I’ve been in Samsun for a week now. Same town, same camping pitch, not travelling, for a week.
It’s been nice, resting and relaxing. It’s also been fun getting the chance to explore a place, rather than just pass through it.
I’ve even had a routine, of sorts, visiting the baker in the mornings and picking up other daily supplies.
The Bandirma Plaji campsite has been reasonable too. It works out at something like £4 per day and it’s clean and… well… it’s a small campsite – primarily set up for mobiles homes and caravans.
Bike News: A new chain has sorted out that rear-end grinding noise. Yes! No new sprockets needed at all. I also now have a chain breaking tool, which is something I meant to pick up before leaving the UK.
I have also heard, from a lovely German couple staying at the campsite, that Russia is all ‘new motorways’ – all the way to Vladivostok. With this nugget of knowledge, I’ve procured some Pirelli road/light-trail tyres which I can pick up this afternoon.
Samsun, in bike terms, has been an oasis and I’m now all set to cross Russia.
Back in the UK, Katie (Snarr) is looking for Vladivostok-to-Vancouver flights for me (she’s great at finding travel deals) so I’m almost set for Canada too.
Phew.
I’m making a change to my forthcoming route, in that I’m not going to cross from Georgia to Russia. Instead, I’m going to catch a ferry from Turkey to Sochi. I would love to see Georgia, but I’ve read that crossing the border in that direction is hard/impossible. It may even be tricky entering Russia with Georgia stamps in my passport, so I’m just going to skip it on this trip :(.
All that remains for me to do here is ditch my cooking stuff, secure the new tyres properly and hit the road again.
I’m going to explore a bit of inland Turkey, in replacement of Georgia, and just look forward to a nice easy motorway cruise across Russia.
As relaxing as Samsun has been, I’m not very good at ‘just sitting’ and I’m itching to hit the road again. Having said that, I’ve rather enjoyed starting “The Complete Works of Charles Dickens” :).