Havıng just spent two days in the beautiful Kackar mountains we are updating the diary before crossing the border into Georgia tonight.

From Amasya we crossed the mountains to the Black Sea coast and from the photographs you will see that this is yet another of Turkey´s many faces. Lush forests, tea plantations and a cooler clımate make this a welcome change from the furnace heat of central Anatolia.

At the port of Trabazon we visited the spectacular Aya Sofıa Church, restored with the assistance of Edinburgh University.

Riding south we climbed up to the Sumela monestry, which has clung impossibly to the cliff face since the 6th Century AD.

The rıde up the Yusufeli into the Kackar mountains was our first experience of suspension bridges, landslides and roads continually reclaimed by nature. The bumpy ride was well rewarded with Alpine scenery, friendly mountain folk and a wonderful clımb into the 1200 ft mountains.