Ayder - local woman

Ayder - local woman, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

We are being very naughty today, renting a whole (big) minibus to take us to the Ayden Plateau 100+ kms east of Trabzon.

Our driver is Saleh, a seemingly calm older gentlemen, which is good. He doesn't speak too much English (well none at all) but our Turkish is a little bit better than it was. He doesn't seem to be in any sort of hurry and will stop off at the photo opportunities as they arise. Let's hope it works out.

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Dolphins! We saw dolphins! A whole scholl of them jumping for fun in the calm waters just outside of Trabzon.

We are now just leaving Rize, the centre of tea production in Turkey. Just visited the tea and botanical gardens for a very local brew with views of the tea gardens surrounding as well as across the city below.

The nice thing about the tea platations here is that they are interspersed with trees and houses, making for a varied landscape.hope to find some tea pickers by the side of the road but I wonder if it isn't a bit late in the day for that.