Vlad was keen to see the North Sea, and I certainly was in no hurry to get to Istanbul with no sign yet of my Iranian visa. We decided to try out the beaches and maybe get some swimming in, and the camping prospects up that way weren't too shabby either - Vlad had offered, as a concession for my staying in hotels for 2 nights with him, to give wild camping a go.
In Safaalan (at least I think that's where we were!) we stopped at a Çay Bahçesi, a type of tea garden which functions somewhat like a pub albeit serving a very different class of beverage, and probably with fewer fisticuffs. I had a coffee, which turned out to be the instant variety, to my dissatisfaction. Perhaps the rumours that Turkish Coffee no longer exists are true? Whilst there I picked up an open Wi-fi though, which compensated a bit for the crap coffee.
The wind continued to be a factor in our progress, although never as bad as it had the previous day out of Kirklareli. We reached the village of Binkılıç late in the afternoon, bought a few things to eat and then rode the dirt road up to some graded area on the hillside, where we found a good camping spot between some groves of trees. I cooked us a large quantity of spicy red lentil dhal and pasta, which we somehow managed to consume all of before hitting the hay.
The following day we continued over the top of the range and down towards the Black Sea, arriving at Çilingoz after a navigation error. Neither of us was tempted to swim with the overcast windy weather, so we chatted a bit to two young Turkish girls then set off eastwards along the coast. We barely touched tarmac all day, and the road surface was pretty rough for the most part so progress was slow and careful (I like my rear wheel to stay circle-shaped).
Towards sunset we passed through Ormanli and found the beach road, where we camped in a secluded spot. In the morning Vlad took a chilly swim whilst I took photos of the coastline and the crazy swimmer.
On the road once again, we started to enter more developed parts again, and tarmac returned. We opted to camp wild once again, and found a pasture just before Yassıören as the sun set to be replaced by a nearly full moon.
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