Ever since Istanbul, Vin the motorhome has attracted attention and plenty raised Turkish eyebrows. Motorhomes are a rare sight and so to are the dudes, who are a constant source of bewilderment. Most Turks don’t have pets and dogs are often only seen wild and stray. Also, be warned, as tourists in the rarely visited Black Sea you do cause amusement because no one can understand why you would want to visit the region. The Black Sea is not as pretty as the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts but it is raw, natural, cultural and authentic. A true gem and we are so pleased we have had the opportunity to see before tourism takes over. 

Look at that smooth tarmac

We work our way east, pitching onto the long distance drives, that connect Sinop with Samsun and eventually all the way to the border with Georgia.  But, we have another 700km to go before we reach the border and the end of the Black Sea. Our drive along the D010 main highway continues but this time the flat, undulated road surface was heaven. This section of the old silk road has been completely rebuilt along with endless beautifully decorated promenades, tree lined central reservations, picnic spots and reinforced seafronts. 

One of the many beautiful seafronts. Not many people there because access is so difficult

The Turkish government have done a fantastic job but just one big problem…turn off points? Once you are on the highway it is very difficult to turn off or turn around.  Why they couldn’t put in a few roundabouts or traffic lights is beyond us. You see locals parking up their cars in lay-bys and then running across a dual carriage way like Frogger.

There is a beautiful beach to our right but no one can access unless you do a runner across 6 lanes of traffic

At points, the police even block the flow of traffic to slow it down, so folk have a reasonable chance of surviving the chicken run.  It is madness and watching young kiddies and old grannies run for the life just turns your stomach.  When you do get a turning point, it tends to be in a town or city and every bugger wants to turn around. This is turn causes utter chaos and nothing but police control to calm and direct the traffic. Needless to say, our stopping points were often determined by the opportunity to turn which was much less frequent than our initial plans and intentions. 

The diesel price has taken a bit of a hike this week from 5.50 to 6.30 TL per litre (petrol is around 10% more expensive that diesel). Not sure if it is due to additional transport costs on Black Sea or political issues or the sheer demand in Istanbul that significantly reduces the price compared to the rest of Turkey? However, the increase is more than offset by the exchange rate which currently hovers around 8.5 compared to 6.5 when we arrived.

We fill up at Q station with an extremely helpful fuel attendant. Like all fuel stations our vehicle registration was entered before he proceeded to fill Vin. Then a shuffle over to the nest pump for a bit of LPG. Again, LPG is available at every station and around 3.30 TL per litre. Our attendant was run ragged but his attention to customers never slipped offering us all a fresh chia. The best was left until the last when the connected up the fire hose to fresh water mains, so we could fill Vin.

Quickest fill to date!

As we approach Samsun the landscape and general ‘undeveloped’ feeling seemed to disappear.  The sprawl of a large and rather affluent city took over. It seemed weird and almost out of place to the point it didn’t appeal. Up until now we haven’t seen a Mac Donalds or any other western fast food joint but here is Samsun the doors are slowly opening. The business district is booming and big brand hotels like Sheridan are prominent skyscrapers amid the typical low rise Turkish buildings. 

Vin parked next to the stables

We pull over at the convenient and modern Batipark for lunch and join thousands of Turks for a picnic in the park. Amid the pagoda’s and bbq points, neatly arranged canals and waterways meander. Two rather tacky lions dominate the seafront along with a statue of the Amazon Warrior Woman. Famed for cutting off one breast (see photo) to allow them to use their bows more effectively. They were said to have ruled the coast in pre-Pontic times. Reputedly their reproductive habits involved annual intercourse with a neighbouring tribe, or ‘breeding colonies’ of captive male sex slaves, who would then be killed.

The Lion Museum and Amazon Warrior

The afternoon drive to Uyne was slow, hot and sticky. Traffic grounds to a halt and with little alternative to turn off due to the complete oversight on the highway design, we had no choice but to sit and swelter. High humidity combined with exhaust fumes and copious amount of shoulder shrugs to jiggy Turkish music…shower here we come. Eventually we gave up any hope of making a decent headway and pulled in to a picnic spot. A good call as it had gone midnight before the traffic cleared 

Our Bumble wild camping spot Uyne N041.117926, E037.307593