On Sunday this little boy went on a trip to the Black Sea, leaving the expansive city of Istanbul behind for a day. Felt good to get out into the country a bit more, seeing new parts of Turkey and again setting my eyes on a large body of water. Beach time!
Luckily after a week of fairly grey weather, we had mostly blue skies and great weather for exploring the area around the village of Sile on the Black Sea. I went with a couch surfing group, of around 25 people in two vans, many of whom had already gone through their mid-life crisis. Yes, I was in a mix of people who were on average over the age of 40. Solid hikers and explorers with a good sense of humor, lots of jokes and some impromptu singing. Good times throughout the whole day, in which I learned some more Turkish, feasted like a king on Turkish BBQ and ate lots of random fruit deemed safe to eat.
The Black Sea isn't all that salty, at least the bit I tasted, and was still a decent temperature. Sadly on the beaches we went to, there was loads of trash that has washed up. In some countries when you hike into a beach, it is pristine and wonderful. Here, it looked that way, until you got down and saw that with not many visitors, there was little trash everywhere. Just how it goes sometimes out there in the world.
We hiked into a huge cave, saw a bat and learned about old religion taking place in their. My limited Turkish kept me in the dark regarding which religion, other than there were carved steps and places for candles in the wall. After the BBQ of marinated chicken, and Turkish meatballs (Kofte), a few of the group members commenced to jam out traditional Turkish songs on classical Turkish instruments and a drum. Pretty good stuff, with lots of dance moves in full effect, all Turkish style and traditional. Good vibes!
Here are a few pictures from the day:
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| Like a reflection of the world in the water |
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| Aysun and I on the beach |
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| Lulu from Columbia, I and Aysun Like the Olympics, America reached the highest level. Ba-boom! |
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| Careful of low clearance in the cave |
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| Half the group posing while the other half was lost/talking/meandering/eating wild fruit |
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| Black Sea! |
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| Sun coming through the forest. Look for ET in the front left |
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