One day in Trabzon to take a breath and look at the sights in and around the city. For Turkey, we got a 3 months visa on arrival so after rushing around in Iran, we do need to take it slower now. Thus, we slept in, enjoyed the breakfast that was included and…started on chores.

First thing to do was finding a money changer. We deliberately took too many USD into Iran, given that credit cards don’t work, we wanted to be safe rather than sorry. But Iran turned out to be the cheapest country so far which meant we have USD now that will not be of use in Turkey or the EU. The rate offered at the exchange was actually very good so we changed enough for the next couple of days.

Thanks guys for shouting lunch!

Next in line was Rocinante. After the scare in Iran, Flo wanted to take a close look at Rocinante, change the oil, get new brake pads for the front and get a new chain. For all of this, we needed a Honda dealer and Trabzon actually has one. So we showed up and the fun of translation began. The first staff member we talked to was very nice and helpful but translating via google translate takes its time plus he didn’t know all the prices and if the spare parts are actually stocked. Thus, we waited for the mechanic to arrive while sipping a coffee.

Once the mechanic arrived, things seemed to start moving. Flo got a fixed price for the oil change and new brake pads while no chain was available. Being amazingly friendly staff, we were then sat down in the “waiting area” and someone went out and bought lunch for us. It was still a waiting game though and I regretted having joined Flo. I started feeling sick and really just wanted to lie down in bed. Instead we waited. Around 2pm, we were fetched back to have a look at the bike. The oil had been changed but the brake pads didn’t fit because of the ABS and now they were trying to locate pads in any of the close by cities.

These are in dire need of replacement. I have one half used set in spare to get us to the next town.

In the end, no brake pads could be found and Ismail advised us to take the detour over Ankara to get new ones. However, the Honda dealer staff had done more than could be expected and Rocinante was even cleaned before we got her back. Looking all clean and shiny again, it’s not quite the same bike anymore.

Leaving at 3pm, I didn’t feel like seeing any of the sights anymore. Instead, we went back to the hotel for some relaxing and then out to find all those confectionaries that the Lonely Planet talks about. We visited two of the bigger ones and were successful: Flo had ice cream while I bought baklava and a chocolate dessert in the first one; in the second one we discovered delicious Turkish delight rolls with a hazelnut paste.

Done for today, we purchased fresh bread and a beer (woah, a country which sells beer) for dinner and a nice and cozy evening watching youtube.