Day 16 270 km (5955 km total)
Today was planned as a short run to get near to the Georgian border & also to enable a little local sightseeing. The stopping place tonight is Trabzon which is a major port for the region and was on the historical silk road between Europe & Asia where it was a trading gateway between Iran in the south east & the caucauses in the north east.
Unfortunately the weather forecast for rain today was accurate, within 30 minutes of leaving Unye it started and we had the works - thunder, lightening & torrential rain for most of the 4 hour run. So what might have been a pleasent coastal ride was a bit of a chore.
The weather may have affacted the locals too as they seemed far less freindly than I experienced in central Turkey. We stopped at a coffee shop at ine point to dry off a bitat one point and just couldnt get served, just grunts & being ignored, so we eventually gave up & left.
The hotel tonight is also best described as 'a bit of a dive' .
It is conveniently located on a dual carriageway (ie 10 feet back from the road) the other side of which is the local airport runway. When planes take off or land you can see their shadow pass over the building (and of course the noise is quite loud!)
The hotel staff are friendly enough but do remind me of the Adams family ...
There is Lurch behind reception
He greeted our arrival with a grim & resonant "HEEELLOO!" a tight lipped grimace & a facial twitch. He said the room would be ready in 5 minutes - which ended up being 1 1/2 hoirs later.
There was another guy who was something to do with the establishment just sitting in reception watching tv looking exactly like uncle fester
Initially there was just the two of them, makng various guttural noises to each other & nodding in our direction. They seemed friendly enough though.
Once in the room it was obvious that this was a smokers establishment, all the rooms unfortunately reeked of it and there are copious amounts of ash trays everywhere :-(
Luckily my room is right next to the fire escape, though I wouldnt fancy climbing down it into all that that debris.
We ventured into the empty dining room and had a local kebab dish which was perfectly acceptable, served, would you have it, by the spitting image of Gomez Addams
Not long after we had finished Uncle Fester came into the room, whereupon Gomez nipped out onto the street & came back with some kind of take away in a carrier bag & plated it up for him - all very weird.
By the time we left the dining room, there were several distant male Addams family members sitting in &around reception doing , well nothing really - it was like they were expecting something to happen, but no clue as tonwhat it might be. Anyway decided to call it a night & hope for a less rainy morning.
Off to the border & into Georgia tomorrow.
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