{"id":1252,"date":"2022-10-03T10:21:17","date_gmt":"2022-10-03T08:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.parabundos.com\/?p=1252"},"modified":"2022-10-03T10:21:20","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T08:21:20","slug":"from-the-black-sea-to-batumi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.parabundos.com\/en\/from-the-black-sea-to-batumi\/","title":{"rendered":"From the Black Sea to Batumi"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We have arrived in the north of Turkey. We have slowly wound our way through the mountain roads and the Black Sea spreads out in front of us. It's rough and grey and very windy, plus it's raining again for a long time. And it's going to rain for a few days. Luca's friends from St. Gallen should have received a parcel in Ordu. Unfortunately, it arrived when they were already far over the mountains (ok, in this case the border to Georgia). So we pick it up for them. They travel by bike and Milan's sleeping mat broke at some point. After some linguistic confusion with the parcel receiver, we end up with it in our luggage and enjoy the coast. Or so we thought. What we didn't know, however, is that the Black Sea coast east of us is completely built up. The highway bangs towards Georgia and on it countless trucks. Standing on the beach actually means sleeping next to the main road. Peace and quiet are out of the question. So we quickly make a detour into the mountains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flying above arab tourism<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Uzung\u00f6l is supposed to be \"the Switzerland of Turkey\". Somehow, every country has its own internal Switzerland. We want to meet Metin here, a tandem pilot we met in Kayseri. The small village is in the middle of the mountains, next to a lake. Very beautiful to look at, but apart from the nature, hardly anything here reminds us of Switzerland. It is infinitely touristy. We wonder if families really still live here among all the resorts and hotels. Probably not. There is an incredible amount of hustle and bustle. Compared to \u00d6l\u00fcdeniz, however, nothing here is written in pounds or English, but in Arabic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many tourists come from the Arabian Peninsula, because the place is quite high and is a pleasant place to cool down for many in summer. We park our car next to the amusement park and get to know the different pilots over tea. Shortly afterwards Metin joins us. There is no flying today, the clouds hang much too low. We eat together and arrange a flight for the next day. In the morning, Luca is served a typical breakfast of the region: it's called muhlama and is probably the Turkish version of a fondue: melted cheese, butter and polenta. Our Swiss guy glows with happiness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we drive up the mountain, but the fog is getting thicker. The clouds hang over the small town and it takes quite a long time until we are finally above them. The view here is fantastic, but flying into a valley where you can't see the ground is just too dangerous. You don't do that. In fact, it would be stupid... But we can take off after all at a low-lying take-off site. The flight is short and cold, but beautiful. Only at the landing it is a bit strange again, we have to reduce altitude above a hotel and watch out not to land in the lane of the go-karts. But we both make it.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n