Turkey - Asia

We went to the Black Sea and had a pleasant 4 days edging our way along the coast. Enjoying the senery and the sea. Then we travelled inland across the high moutain passes towards the central route.

View Trans Asia 1975 - Turkey in a larger map

I have checked the original letter and it does say 11,000 ft, however, this is a little optimistic. I have also checked a contour map which suggests that I should have written 2,440m. An entirely different result of about 8,000 ft. Assuming the route was along Trabzon Gümüşhane Yolu / Bayburt Gümüşhane Yolu / Erzurum Bayburt Yolu. The highest peak in the area appears to be Abdal Musa Peak at 3331 m, or 10,928 ft, which is close to 11,000 ft.

View Trans Asia 1975 - Turkey in a larger map
View Trans Asia 1975 - Turkey in a larger map

Turkey - Asia

The Pontic Mountains or Pontic Alps

After spending a while following the coast road of the Turkish Black Sea it was time for the Mountain passes.

The Pontic Mountains or Pontic Alps stood between Trabzon on the coast inland to Erzurum, via Bayburt and Askale, where we joined the central road.

So it was summer when we drove through the mountains, and these photos are snow covered. The mountains are not high enough to be permanently snow covered. It does look pretty in the snow though. It was also many years later.

The sign below shows the altitude of the pass at 2409m, about 7,900ft. It was not just the height of the passes that was spectacular, nor the valleys and scenery. The roads themselves are just something else. The extract of the google map shows a small segment of the bends, loops, and zigzags as the dirt road climbs in and out of the valleys and over the passes along the route towards the center and then to the East and more mountains.

Wonderful roads with little traffic and no tourists. Proper drivers roads winding their way inland and higher and higher. 

According to some of the websites I have visited recently, the Black Sea is still Turkey's Secret Coast and therefore I suspect that this road is not high on many tourist or traveler's destination lists. 

Having looked at the websites, we missed out on a lot of things just off the road, which appear to be well worth the time to visit. However, without the internet or any guide books, it was just a case of exploring as we drove.

Turkey - Asia

Mountain photos

Turkey - Asia

No diversions, no traffic signs, no cones

Trucks dominate that route, large trucks. Rules of the road are very much based on size. Just because it is the main road across a continent does not mean it is all metaled either. Sorry, getting technical. There is a noticeable absence of blacktop, with large lengths of road still being dirt. Pot holes abound. You know we complain about delays and 'cone city' when there are roadworks. Not a problem in Turkey. No diversions, no traffic signs, no cones, just a grader in the middle of the road coming towards you. Now I say middle, which may give a sense of size which is not necessarily correct. Frequently, you have to drive off the road to avoid said oncoming grader. And then there is the queue of trucks behind the grader, either not able to get past, or choosing not to as a re-graded road is so much better.

In the UK, in 2013, there is a crises in road maintenance. So little maintenance has been carried out on the minor, non trunk routes that the roads are becoming severely potholed following a number of severe winters. The surface starts to break up, and more frost adds to the damage. A quick surface dressing at this stage will generally cure the problem. On a dirt road, life is so much simpler. Potholes get very large and frequent. Send out the man and his grader. A few passes and all the potholes are filled, the surface re-cambered and dressed. The traffic provides the compaction, so no need for a roller. All sorted.

Just to give you a idea of what a grader looks like, below are some images from Caterpillar or Cat as it is more normally known as these days. The graders in 1975 would have been made by Caterpillar, older versions of those shown, but fairly similar.