Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Kuwait City, Kuwait on March 31st.

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Good thing Max is small!

It was definitely a good move to come down to the coast. It's not warm by any means, but it's comfortable. At least we haven't had to put the furnace on! We had spent Tuesday night in Kozlu, which is a western suburb of Zonguldak.

We felt comfortable leaving Max alone, so we went for a walk back towards Zonguldak before leaving the area and heading further west towards Istanbul.

It was a decent morning... mostly cloudy with a few sunny breaks.

The Black Sea.

Lots of apartment buildings.

Really nice walking path.

There are always lots of picnic spots.

The bay at Kozlu.


Manmade waterfall.

Looking towards Zonguldak.

We did about 7 kms (4.5 miles) so at least we got some exercise and fresh air. Back at Max, we had an early lunch and then packed up and headed further west.

We didn't get very far though. 

I had read about a cave on the outskirts of the city of Ereğli (pop 121,000) which was located about 45 kms (28 miles) away. So we headed there.

Scenery along the way.

We're driving along and the road was four lanes with a fair bit of traffic. I had seen an alternative route that went through some small villages, but I had no plans on taking that route so I hadn't researched it at all. Well, we got to the turn off, and for whatever reason I decided at the last minute to take that alternative route. 

I always put a lot of planning into the routes that we take. The problems here are similar to those in much of Mexico and Europe... a lot of villages are not made for larger vehicles. 

Good thing Max is small!

The road was not in good shape. But the first village we went through was no real problem, so we kept going. Opportunities to turn around were not many to begin with!

We passed the occasional person who stared at us as we were going through. I'm sure they were thinking "these people must be lost!"

Ruth took a video of one section for you...


I was definitely a little nervous because we have been in villages where the only vehicles that can get through are cars. There were some tight corners, but Max made it through unscathed! Good thing nobody was coming the other way though. Still, the experience served as a good reminder to me.

We arrived at the caves parking lot and asked the security guy if we could stay overnight. No problem there, but it had turned into a nice afternoon so we decided to go for a walk along the waterfront in Ereğli and visit the caves in the morning.

Ereğli waterfront.

They have done a great job with the waterfront park.

Lots of flowers.

The tulips are in bloom.

Lots of people out enjoying the day.
So glad we didn't stay in the mountains!

They have an interesting way of getting the small boats out of the water.


The waterfront park runs for 2.5 kms each way.

Ereğli, Turkiye.

We could stay here another day just to walk the park again. In fact, we might do that before we leave this morning after we have seen the caves. But, we have to do some driving  today. We want to be in Istanbul tomorrow and it's still 300 kms (180 miles) or so away.

Yesterday's drive 45 kms (28 miles).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 Pack of Solar Motion Sensor Lights. On sale, plus there is a 30% off coupon showing on the product page.

And in Canada...

14 comments:

  1. Wow, what a hair raising, twisty road! I'd have been scared to even ride my motorcycle on it. Good job getting through it, you picked well when you bought Max with it's slim size. :c)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was a bit twisty and winding going down but it would have been no problem for a motorcycle.

      We really like that Max is small and that is what we were looking for when we bought a motorhome over here. We knew that there would be many tight spots in the towns and villages over here.

      Delete
  2. Love to see the flowers in bloom! I can tell that you (Ruth) felt the same by the smile on your face. :) Can't wait to see them here in Michigan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right, I am very happy to see the flowers in bloom. I am really looking forward to Istanbul, someone already gave us a heads up to the tulips in bloom at one of the many parks there. :-)

      Delete
  3. I don't know...I have sure seen those gigantic tour busses ease their way through some pretty unlikely streets in Turkey. I don't know how they do it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have seen some big buses get through some tight spots too but I don't think they could have made it through this little village. Even the local bus that goes through the area is small, it was almost the same length as Max.

      Delete
  4. We are enjoying re-living our Turkey journey (2004-5) through you....Thank You and continued safe travels. Louise had to have minor surgery in Istanbul and we went to Sile for a week to recover at their campground. We spent 2 1/2 months in Turkey and still count that time as some of the best of times of our 2 year camping excursion in through Europe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Şile looks like a beautiful spot to recuperation. We were going to drive through there yesterday as we made our way to Istanbul but Kevin saw that the road going to Şile from Ereğli became twisty and winding and slow going, at least the part toward the end of the route so part way we turned off and headed south on a more major road. Plus Kevin saw that there was an RV sales and service shop in Adapazarı that we wanted to check out.

      We are with you about Turkiye being some of the best of our travels here so far. There is just so much to see and do, it is an amazing country. We will definitely be back to see more. Nice to see that you spent two years traveling through Europe in a camper as well. :-)

      Delete
  5. I agree that researching routes is important, however some of our greatest adventures have been unscripted. Its kinda neat to look back and say "I really shouldn't have been there but I made it"! Makes for great campfire stories. Loving following your travels.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lol, we have to agree with you one that! We have certainly had a few experiences in the past that we laugh about and say to each other, maybe we shouldn't have driven on that road, and that was with Sherman!

      So glad that you are enjoying our travels. We are happy that you had a great winter in Mexico. :-)

      Delete
  6. I'm enjoying your travels too. Wonderful times for you and for us who follow along.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Vera, we are glad that you are enjoying our posts. :-)

      Delete
  7. Another great post. Thank you for the video Ruth. Good job on the maneuvering Kevin!
    With metta
    K~

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Kathryn, we are glad you enjoyed it.

      Kevin did a great job getting us through the little village. All I can say is that it is a good thing that it wasn't me doing the driving, I would probably have been having a panic attack, lol!

      Delete

There are more comments on our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TravelwithKevinAndRuth

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.