tour of Black Sea Turkey, tours and travel services in Turkey by srm travel

day 1 - Istanbul --- Welcome get together for our tour briefing followed by dinner.

day 2 - Istanbul - Trabzon --- Today we explore the coastal town of Trabzon that was one of the important cities of Asia Minor through stages of history, Byzantine and Ottoman monuments side by side along the cobble stone streets. Hagia Sophia church with its splendid frescoes, house of Ataturk and Fatih Mosque are places of interest that we will visit.

day 3 - Trabzon --- Today we visit Sumela Monastery in Altindere Valley national park, Macka. The monastery is located high on a cliff above the canyon. It is also known as the Monastery of Mother Mary, and was founded by two Greek monks in 385 AD. In the afternoon we drive to the highlands of Trabzon, to an old Caravanserai on the ancient Silk Road.

day 4 - Trabzon - Rize --- The city of Rize is a fast growing commercial center of the Black Sea. Tea is the most important product of the town and the region, and a major source of income for the people besides fishing. Here we will visit a tea factory, and learn about the industry. On the way to Rize we go to Ikizdere village to see an outstanding example of wood carving, the Simsirli Mosque of the 19th century, entirely built out of chestnut. On a small coastal town en route, we will have a chance to meet with the fishermen and listen to their stories.

day 5 - Rize --- Today we learn more about the social life on the Pontic Mountains. We hike to an off the beaten track village named 'Yenice', and spend the whole day with the locals, listen to 'tulum', the local instrument made out of goat skin and do the folk dance 'horon' with the villagers.

day 6 - Rize - Hopa --- Camlihemsin on the Firtina river basin. This is a spectacular town in the wilderness, deeply forested and under a semi-permanent cover of rain clouds. We walk up to the Markevis quarter in Camlihemsin, where we see stately traditional houses built on steep terrain. These 19th century houses form one of the most interesting settlements of the Black Sea region. We also visit Zilkale (bell castle), a lone standing castle that is probably the most romantic in Turkey. Today Professor Adil Guner joins us to introduce the endemic flora in the region.

day 7 - Hopa - Macahel --- We drive to Borcka, and on to Macahel. Located close to the Georgian border, Macahel is one of the top 200 ecological wonders of the world. There are six villages in the region, central village is also known as Macahel. For the next 3 nights, we stay at the guesthouse of the village, or village homes.

day 8 & 9 - Macahel --- We will visit the villages in the region, get familiar with the people and share their lives, taste the honey they produce, make cheese with them, dance with them and listen to the choir of the seniors' and record the tunes of thousands of years in our memory. This region is the only place left that the pure Caucasian bee lives. We will get to learn more on epi-culture that is part of an extensive rural development project in the country. This project has proved its success by being a finalist Johannesburg World Summit Business Awards for Sustainable Development.

day 10 - Macahel - Erzurum --- We drive to Erzurum through incredible geography. We explore the highlights of the town including the Twin Minaret Medrese, the Grand Mosque, and the market.

day 11 - Erzurum - Istanbul --- Back to Istanbul.

day 12 --- Tour is over after breakfast.

Individual pre- & post- tour extensions are available to various destinations
This tour is physically demanding

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