Along the Black Sea

The Koç Otel, which we had struggled to find yesterday, surprised us this morning with a great and very generous breakfast buffet. There was also a wide selection of vegan options. Now I was actually glad that the guesthouse hadn’t worked out—the price would have been the same anyway. Things turn out the way they’re meant to!

Speaking of which: this morning it was already time to say goodbye to Erkin. He had only officially taken time off until yesterday, but had already mentioned he wouldn’t be in the office today. He needed to return to Istanbul, where he had left his car on Saturday, and then drive back to Ankara, where he lives.

We walked together to the beach in Karasu to say goodbye, but he didn’t quite want to leave us yet. So he decided to ride with us to the edge of the city, which was still more than 5 km. It wasn’t easy for me either to say goodbye, as it had been wonderful traveling with him and hearing all the interesting things he shared about Turkey. Thank you so much again, dear Erkin—it was truly great riding with you!

From now on, it was just the two of us again. We started a bit earlier today, leaving the hotel at 10:22. Of course, the proper farewell with Erkin took some time, but by noon we had already covered 21 km.

Today we followed the same road all day — the D010 — heading east along the Black Sea. The first part was flat, with only the headwind slowing us down a bit. The road was in very good condition, and there was little traffic.

The second part of the route was characterized by hills—steep hills. In fact, you only really needed two gears: the lowest for climbing and the highest for descending.

On the second climb, a car suddenly came toward us, driving across all three lanes—even crossing the safety line—and stopped sideways in the middle of the road, almost blocking our way. A cheerful man greeted us enthusiastically and held out a bag of candy through the open window, inviting us to take some. Surprised, we each grabbed a small handful. He wished us “İyi yolculuklar” (have a good journey) in Turkish and drove off again.

This kind of hospitality is incredible. Even though it was just a small gesture, it had a huge impact. The day was already wonderful—with great weather and enjoyable riding along the sea—but this made it feel twice as good. That sense of simply being here became very strong again.

Shortly afterward, we stopped for lunch, I think after the last longer climb. During the break, we were surrounded by cats. Shaun shared some meat he had just bought from a nearby supermarket, but they weren’t interested in my bread at all.

While we were eating, a man approached us and asked what we were doing. He wasn’t intrusive or threatening, just curious. When we explained our plans in broken Turkish, he seemed very surprised and suddenly left. Shortly afterward, he returned and gave us two raw eggs. I wasn’t particularly interested, so I gave both to Shaun.

The third part of the day began after a long descent and was marked by many tunnels. Interestingly, these tunnels existed only in our direction; oncoming cars followed the coastline while we went through the cliffs. Fortunately, the tunnels were well lit and traffic was limited, but it still wasn’t very comfortable. In Switzerland, this type of road would be considered a highway, and inside the tunnels, it became very loud whenever cars and trucks passed.

After that, we had less than 20 km left to Karadeniz Ereğli. I would have liked to go further—the planned route turns inland from here—but it became clear that we would probably stay here. There was no accommodation within reach inland; the first place with a hotel was more than 60 km away and required over 1000 meters of climbing. Considering we had already ridden more than 80 km, that was too much for today.

Additionally, we hadn’t slept enough over the past few nights, so we decided to call it a day earlier and continue in the morning. We arrived at the cheapest hotel we could find at 17:10. It was still twice as expensive as the night before, but there was no alternative at this time of year. At least the location was great: right in the center, with a spacious terrace offering a beautiful view of the harbor.