Bolu-Amasra

Thu 21/12/23

We woke up earlier than fajar as Subuh is only at 6.36 am, now being winter.  Our breakfast would only be ready by 8 am.

Our breakfast was lovely, consisting of the Turkish breakfast set (kahvalti) which consists of bread, olives, cheese, borek, choice of egg - I chose menemen- eggs cooked with tomato, peppers and spices in olive oil, fruits, coffee (we chose latte and capuccino) and cay. 

Turkish breakfast set (kahvalti)

Turkish breakfast set (kahvalti)

menemen that comes together with the Turkish breakfast set (kahvalti) 

After a hearty breakfast, we checked out and made our way to Abant lake national park (Abant golu mili parki) located 37 km away, drove for about 40 mins. We spent about 1.5 hours here enjoying the lake views and taking a drone shot.

Abant lake from drone shot

Abant lake from drone shot

Abant lake from drone shot

wood forest at Abant lake

a bit of ice at Abant lake picnic area

We then left Abant for Amasra which took us 3.5 hours with distance of 236km with most of the stretch being state roads (no toll) through some mountainous areas, hence also going through tunnels so the journey felt really long. 

the road from Abant to Amasra through mountainous area

inside one of the tunnels

We didn't stop to take a break and finally arrive at our hotel Ceylin Amasra at 4.30pm, booked through Booking.com which cost RM 225 (EUR 42 per night) with breakfast. Amasra is a small beautiful seaside town by the Black Sea. According to the hotel manager, we came during low season, there was only 1 other hotel guest staying there. During peak season in summer, the number of tourists visiting Amasra can reach up to 4 times.

view from our room balcony at Ceylin Otel Amasra

our room at Ceylin Otel Amasra

For dinner tonight, we had to drive to town as it was far to walk from our hotel which is located up the hill. It will take us 40 mins to walk, plus the walk back from town to the hotel would involve steep climbing, so we opted to drive instead. We had to pay for parking at town for TRY 40 for 3 to 6 hours parking. This is what we understood. 

We had our dinner at Amasra sofrasi. We ordered izgara kofte, tas kebap stew, pilav rice and cay for TRY 490. We paid dinner by credit card. After dinner, we took a stroll by the seaside and then drove back to our hotel to rest for the day. We would only be venturing out around Amasra tomorrow morning.

tas kebap stew

pilav rice

izgara kofte

salad (complimentary)