After spending about 2 weeks in Istanbul I left this metropolis and drove east towards the Black Sea coast.

A few quick impressions of the turkish Black Sea Coast I travelled along.

The weather along Turkeys north coast is not as dry as in other parts of the country, which is indicated by the lush vegetation along the mountainous parts of the shoreline.

To date, Turkey is the world’s leading hazelnut producer, accounting for about 73 percent of the total world supply. About 60 percent of the crop are produced in the Eastern Black Sea Region, 15 percent is produced in the Central Region and the remaining 25 percent are produced in the Western Black Sea Region.
Harvesting time is in fall, lasting for about 6 weeks. During this period of time, tons of hazelnuts are being picked up by locals, whor work for about 13 hours a day, earning aproximately 15 Euro a day.

Despite the hard work and the long working hours the workers are all in a very good mood, having short breaks on the forest floor eating traditional Turkish food. It is very interesting to see, that the groups are separated in female and male as well as supervisor and labourer.

After harvesting the hazelnuts, they are dried and processed in the hazelnut factory, bevor being picked up by trucks.

Driving along the Black Sea Coast brings you to the city of Amasra, which is located approximately 300 km east of Istanbul. Amasra has a pleasing size and is particularly beautiful. The surrounding hills offer scienic views on the city.

About 10 kilometer west of Amasra is the little touristic settlement of Inkum. The season in september was already over despite mild temperatures and warm weather.

Staying overnight for a couple of days next to the beach of the Black Sea very close to the village of Tekkeönu offered to meet several very hospitable turkish people. I was allowed to park the van on the private property of a german speaking turk at the Black Sea who came every day and cooked food for all of us.
Close to his private house was the workshop of a blacksmith and it was very interesting to see, how the blades of big knives are being produced.

In the village of Tekkeönu is onother workshop of a boat building company right next to the harbour. There workers are very nice and friendly like all other turkish people I met during my time in Turkey.