Lake Sapanca

Lake Sapanca is another lake in Marmara region near Kocaeli. There are residential and touristic areas around the lake. It is a nice place, but I would not go again. If your way passes nearby that region, do stop by and see the lake. Otherwise do not change your route.

Abant Lake - Where Words End

There are places where words are powerless in describing God's Creativity and Sense of Beauty. Then, there are those that even pictures do not do justice. The Beauty is so multidimensional that a full color photo taken at the best location with the best artistic sense is unable to convey the full effect. There is no way to convey the smell of wood, the bitter but refreshing cold, the sounds around, all acting at the same time to create one full "picture" for you.

Abant Lake is one of those places. It is a crater lake at 1300 meters sorrounded with pine trees. I will stop here; just go there in winter time, eat pepperoni in bread loaf and drink hot tea. No more words...

Devrek - Capital of Cane Making

Devrek is another small town in western Black Sea region. It is well known for its cane making industry. There is a technical school teaching this long famous art.

The canes are famous for their strength as well as their decorations. The type of wood used is "kizilcik" in Turkish. The cheaper ones have the handle made of a different wood and glued to the stick. These are not good as they tend to break. The real good ones are made of one piece of wood.

The decorations are varied. You can have so many different ones from just painted to ones with inset decorations and silver plated handles. Prices vary between 17 TL to 750 TL.

I would suggest a short stop there, but do not change your way to go there.

Zonguldak - What a Disappointment

Zonguldak is a mining town on the Black Sea coast. Coal mining is the main industry. Mining is so deeply rooted in the socioeconomic structure that as you enter the city, a statue of a miner and his friends greets you. Even the rivers are flowing blackish.

This is the best view you can get from downtown. I am totally disappointed with this city. Why did we come here I don't know. This is definitely not a tourist town.

Amasra - Çeşm'i Cihan

Amasra is a small fishing town at the Black Sea coast. Its economy is dependent on fishing and tourism.

As the legend goes, Ottoman Sultan Mehmet the Conquerer has taken over Amasra in 1460. After his victory, he stood at the top of the mountain where the picture was taken and he said to his adviser and teacher "Teacher, this must be çeşm'i cihan" (literally pupil of the world).

We had mixed fish platter at an all youu can eat restaurant. Not the best, but certainly tasty.

If you ask my opinion, the Sultan probably saw this place in a sunny spring day. When we saw it, it was gray and not really nice. Hoowever, I am sure it will be beautiful with sun.

Safranbolu

Safranbolu is nominated as part of World Heritage in 2007. There are beautiful renovated houses that are world famous. It is very nice and everyone should try to visit there once.

Famous delicacies are Lokum with Safran, a special layered delight and lokum with rose water.

As souvenier you could buy small replicas of Safranbolu houses, traditional scarves and wooden goods.

A Coffee House in Safranbolu

This is a beautiful coffee house in Safranbolu. It's called Hacibaba.

Still on the Road

Yes, we are still on the road. We stopped for breakfast at Ceren Tur. As I expected, the coffee was terrible. Anyway I had my dose of cafein.

Then, we stopped several times. For lunch, we stopped at Imam Restaurant.

Now we are near Bolu. Still on the way. We have two hours to go. We should arrive in Saranbolu around six o'clock.

Our Western Black Sea Tour

This is my son Yiğit. We are on the way to Safranbolu by bus. It is early morning and everyone on the bus is sleeping, except me, and oh of course the driver, I guess. We will reach there late afternoon. Our itinerary is Bursa, Kocaeli, Bolu and Safanbolu.

We will stop for breakfast at Ceren Tur. I do not like that place because their coffee is terrible. I would have preferred Ulusoy Tesisleri because there is Starbucks in that facility. I strongly advise you to stop there if you are traveling from İzmir to Bursa.

I will keep you informed further on.

Cats, I love cats

These cats are residents of Foça, Turkey. Two yellow cats are mother and child. The mother was stroking her child with her patty. I love cats...