Black Sea Region Adventures

Since I first came to Turkey two-and-a-half years ago, Trabzon has been at the top of my bucket list.  Whenever I told my Turkish friends this, they’d raise their eyebrows and say, “Trabzon?  Really?”  I always wanted to go to see the Sumela Monastery, simply because I thought it looked really cool.  So a few weeks ago, I took a 90-minute flight to Trabzon for a three-day weekend.  It was AWESOME.

According to the omniscient Wikipedia, Trabzon is located on the historical Silk Road in the Black Sea (Karadeniz) region.  It was a melting pot of religions, languages, and culture for centuries and a trade gateway to Iran and the Caucasus.  It was also the birthplace of my second favorite sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent.  Today, Trabzon’s population is around 760,000.  

After I arrived, I checked into Otel Benli, which was a substantial improvement from my Ankara hotel experience in the sense that I didn’t think I would die there.  The low price of 25 TL per night was reflected in the room size and absence of a private toilet.  Yes, it was as tiny as it looks in the pictures, but it was perfect for my short solo vacation.

The staff at Otel Benli were friendly and eager to help.  The guy at the front desk spoke about as much English as I speak Turkish, so there was much hand-gestures, laughter, and broken sentences that trailed off into shoulder shrugs.  It was a lot like charades, except I couldn’t say “pass”.

I spent the first day walking around the city center of Trabzon.  In general, it definitely seemed more conservative than Istanbul, but still modern with all the regular restaurant chains and stores.  

My first stop was at the Trabzon City Museum.  With the exception of the sleepy security guards, I was the only person in the museum, which was pretty special.   The motion detectors kept a ball of light around me as I moved from case to case and room to room.  Unless I admired something for more than 30 seconds, in which case I was plunged into darkness and had to flail around until the lights came back on.

Can we all agree that the museums of the world have more than enough mundane terracotta pots?  They’re like the Andy Warhol prints of archeology.  There are a million of them and they all look the same.  

I sympathize with people five thousand years from now who will have to see all of our crappy IKEA mugs in a museum display case with a placard that reads, “Behold the FÄRGRIK: a traditional vessel used for coffee consumption”.  Ugh.

After the museum, I headed to Trabzon's Hagia Sophia, which was first built in the 13th century.  The building's only similarity to the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul is its name.   Like many Byzantine churches, it was converted into a mosque sometime in the 15th or 16th century.  It was a museum for much of the 20th century, but was very recently reconverted into a mosque.

I got a kink in my neck from staring up at the unique and colorful frescoes.

This crumbling house makes me think of an M.C. Escher picture.

One of the most notable differences in the Black Sea Region was the lack of English speakers compared to Istanbul.  Who knows though, maybe Trabzonians just like to see foreigners make colossal fools of themselves.

Anyway, I was forced to use my tiny arsenal of Turkish and it was actually a nice challenge.  In Istanbul, my abysmal Turkish is a nuisance, but in Trabzon it was a novelty.  Everyone was encouraging and complimented my “çok güzel aksan”, which was a very funny lie.  My Turkish accent is about as good as Dick Van Dyke’s Cockney accent in “Mary Poppins”.  Nevertheless, it was sweet of them to say.

Aqueduct leading to the Sumela Monastery

On the second day of my Karadeniz trip, I took a bus from Trabzon to Sumela.  When we reached the 3,900 foot summit, I realized that we were in an actual cloud. I hadn't considered that the altitude might impact visibility.

The monastery was established in 386 AD under Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I.  It fell into ruins and was restored numerous times until reaching its present form in the 13th century.   After Sultan Mehmet II did his thing in Trabzon in 1461, he and subsequent sultans granted Sumela protection and the rights to continue to function as a monastery.  It remained a popular destination for travelers and monks through the centuries.

IT'S HAPPENING!!!

Sumela was twice as wonderful as I imagined.  Visibility from the monastery itself was non-existent, but the mist had its own charm.   While I walked around, I wished more than ever that I could time travel.  With so few tourists and the surreal mist, it was a easy to imagine robed monks going about their daily business on the monastery grounds.  

I don't know. Maybe I need to give my time-travel romance novels a break.

The Rock Church

The site was abandoned in 1923, following the forced population exchanges between Greece and Turkey.  In recent decades, it has primarily functioned as a tourist location.

Inside the Rock Church

The frescos inside the Rock Church were painted throughout the centuries and mostly depict events from the lives of Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

Absolutely gorgeous, but the bodiless angels really creep me out.

I like visiting religious sites for their beauty and historical significance.  Also, because a diverse group of people made them, in many cases, for other people.  Sure, one can argue that they’re built exclusively for a deity, but if that’s the case, why are there chairs?

Windows in the watchtower  

I stuck my arm out of one of the watchtower windows and my fingertips started to fade the tiniest bit into the mist.  Whoever was on watch duty for the winter months, probably got really good at chess, reciting bible passages, or whatever monks do for fun.

I was in complete awe of the nature surrounding the monastery, which I wasn’t expecting at all.  The shades of green were a brilliant contrast to the dark stones and bright fog.

I walked around with a stupid grin plastered on my face like I was Pocahontas, as “Colors of the Wind” played on repeat in my head. I could’ve spent a month up there and been content.  Every time I turned a corner I was greeted by something entirely different, yet equally amazing.   

          

It was as though the mountains and the manmade structures were fused together to form a single organism.   Like a pair of anglerfish, except beautiful and not completely horrifying.

Do you hear the angelic chorus?

This beauty is kuymak, a traditional Black Sea Region dish made of cornmeal, cheese, and butter.  I don't have the words to do it justice, so I'll just leave you to your drooling.  Yes, I ate the whole thing. It was a cultural experience, okay?

This dog was kind enough to escort me around the area.

 After Sumela Monastery, Uzungöl (Long Lake) is the must see attraction in the Black Sea Region. I decided to go there on the last day of my trip. Getting to Uzungöl was a bit tricky because I was limited on time and would have to pick up my luggage at the hotel before going to the airport.  I tried explaining this in Turkish to my buddy at the front desk. It was pretty rough.

“Uzungöl I want I am going.  [Points at massive poster of Uzungöl behind the desk]
Later airport me go. 
Eighteen-and-a-half hour me [makes noises and hand motions of an ascending plane]. 
Now my bag [gestures wildly to backpack] here.  
Later, here I come and my bag [presents backpack like its knives on an infomercial] and me go. 
Okay?”

“Okey.  Problem yok!”

I was off!

The two hour journey to Uzungöl was almost as nice as the lake itself.   The scenery along the winding roads was like a dream.   The little bus passed tea fields, waterfalls,  stunning houses, and other incredible details unique to the region.  I gave up on taking pictures.  They wouldn’t have turned out well anyway and I was experiencing sensory overload.

Uzungöl!

After I arrived, the bus driver told me that he'd be back in two hours and I was on my own. The only sign of Uzungöl’s inhabitants were the schoolchildren kicking a ball around the playground at recess time.  I wondered what it would be like to grow up in this isolated town, always surrounded by mountains, sky, and people from somewhere else.

I’m so happy I visited when I did.  Yes, it was chilly and the majority of the stores were boarded up, but I came for the nature anyway. It wasn't Sumela magical, but it was pretty damn close.

Apart from a couple of creepy construction workers, there wasn't a soul in sight to take my picture, so I had to resort to taking a selfie. 

My short vacation to the Black Sea Region was better than I ever could have imagined. Go there. Now. Tell Mehmet at Otel Benli that Laurel says, "Merhaba".