Turkey: Pinarbasi

It's only a short distance from Safranbolu to Pinarbasi, but we drove a long loop via Amasra and the Black Sea coast, then inland again. We had a fish lunch at a cute little inlet:

In Pinarbasi, we had booked at the Pasa Konagi, an old wooden eco-lodge:

At the reception desk, they didn't seem to have any knowledge of our booking:

but had a quaint room for us upstairs anyway:

The ground were full of old traditional implements and traditional cows:

The small town is on the edge of a National Park:

Dinner was provided at the lodge, and there we met a Russian hunter, who introduced us to Sergin, a possible guide round the area for the next day - possibly the Director of the National Park?  He arrived at 8 am, and drove our car (and us) into the park, up to a viewpoint over a remote gorge:

Not much common language, but we all tried our best to communicate:

The gorge in the mist:

There seemed to be a discussion between our guide and a local person about someone who had recently fallen off the rocks into the gorge:

Nearby was a tourist chalet-style development, with a waterfall and some Roman ruins:

Sergin also took us to a nearby stream, where we think he was saying that the river mud was being developed for its cosmetic use:

This would become relevant and useful later.  Sergin then drove us through the nearby hills and valleys, past/through a village where there seemed to be a large wedding happening (hundreds of armed people, dressed in their finest, standing quietly in an open space in the small village) and to the house of a friend/colleague of his - Ali:

Ali and family weren't home, but while we waited, Sergin showed us Ali's old cars and suggested that Pat pose in one. Unfortunately this disturbed a wasp's nest and Pat was stung several times on her arms.

Ali and family arrived at that point, and pulled out some of the aforesaid mud, which was supposed to have an ameliorating as well as cosmetic affect, and coated Pat's arms with it:

They offered to take us to a cave nearby, and we drove off further into the hills:

off the roads, across a meadow, up dirt track and into the forest:

scrambling up a hill, past snakes and fresh bear skat:

At the top of the hill was a hole in the ground with some loosely tied together branches leading into them.  At that point (probably later than we should have) we cried: Nix to this!!  So Sergin and Ali rugged up and descended into the cave with our camera:

It was now getting late, so back to Ali's place (where we'd left our car) (and dropping something ... perhaps a shock assembly ... from the bottom of Ali's car on the way!), then back to our lodge.  Where there had been another wedding - and the lodge was the location for the male post-wedding party ... only men invited (women were elsewhere in the village) ... complete with band, cross-dressing dancers and gunfire.  No pictures unfortunately, but the band were discovered asleep in the common area of the lodge the next morning as we headed off....