Friday,17th May

We left Istanbul after 10am hoping to avoid some of the worst morning traffic. Even though it was very busy we managed to make our way out of the city. It is a very busy spread out place and it seemed to take a long time to finally leave the high-rises and traffic congestion and get out onto the motorway going through the countryside. It was with a sigh of relief to be out into the green rolling hills and to be feeling like you were breathing clean air again.

We stopped for a break and coffee at one of the fuel stations and walked over to a small stand by a picnic area. Coffee’s were ordered and then when payment was being offered we were told that a man had already offered to pay with a wish that we would have a nice holiday in Turkey.We have found the Turkish people to be  very friendly and helpful, many speak English and they are very proud of their country. So far we have felt safe and welcomed by all we have come across.

We drove east and then north along well made motorway roads towards the black sea where our goal was a nice looking (on internet site) campsite in the middle of Akcakoca (try saying that) which turned out to be more of a building site. Built on the side of a hill, the terraced site looked out over the black sea. We had read that it had held 100 sites for camping and caravans so we expected plenty of room, it was a bit of a surprise to drive down to an area that held 4 -5 cars at the most and most of the area taken up with a building site. The front part of the property had been sold and apartments were being built. We met up there with a young German couple we had talked to at the Istanbul site and they said at least it was quiet at night.

Safranbolu

Saturday

One night (albeit a quiet one) was enough for us and we left the next morning to drive to Safranbolu, a UNESCO world heritage site. Situated on the spice route it still has a lot of original Turkish style wooden houses and it is a pleasant place to walk around and enjoy the architecture. We spent a pleasant day there, bought a few things in the tourist shops and enjoyed the view of the town from our elevated parking spot.