Trabzon - Camp Oluza

Good Tacho from the East of Trabzon!

To get straight to the point: the earplugs failed their duty at exactly 2:03 AM or rather, they had no chance against the deafening noise that we suddenly perceived below our room. I sat upright in bed, and we independently assumed it was a garbage truck picking up the large waste containers of the hotel. But we were mistaken. It was the container in the backyard of the Sweet-Home-Suite Hotel, the size of a 20-foot container, which suddenly and for the first time since our arrival made a hellish noise. This racket of at least 105 dB plus was now our constant companion until our departure at 10:03 AM.

For the first time during our stay, we visited the hotel’s breakfast room and could confirm that people from other cultures (and I don't mean the locals) exhibit different table manners than we do. We refueled both vehicles at the nearby Shell station before returning the 9-seater to the car rental at the airport. I stayed behind the wheel of the Benz, allowing me to navigate through the streets of this exciting city both upon our arrival on Friday and today, during our departure from Trabzon.

Our plan aimed at covering about half the distance to Istanbul today. We essentially retraced the same route, which provided us with a constant view of the Black Sea on our right. The roads were not particularly crowded, so we made good progress. We left the very nice coastal town of Giresun behind when Kadir suddenly exclaimed. Tadelle! There is a factory outlet for his favorite chocolate bars nearby. With our 100GB hotspot, we were so independent that we quickly looked up the address and lo and behold, the land of milk and honey was directly on our route. Bingo. I drove our vehicle in front of the building, which was entirely red, and already a variety of delicacies could be guessed from within the sales room. As we were still getting out, I spotted Kadir already with a red shopping basket in hand between the shelves. Fortunately, there were no shopping carts. The everyday Tetris in the trunk and interior of the War-Car would have inevitably been taken to a whole new level. Admittedly, I found it somewhat difficult to resist the temptations as well. I discovered a self-service tube containing the small chocolate treats that had recently been served with Turkish coffee. My mind seemed to completely shut down, as I vaguely noticed the label and price, yet the information contained within did not register in my brain. Thus, I absentmindedly placed my credit card on the reader. Only after this action did my awareness return to the surface. I had just spent € 36.59 on three bags of sweets. Oh well. Great stuff tastes good and costs.

The captain took the helm, and shortly thereafter, the stadium of Samsunspor reappeared. Our parking spot underneath this street could not be far away. Now, in a different role, we sped over the asphalt above the motorhomes and caravans. Take that, colleagues!

As we rolled kilometer after kilometer, I dedicated myself to the text of our blog. I must admit, I was pleased when we were finally waved over at a real police checkpoint. Okay, Kadir was behind the wheel, and we had nothing to blame ourselves for, so we were all relaxed. Especially Rudy, who was snoozing in the rear part of the rolling home. We called her forward to the seat quite energetically. In hindsight, we knew we could have let her sleep. A brief and seemingly humorous exchange followed between Kadir and the gentleman in the neon yellow shirt, along with wishes for a good trip. Thirty, forty years ago, a vehicle with a German license plate would likely have been treated quite differently. Especially more expensively than nowadays.

In a moment of unobserved opportunity, Kadir mischievously drove our vehicle in front of a small restaurant, braked, and jumped out. A few minutes later, he returned to the driver's seat with two boxes of Börek. The pastry filled with minced meat, feta cheese, or potatoes had been cut into pieces. This way, we could take it directly from the boxes as finger food and enjoy it during the ride.

Since we essentially travel without constraints, we decided to head towards a parking spot just beyond the Sinop peninsula. But not without first checking the stock of alcoholic beverages at a MIGROS market in Sinop. And indeed, we found not only tonic but also beer, wine, and real spirits. We left the hard stuff in the store and preferred to take along the aforementioned liquids, along with some juices, water, and something edible. More dangerous than all the kilometers we covered today were the two crossings of the main road in front of the supermarket. In addition to the cars that were occasionally driving in one or two lanes, we also had to watch out for scooters and other two-wheeled vehicles.

After quickly refueling, we drove the last 45 minutes to Camp Oluza. According to our app, this spot is still under construction. This work is apparently being carried out by Ahmed, who likes to greet and surprise his guests with a small snack. Since it was already dark, we could only perceive the proximity to the sea from the noise as we left the ferry. Ahmed approached us from one of the houses. Kadir took over communication regarding the parking spot and immediately relayed the new information to us. No hot water, parking spot, and electricity for 600 Lira. Completely for nothing, we were all a bit tipsy, as the welcoming from the host was enriched with numerous Raki molecules from his breath.

After a brief exploration, it became clear that we were indeed standing only a few meters from the water's edge. The slow but very large watchdog of the site joined us and immediately gifted Julia several thousand of his fleas. Just natural camping.

We killed all the germs with various drinks that we conjured up from the MIGROS supplies and philosophized a little about the meaning of life. Then came Rudy’s premiere in the tower room of the green monster. Whether she succeeded, whether there were midnight disagreements, and whether the watchdog truly kept a successful watch over us, can only be illuminated in another entry on this channel...

Sleep well, Camp Oluza