 5 mins away. From there, the only buses were going to and from Ankara. Again, a really crappy part of the bus system is that they don’t tell you where you need to go, so always make sure you ask. We had to get on one of the buses (didn’t matter which direction as both stop in Karabuk, where we had to get off). Then we waited at the bus station there for our bus, which again came half an hour or so late.

Again, didn’t sleep a lot on the way. Bus was supposed to be in Giresun, but was even later because we had to stop at the mosque for morning prayers at 4.30am or whatever time it was because the driver wanted to go. Then we left there late because someone said one of the passengers was still inside, but turned out to be someone not from the bus so we waited for nothing. Got into Giresun about 5.30am (instead of 3.30) I think, where Mujdat’s older brother and wife picked us up and took us to their house. Giresun is a decent-sized town right on the Black Sea, with some nice beaches, and again, its feature being a fortress on the hill. Back at the house, we caught up on a few hours’ sleep before heading over to Mujdat’s mum’s house, where the rest of his siblings live (there’s 5 of them in total). After that, we looked around the town and went to the fortress. Great views from up there and a nice spot for a bbq. His brother has a car, so made sightseeing nice and easy. There’s minibuses all over the place as well, although we didn’t use them.

Next day, 6 of us piled into the car and headed off to Sumela Monastery, where I have wanted to go for ages. In theory it’s only a few hours from Giresun, on the lovely new road. Unfortunately, there’s no signs on the main road for the turn-off, and we went a fair way past Trabzon before asking for directions. Had to go into town and take the Macka road. Eventually made it there, very late, and found that the road up to the top carpark near the monastery was blocked with traffic, and we decided the best option was to turn around, park at the bottom carpark and walk the 30 mins uphill to it. It was a hard slog, but we made it. If it’s a hot day, take your own water as there’s nowhere to buy at the top, although there is a tap there. Along the way were some beautiful views, and it was worth the effort. The monastery is perched high up on the side of a mountain. Inside, there’s not a lot to see, but there are some beautiful paintings (which have all been scratched away at by vandals). It was definitely worth the long trip cramped in the backseat of the car.

The other days were spent around Giresun. We spent one day on the beach. It was again free, except for the table and umbrella. Sand was nice and soft and the water wasn’t too cold. Another day we went out to the village Mujdat’s dad was from to visit his gravesite. Tiny little place up in the mountains with nothing but a few vegetable gardens and lots of trees. Again, nice to see some much-missed greenery.

Mujdat’s family were all great. Had met the younger brother and the youngest sister before. The other sister was working most of the time, so didn’t get to spend too much time with her. Felt a bit awkward with his mum, so didn’t say a lot to her, but everything was ok. The couple we stayed with were great. Really nice and helpful, and they went to a lot of trouble for us.

Caught the plane back from Trabzon to Istanbul late on Thursday night as I couldn’t take any more buses. There are service buses from Giresun direct to the airport – we caught it from the Ulusoy office and it cost about 12ytl. First time flying with Pegasus, and it was lucky we weren’t hungry, since we didn’t know you had to buy food on the plane for ridiculous prices (3 or 4 ytl for water from memory, which was about the same as the bottle of water and Cappy we bought at the airport for 9ytl!). Back at Sabiha Gokcen airport, we were planning to catch the Havas bus to Taksim, but found that the IETT buses were still running and for 3 akbil credits, we got to 4 Levent in about 35 minutes. Metro was still running so caught that to Sisli. Nothing like a midnight stroll with a ginormous backpack to stretch the legs after all that sitting. Was very glad to be back in our bed and to be able to use a western toilet after a week of squatting a la turca.

Best features of the area are the abundance of trees and greenery, the beautiful mountains, the beaches, the slightly less polluted air, and the wonderful smells. Instead of smelling garbage and buses, everywhere smelled like delicious food. And all the food we ate was indeed fantastic. Mujdat’s sister-in-law made great meals, and did it super-speedily. I hope I picked up a few things from her.

I know the region isn’t hugely popular with tourists, but I found it to be a really nice change from the bustle here, and haven’t felt so relaxed in a long time. And the future in-laws weren’t too scary either.

Monique