The Home Stretch

Since we are total suckers for something interesting, we couldn't help but be lured in by the description on Sarıkum Göl (Yellow Sand Lake).  Lonely Planet described it as a "...beautiful place mixing forest, desert, lake, sea, and beach.  Thousands of years ago the sea receded and sand was left there.  They planted pine trees to stop the sand blowing into the village."  For some reason, this odd description caught our attention, and this weird sounding place became our next destination!

It was even more off the beaten path than the last place!

But here, even the tiniest and most remote villages have a mosque.

Sure enough, here are the pine trees planted in the sand.

They built a lookout tower because this area is supposed to be a special bird migration something or other.
This is looking at the lake in the distance.

And, back around the other way you can see the sea.

This pretty river connects them.

They built a boardwalk to the river.

yellow sand

The river going out to the sea.

After seeing this odd place it was closing in on 2:00 and we really did have to get truckin'!  We had planned to take the coastal road because Lonely Planet said it was incredibly gorgeous.  Funny thing is,  long after we made our plans, I turned the page in the guidebook to read more about this beautiful scenic drive.  Whereas, the previous page made it sound incredible, the following page told the dismal truth.  Yes, the views are beautiful, but the road is failing so you have to be very careful for landslides, washed-out roads teetering above the cliffs, and on-coming (maniac) traffic.  The book went on to say that although the distance is relatively short, the drive would take about 8 hours!  That took the wind out of our sails!

Call us crazy, but map in hand, we decided to just give it a try for a bit.  We figured that we could always turn inland.  The book was spot on!  The views were incredible, but the road was scary!

The color of the water along this stretch of coast was crystal clear turquoise.  It was absolutely beautiful and so remote!
I probably could have had Justin stop every few miles so I could take pictures.  But, we were getting weary, time was ticking away, and of course,  I was pretty sure the road was going to crumble out from under us!

After a couple hours of breath-taking scenery and terrifying roads we had enough and decided to head inland a bit.  Unfortunately I don't have very many pictures of this part of our journey.  Scenery-wise it was probably the most beautiful part of the whole trip!  The road that connected us to the highway inland was a mountain pass.  It took us up over 6,500 feet!  

I freaked out a bit as we were passing through the clouds because the visibility was so low.  But then once we broke through the clouds it was  magnificent!

We wound our way through the mountains and this breath-taking scenery for about a hour.  Then we ended up on a huge plateau.  We were still at a relatively high altitude, but the land was fairly flat, and we were surrounded by mountains.  It was indescribable!  I have never been in a mountainous setting like that!

Finally we hit the main in-land highway at about 6:30.  We stopped for dinner and then planned to be home in about 3 hours.  Unfortunately, everyone in our city of 17 million was also on the same road headed back into the city.  The traffic was a nightmare!  I have never seen that sort of traffic in my life.  It was bumper to bumper for over 120 miles!!!  The gas stations and rest stops were packed with people and there were lines of cars a mile long waiting to get into them.  Folks were running out of gas, and taking potty breaks and sleeping along the side of the highway.  It was complete insanity!  Praise the Lord we had filled up with gas just before we got on this stretch of highway.  Poor Justin was a complete hero and did all the driving!  We didn't get home until after 3 0'clock in the morning!  

Except for that last bit of our trip, the week was so amazing!  Although, five days was certainly not enough to quench my thirst!  I think our time out east stirred up more of a huger to be out that way!  

It was really cool to experience more of this beautiful and amazing country that we live in.  And the Lord repeatedly revealed Himself in His amazing creation!  What a mighty God we serve.  The mountains and the seas are His handiwork!  The same creator of this amazing beauty also knows the number of hairs on your and my head!  Praise the Lord!!!

As Far As You Can Go

As soon as I read in our trusty Lonely Planet guide that we were just a few miles from the northernmost point in Turkey I begged Justin to let us go.  

This is a Google Maps screen capture of Sinop on the right and our destination  (the northernmost point in Turkey) on the left.

It was a bit off the beaten path!

That bit of rick out there is the exact Northern tip of Turkey.

One of the most fascinating things about it was how the clouds and sunlight affected the water.
It looks like I drew a line down the middle of the picture!

Looking out towards the east

My beloveds.

Looking out towards the west.

There was a simple lighthouse marking the point.

Jail Birds

As much as I love a good road trip, we were starting to get tired of the car and each other.  Good thing today was the last day!  We had all sorts of grand plans for today.  There was still a lot to see in Sinop.  And then, according to Lonely Planet, the coastal drive from Sinop to Amasra is supposed to be incredibly beautiful- rivaling the California coastal byway.

We checked out of our little hotel and headed to the jail!  There is an old jail, that (frighteningly) closed in 1999, that we wanted to check out.

This handsome devil wanted his picture with Lucy.

I'm not exactly sure why this old boat was here.  Maybe, since this is the only local museum with enough space to display it?

The prison was sort of built right into the old fortress walls.

A cell in the juvenile area.

The Juvenile Prison

The majority of the jail was an adult penitentiary.
It is very Midnight Express- ish.

I think after touring this place, the kids were encouraged to stay on the right side of the law!  It was interesting to see, but very intense and dreary.  I read Corrie Tin Boom's The Hiding Place this summer, and I could just picture her in a similar prison.

Then we walked across the street to see some more bits of the old fortress walls.  The pictures cannot do justice to how massive and far-reaching these things are!  It is hard to understand how humans constructed such them!

Bits of writing inlaid in the wall.

Time to hit the road and get out of Sinop!  We're burnin' daylight!

Sinop

Today we had to leave Trabzon and start the long journey home.  We picked Sinop as a good middle point to stop for the night.  The drive down the coast was beautiful!!  We really liked the well developed stretch of coastal highway between Samsun and Sinop.  I absolutely LOVE the Black Sea coast!

I loved this quaint little fishing village.  Although our guide book said that the population goes from about 50,000 in the off season to well over 200,000 in the summers.  So, I don't think it would be so quaint in summer!

The view from our hotel room.

We stayed in a refurbished Ottoman-style home.

This area is know for its handmade sailboats.  They were in shops everywhere.

As always, we found as cool fort to explore.

There was a cool cafe in one of the fort turrets.

Too bad this lady took this little alcove.  What a cool place to drink some tea!

Looking out at the harbor at nightfall.

Another cool thing about this harbor town is that it is Turkey's only south-facing port on the Black Sea.
This is a picture of the mainland from Sinop.

Here's a screen capture from Google Maps to show you what I'm trying to explain.

It is supposed to be the safest harbor on the Black Sea.

There is still lots more to explore in this cool little town!  But, it will have to wait for tomorrow!