Day 117
7 hrs, 5 .3 kms
Day Total: 16 hrs, 14.1 kms

Next I hop on one of the many mini buses heading to the next city up the road: Ordu. It's interesting to note, that even though this is just a "town hopper" mini-bus, the attendant is still very well dressed, and offers you free water on the ride. Just love the service and professionalism of buses here in Turkey. Sometimes they won't let me take my guitar on board, but I know it will be safe in the hands of the attendant--and he'll never try to extort a "tip" from me for extra services...

Ordu has a lively, big city--almost touristy feel to it, with a cable ride starting at the coast heading up to the mountains. Of, course another big, brand new park right along the shore...

But what I find as I head up to explore the neighborhoods on the steep slopes is what puts a smile on my face. I see houses... old, traditional Ottoman era houses, being painstakingly restored, one by one . This is heartwarming because it's very rare to see this in Turkey. Typically what I've seen all across the country is the beautiful traditional architecture either being left to slowly decay, or completely destroyed and replaced by the most boring, unimaginative houses and apartment buildings you can imagine. Time and time again I've arrived in an important historic city, only to be disappointed by hardly finding a trace of the rich historical past.

I can understand Turkey wants to be quick an efficient to builda strong economy--razing buildings to the ground and building high rises is much cheaper and space-efficient than restoring these old structures. But at least a little effort to preserve the past? Well, here in my 105th Turkish town I finally see it... Beautiful half timber hillside homes, having the old wood painstakingly removed and replaced... beautiful