14-Aug-2009 -- Continued from 41N 40E.

The Confluence is located 12 km in the east of Ordu, about 2 km offshore in the Black Sea.

We started in the morning from Trabzon and took a country bus towards Ordu. We had located what appeared to be a small harbour and fishing vessels in satellite pictures of the area. The road hugged the coastline almost all the way, so we figured we would pass it on the way to Ordu. We guessed that the trip would take until noon, which was off by a two hours: The bus was the slowest motored vehicle in the universe and four hours later we were still rattling along, stopping in every little village between Trabzon and Ordu.

Ordu Province is well known for the huge hazelnut-production and one of the largest hazelnut co-ops is located at Ordu. The hills along the coastal line are mainly covered with hazelnut orchards. After harvesting they dry the nuts along the roads and in the courtyards of the houses and you can buy fresh hazelnuts almost everywhere. We were in a little hurry because we already had tickets for the overnight-ferry to Sochi and we were told to board the ferry between 5 and 9 p.m. It was already 2 p.m. when we saw a little port through the bus window. We stopped the bus and asked some fishermen if we could hire their vessel but they just sent us back to the fishermen's bar which we also left unsuccessfully. The clock was ticking. We walked back to the moored vessels.

Meanwhile one of the fishermen had called a relative who was fluent in German and translated via the cell. We managed to convey our plan and agreed to a price. So, we got our boat and after 40 minutes we reached the CP and 1.5 hours later we were already on our way back to Trabzon. We took a minibus to the bus station and again we had to wait for a big country bus back to Trabzon. We passed the time with an early dinner of delicious Turkish food. We arrived at Trabzon around half past ten. We ran the last kilometre for fear of missing the ferry.

Continued at 45N 40E.

In the Black Sea, about 2 km from shore.