The first stage with my dad brought us from the Black Sea Coast directly up in to the Anatolian mountains. The sea cried (it rained a little) when we left her and turned south. It was almost getting dark, when we reached the first high-point. After a fast downhill race, we found the remains of a house near an artificial lake, where we could hide from the winds.

Trabzon-Erzurum

On the next two days we climbed over several passes. The highest on we had to climb is 2449m up in the sky. Thanks to some cay we got on our way, we made it over the top. Up there we realized, that until we reach India, we probably will never be below 1000m again.  For me it is pretty special to be in the mountains all the time. I am enjoying it exceptionally.

Now we stayed for 2 nights in Erzurum. This city has a long history due to it’s position at the silk road. Now they started to renovate some of the stuff, but sadly they don’t really seem to have a plan. We found the remains of an impressive outdoor climbing wall (probably only used once in 2010 for the lead climbing championship) as well as the ski jumping structures of the Universiade 2011. They both appear to have been only used once and than left to nature. This city could offer so much to visitors, if they just paid more attention to there infrastructure.