Friday, September 18 Trabzon
A somewhat frustrating day. Omer seemed unable
to come up with things to do so we did nothing for the morning and didn't leave
the hotel until 11:30. We then drove for about an hour to the site of the
Sumela Monastery which is carved into the side of a mountain at considerable
height. The drive was along twisting and ever climbing mountain roads with
beautiful mountain scenery and lush vegetation everywhere. Flowers and
streams were in abundance as were house perched on hills where they seemed to
have no reason to be. I could only think of the difficulty of carrying
your groceries every day or week or of the cost of servicing once you got the
place built.
I had told Omer in advance that all I would want to do
was to get a photo of the monastery and that I had no interest in going
inside. In spite of that once we got to the area he tried to convince me
to walk to it. He didn't have a chance. My refusal to visit the
building meant that there were another two hours to try and fill in the day and,
other than lunch, he could not think of anything. Lunch was good and I had
close to a full meal for the first time in more than a week - lentil soup,
rainbow trout. Both were tasty (although the trout was fried rather
grilled as i expected). Also more expensive than I had become accustomed
to in the trip so far.
I don' t know if it was his lack of experience or
unfamiliarity with the city but I am sure that in a large city and a sea port I
am sure there must be a multitude of choices. I suggested visiting the
harbour or city centre but he vetoed each
idea. As a result we sat at the restaurant in a beautiful windy and cold
area until I could no longer stand it and insisted we at least go somewhere out
of the wind and a bit warmer. He wasn't happy but we found a closed cafe
in the midst of one of the smaller cities on the way back to Trabzon.
Nothing much was happening there and I didn't see much in the way of photo
opportunities so after an hour I told him to take me to the airport where I
would sit and read for the four hours until my flight, They were happy to
do that because it meant they could get a head start on their eleven hour drive
back. By that time I was happy to be alone.
Before we arrived at the airport I asked if there was
the same double security system as there was in Istanbul and was told there was
not and you could go straight to the ticket counter. Yeah right. Of
course there was the double security. On top of that the ticket counter
didn't open until 6:00 and it was only 4:00. Since I wanted to have him
there to make sure the airline knew I needed a wheelchair I decided not to go
back outside (and thus through security again when I returned) and just plunked
myself on a chair, grabbed my book and let him go. I was frustrated and
not at all happy.
Despite whatever Omer had done the agent seemed to
know nothing about the wheelchair but I got her to understand after several
tries. She didn't seem too happy about it
and shortly a chair arrived and I was pushed over to the seating area.
After I had checked in at 6:00 I waited another hour and went back to make sure
I understood what the plans were. We all seemed to be on the same page but
as the clock reached the boarding time shown on my boarding pass and no one had
come to get me through security and to the gate I began to be more than a little
antsy. I wheeled myself over to the counter and sat where they could not
ignore me and eventually a reluctant staffer came and took me through. It
took quite awhile until they were ready to board and, imagine my surprise when I
was left until last rather than going on first as is usual. The process
turned out to be the same as it was in Istanbul - truck, lifts, etc. At
least this time I knew what was going on. Being the last one to board I
was stuck in the last seat in the last row and there was nowhere to put my carry
on except between my feet. Not pleasant.
No problems at all with the wheelchair in Istanbul and
my driver to the hotel was waiting as promised. Traffic leaving the
airport was absolutely horrendous. The worst I have ever seen. It
was stop and go for about a half hour until we reached a larger highway and some
cars turned off.
Check in at the hotel (it was now 11:30 pm and I had
been up since 4:00 am) so was wiped. I collapsed on the couch, had a beer
and a bottle of water, called for a wake up at 6:30 and went directly to sleep
around 1:30. Good plan but they called me at 5:30 instead and I didn't
dare go back to sleep. As it turned out they also called at 6:30 so I
could have had an extra hour...