Day 35. Saturday, 25th July, 2026. From our Wild Camping Spot near Ardahan to Verizana Restaurant and Camping, north of Trabzon.

Leaving our Camping Spot

It had been a secure, flat place inside the tumbledown stone walls of a derelict building. Getting in was reasonably easy, but getting out a lot harder. Dennis decided it was necessary to turn around, as it was too difficult to reverse out. This was achieved with some manoeuvring. There was a large stone in the entrance way, which Poki had to drive over. As it had rained hard the night before, the ground was now slippery. The front wheels, once over the stone, started spinning and Poki was sliding towards the jagged stone wall. I, of course, start to panic. Dennis was cool as a cucumber, put some stones behind the rear wheels and out Poki came. We then had a steep, rocky climb up to the road, but made it without any problems.

Climbing to over 2,600 meters

It was a good job we stopped where we did as there were no flat stopping places afterwards. We climbed into wide open, exposed mountainous country. On the way we stopped at a spring for water. Dennis decided the water in our back tank was not good water. It was rather scummy. We decided to pump it out of the rear tank and to refill it with spring water. This process was slow. Instead of pumping water back into the tank we tipped it in using a funnel. There is something wrong with the pump. Maybe a filter is blocked somewhere. Dennis will investigate at a later stage.

As we climbed the road became narrower and potholed. More worrying was the lack of barriers in most places.

Descending

We seemed to be coming down forever. It was seriously steep in places. Eventually we came to a rocky river where major construction work was going on. I’m not sure exactly what was happening, but huge concrete walls were being built in the river, piles of very large pipes were all around and bulldozers were moving vast amounts of boulders. Still we descended and then entered an area where all the surrounding valleys were flooded. Huge dams producing hydro electric power, creating large reservoirs for water storage, which are being extensively used for fish farming.

We continued to descend into the bustling town of Artvin. Artvin province hosts 5 major hydroelectric dams along the Coruh River basin. This includes the Yusufeli Dam. At 275 meters it is Türkiye’s tallest concrete dam and a massive power producer at 558 MW capacity.

Leaving Artvin

As we were in the centre of a mountain range, I thought we would have to climb extensively again to reach the coast. However, the road to the coast at Hopa has been crafted so it follows valleys and many tunnels and viaducts have been constructed to make the route easier. Turkiye has generally good roads and has spent and continues to spend much money on roading projects.

This tunnel 5km long!

The coast road to Trabzon

Once the other side of the mountains the weather completely changed. Where it had been in the 30’s and sunny in Artvin it was much cooler and dull and very overcast on the coast. This made it seem unattractive with a grey sea and continuous towns with blocks of flats lining the seafront road. Traffic was heavier too, but driving conditions generally easier as it is a dual carriageway, and flat.

We pulled off a couple of towns before Trabzon to find a supermarket for a few provisions. I visited two, but was only partially successful, but we have sufficient to manage for a few days. Back on the highway, we had located a campsite in Trabzon. Unfortunately, it was all hard standing, right beside the road and at the end of the airport runway, so not suitable. The young man in charge, who spoke English, recommended a place in the hills about 30 kms away.

Camping Verizana

We found the camping in the hills. However, although there are grassy areas, we were not allowed to camp on the grass. Apparently the property is awaiting an inspection from the fire authorities on Monday. Until they have their approval they cannot allow camping on the grass. We had to park under trees on gravel, the only available spot. We are now set up here and it is acceptable. The shower and toilet are okay, or at least the shower looks okay, we haven’t yet tried it!

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