Trabzon

Having spent the previous few days in a succession of Turkish seaside towns, our arrival in the bustling and cosmopolitan trading centre of Trabzon was something of a culture shock. Trabzon is the largest Black Sea port in the east of Turkey and is a mere stone's throw (in terms of Turkish geography) from the border with Georgia, and our next destination. We had come from the sleepy fishing town of Persembe and the three bus journey was an interesting and eventful one which warrants a brief mention. First we took a dolmus from Persembe to Ordu where the dolmus driver kindly found us a slightly bigger vehicle going to the town of Giresun (famed for its ...  Read the complete review

Trabzon, one of Turkey's largest cities, usually has two images among foreign tourists. The first is historical...many come to Trabzon expecting it to resemble the fabled city of Trebizond, and leave very disappointed with the modern-day port city. The second is Trabzon's seedy image as the centre for ex-Soviet prostitutes (called "natashas" by the Turks). True, Trabzon does have a lot of history under its belt, and yes, there are a lot of natashas too, but Trabzon is not just history and Russian girls! First impressions of the city are not always good...this is a city that needs time to get to know, and unfortunately many visitors leave on ...  Read the complete review

I travelled to Trab from Ist, then Ankara by train. I arrived in Ezerum & then had to catch a bus. The scenery from Maki was stunning, rally lush. It was quite difficult to find a hotel in Trab that didn't have prostitutes(Natashas) in it. Since the opening up of the USSR borders Russian prostitutes travel to Trab because they can make more money there than in USSR. From Lonely Planet I found a monastry Santa Monika which takes in guests. I can say without hesitation, unless staying with friends, that this was the nicest place that I have ever stayed in Turkey. I had my own room, the bathroom was along the corridor.There was a kitchen , a washing machine & a garden. ...  Read the complete review