Turkey and Germany 2015: Road Trip to Northeastern Turkey - Part 7

The next morning, after a very comfortable sleep in Sadel's comforting home, she and Zerrin fed us breakfast (delicious of course) and we headed in the sunshine to the center of Unye. Unye is quite historic and has a wealth of Otoman structures and some even older. We admired the aged mosque in the city center which is nearby a heritage tree of unknown age but at least 100 years old. This mosque serviced the palace which is now destroyed (all except a few walls).

Lovely Sadel cooks breakfast

The sisters in law at the breakfast table

Turkish breakfasts are the best - especially home cooked!

Heading sightseeing to Unye from Casa Guven

The Palace (Saray) Mosque (Cami) in central Unye dates from 1132!

Some beautiful interior carvings

Randy waited outside (of course) but well enjoyed this mosque that is approaching 1000 years old but is still functioning

The venerable tree in the Unye center

We then walked to one the restored houses (the house of a sea captain) which is now a museum. This was interesting as the rooms are furnished like they would have been about 150 to 200 years ago.

Walking up the old cobblestone streets from the seafront - away from the seafront the lands slopes up quickly

The Muze Evi (House Museum), a captain's house

I am not sure how old the house is but probably dates from the early to mid 1800's

Walking up to the museum

Posing with an old camera in the house entry

One of the displays

While many of the items are old some are newer such as this gramophone. The things in the museum are basically what were left by the family when they vacated the house in the mid 20th century.

The kitchen

We then walked back to the seaside and along the promenade. Reluctantly we needed to leave Unye to get on to Samsun.

A gorgeous lily in a backyard garden in the old section of Unye

A typical entry way in old Unye - really remarkable

Another view of one partly ruined structure with a restored Otoman house in the background - this neighborhood is a great place to gentrify a structure

A panoramic of the Unye harbor

Alejandro savors Unye

Zerrin and Mehmet on the promenade

The requisite Ataturk statute - not as good as the one with the top hat in Ordu

Another view of the landmark tree

Zerrin and Sadel fed us another great meal (lunch) at Casa Guven before we hit the road west.

Lunch was another expertly prepared meal

Alejandro tucks in

Mehmet loads up since he will be traveling by bus all evening

Two gracious and beautiful ladies

Wish I could stay a week or two in this peaceful and friendly place

Goodbye Casa Unye!

We stopped at the remarkable and rare wooden mosque at Carsamba, a small town between Unye and Samsun. I had seen this place in 2013 and knew that Mehmet would be astounded. He was as interested and amazed at this structure as I thought he would be. This is the Imam of the Gogceli Mosque and was built in 1206 and uses no nails. We spent a fair amount of time examining the interior and also enjoyed the peaceful exterior (in the center of a cemetery). Unfortunately, unlike my earlier visit, the Imam was not present and so could not regale Mehmet with interesting facts and stories about the mosque. It is one of the unknown treasures of the Black Sea coast and is not to missed if you are anywhere near the area.

This is the Gogceli Mosque inside the Gogceli cemetery (mezarlik)

The mosque had stood through earthquakes because the wooden construction allows the structure to move slightly rather than be totally rigid

Mehmet and Alejandro outside this modest but spectacular mosque

The paintings inside have been restored

They look very Nordic to me

Mehmet reads about the place

A detail of the 900 year old logs

Not a great photo - but a panoramic of the interior

The exterior - the women's section is actually outside the mosque along one side

Wood construction is so impressive

One more photo of the deceptively simple Gogceli Mosque

Mehmet decided to take an evening bus from Samsun to Ankara so he could get back to work the next day (Monday). We were sad to have our road trip at an end but it had exceeded all expectations. We found the bus station in Samsun and dropped him off. We then headed to a hotel on the western side where our friends from Ankara, Zulfiya and Tuncer Sahin, had made reservations for us. This hotel was not really up to snuff though. The first room they placed us was on the very busy roadway and the second room, while in the back, did not have working air conditioning (and it was quite warm). I called Zulfiya and told her I was being the Ugly American and we were going to the newly opened Sheraton which I saw on the internet. This was disruptive and the boys (Alejandro and Randy) thought I was being way too fussy but it proved to be the right decision. The Sheraton was astoundingly good and we had a fully comfortable room with a great sea view. The breakfast the next morning (included in the room rate) was equally astounding. Of course, Tuncer (a property developer and native of Samsun) told us that the huge structure was built on faulty soil on the sea edge and was in danger of collapse at some point. We didn't care - we had a supremely and well priced night.

View from our room at the Sheraton - sadly, we did not have time to use the beach or swimming pool - next time!

After the hotel situation was sorted out, we joined Zulfiya and Tuncer for a drive back west to the famous national park along the delta. This is the Kizilirmak (Red River) Kus Cenneti (Bird Santuary) and will be named a UNESCO Heritage Site soon. This is most noted for its birds but also includes wild horses and other species. It was dusk as we drove on the unpaved but good road. We spotted some birds of prey, water birds and the wild horses. It was worth visiting but not exceptional.

With Zulfiya at a new apartment building that she and Tuncer jointly designed and constructed - a very clean and modern structure

We shared the road with the cattle coming in from grazing during this early dusk

The delta of the Red River - Kizilirmak

The wetlands leading to the Black Sea

The harvesting of the grasslands

A cute turtle

Taking bird photos is not my specialty but I caught this fellow hurrying along the sandy soil

Panoramic of the Kizilirmak wetlands

Some of the cows that inhabit this national park

The wild horses of the park live the good life in this peaceful place

Sunset approaches over Kizilirmak

Another view of approaching evening

However, the highlight awaited us. With dark rapidly approaching we then went to an unprotected (not part of the park) area of tall trees. Here, is the roosting place of the huge storks. These are the "White Storks" known as Leylekler in Turkish. They were massed there, maybe 80 or so of them scattered over several trees. It was a breathtaking and unique sight. We only left because the dark arrived (along with the mosquitoes in this delta area).

The stork roosting ground in the Kizilirmak (but outside the park proper) - notice the size of their nests

This is the Red River Delta Stork Wood (to translate the Turkish)

These are the "White Storks" and are massive, in fact, are the largest of the storks

Randy and I (look closely) at this unique place

A good close up of two storks in their nest

A view of a lone stork surveying his roosting area

One last photo - what a special experience this was!

We then drove (well, Tuncer drove) to Bafra further west along the coast where we dined well on fresh fish and wine (for the ladies) and raki (for the gentlemen). The restaurant overlooked the marina area along the Red River leading to the Black Sea. This is a fishing area.