Day 2

Up early this morning, quick brekie and away. Tbilisi is a beautiful place and somewhere where I had planned taking the family for a weekend. It is definitely on the cards now. It has a real European feel to it, you could be in Austria. Hotels here are a ridiculous price though so if you do visit shop around. We stayed at the Sheraton and it was extortionate. The drive from Tbilisi to the Turkish border took around 8 hours driving time and we were more than happy that we had gone through a time zone and gained an extra hour. We stopped a small road side café half way to Supsa that Martin used to go to when he worked on the pipelines and he has always raved about it. We were not disappointed. The pork, shashleek, mushrooms, bread and hajapuri really were fantastic washed down, not with lashings of ginger beer, but a local fizzy peach juice. The total bill for four of us was around 9 dollars!

An hour or so after that we turned off the road to visit another of Martin’s suggestions. Around 15 minutes up a very bumpy dirt track there is a picture postcard pool surrounded by rocks which is great for a swim. There were guys diving from around 4m into the pool but none of us braved that part although we did go in for a swim. Just what you need after 5 hours in the car.

Once we got to Supsa and turned south towards Turkey we got our first glimpse of the Black Sea. The border was only another 180km away, then there was the border control and then around another 3 hour drive to go to Trabzon so we worked out that we should get to the hotel around 9pm. What we had not allowed for though was the efficiency of the border control. We got through the Georgia side and into no mans land with little problem other than the guard there discovering that we had each others number plates on. We had both cars registered at the same time at Xirdillan just outside Baku. I have no idea how but we had managed to mix them up and I had Martin’s number plates and he had mine. This caused considerable confusion for the border guard however Martin turned on his charm and we got through. Then we had to make a decision. Do we change the plates in no mans land in clear sight of the Turkish guards or just go for it and hope they do not notice? We did the latter and as expected they never noticed. It helps if you put the documents for both cars in to get processed at the same time. Getting through this border is a nightmare. It turns out that Turkish people are not good at queuing. The procedure is not clear before you go through but just in case you ever go then here is what you have to do. Bare in mind it is also around 35 deg at the time. Once you are through the Georgian side which is pain free, you enter the Turkish side through a gate. You join a “queue” at a kiosk to be told you need to go to another kiosk for a medical which is actually an infra red scanner which ensures you do not have swine flu, leprosy or any other horrendous disease. He gives to a ticket which says you are not going to die in the next 10 minutes and you back to kiosk one and “queue” again. When you get to the front he then tells you that you need to get a visa and come back again. So you wander around this place that has no signs or directions until you find the visa kiosk. Then you back to “queue” again at kiosk one. Well this time I was saying to myself no way am I queuing again and walked to the front. No-one challenged me as I think I was wearing my “go on I dare you to say something” face. Kiosk one man then stamps the passports and you are free. Ah well not quite yet. Now you have to get the cars through. So off you go wandering around trying to find out whet the heck you need to do. We finally found that you go to another kiosk and get the cars documents checked. If the number plate dilemma was going to be discovered then it was going to be here. After “queuing” nervously we got our stamps and were then directed to the customs counter which of course was unmanned. We joined this “queue” and after what seemed like a millennia the customs guy came back and he did his stamp. He then told me to wait by my vehicle and a customs check would be carried out. By this time I am ready to give him the car keys and just walk to Aberdeen. After some more waiting around the customs check was done by a guard and his drug snuffer dog. With the amount of unwashed sweaty clothes in both cars there was little chance of the poor dog smelling anything again. Finally we are moving but that is short lived as before you get into Turkey they do one more check to check that all the checks have been checked. It amazed me that they could do all these checks and not notice the number plate bungle.

The Turkish coastline on the Black Sea is drastic and stunning. With all the mountains there they obviously get plenty rain and the lush green mountains are impressive. They have built a new road along the coast from one side of the country to the other. With all the mountains along the route you spend a lot of time in tunnels. This has been a massive project with what must have been a huge budget funded by the EU. It means you can get a bit of speed up and still enjoy the scenery. We stayed just outside Trabzon at a very good value for money Novotel which just opened. I think we are all glad to get use of the pool and gym after 2 days solid driving. It was 11pm till we arrived and just caught the end of their buffet, 2 beers and off to bed knackered.

Day 3

Had a bit of a long lie this morning and set off around 10.30 after checking oils and waters. My car is starting to show signs of fatigue. The gear box is slowly getting worse and we cannot use 5th at all. As if the 4 litre engine is not thirsty enough! One of my quick disconnects (which Martin welded) has broken off and the back right spring is sagging. Nothing to hold us up though. I think it was the roads in AZ. The goal for today was a simple drive from Trabzon to Samsun and it was a leisurely 6 hour drive. It is only now that the Tom Toms are starting to work properly and we used them to find a camp site. After a bit of shopping for the essentials, beer and toilet roll, we4 set up camp beside the sea. Nice small camp site with a swimming pool. We got the BBQ on and had a great feed prepared by our now adopted chef Colin. At this point Martin thought it would be a good idea to produce his bottle of vodka that the guard at the Georgian border had found. Toast after toast ensued and it was not long till the bottle was gone. It turned out to be the best sleep I have had since leaving home. I am not sure if I was asleep or unconscious though. I will catch up as soon as I can with an eventfull day 4!