After Trabzon I had to return to Ordu, which was not too bad as I missed seeing the point where Jaons and his Argonauts had rested after they had captured the Golden Fleece. However I had so hoped to go further East! The troubles in the East of Turkey between the government and the Kurdish rebels is escalating and I was strongly advised NOT to go any further!  Shame! As two months ago lol was still well in that area. However I decided to go to Amasya instead. What a lovely, lovely surprise this little town was! Nestled between large sheer rock face mountains, with a river in between, lays this cute little Ottoman town, with lovely houses, Pontic rock caves and a great museum and lovely old mosques. I could have stayed forever! I found a gorgeous little hostel, with such friendly staff, I felt directly at home! I had a great view over the river and a private balcony! Life is just so good at times! The rock caves, bridge and old houses lit up in the evening in a most garish fashion, that appealed to the little child within! I walked around for hours, meeting people, enjoying myself. Even shouted myself a, very expensive, beer after finding out that Turnbull had taken over from Abbott!

All good things come to an end! I had planned to go to Sivas from here, but after several people told me it was much better to go directly to Corum(pronounce Chorum) I took the advice and indeed within an hour I was in the next town! Nobody spoke English here, and according to my book the hotel was just around the otogar(bus station) there was no mention of a NEW Otogar out of town! Oops! In the end this bus driver pushed me onto a dolmus, and dropped me off nearby a very LARGE hotel! Luckily the manager spoke a smithereen of English, enough to make him understand I didn’t want to stay at his  five star hotel but at the three star somewhere in the neighbourhood of his expensive hotel! Sweet as he was he walked me all the way to the hotel of my choice! Here I am for half the price in, for me, a luxury hotel! I took it easy, and relaxed. Made friends with the lovely manager in the eatery across the road, and had to try all his specialities! My gosh one meal was enough for three people! And all that for five dollars! Amazing!

the next morning I went exploring! A great museum just around the corner. Fabulous statues and stone carvings. I never get enough to seeing a well presented museum!   Wandering the streets afterwards in search of the castle, I heard knocking sounds, and there they were, the copper pot makers! I stood in awe at their skills. Was offered chai, which I declined, I am drinking twenty cups of tea a day, and need to be near a tuvalet (toilet) at all times! Declining a cup is bad manners, but sometimes necessary. I watched some men playing rummy cup in the streets, and was told to sit down and have tea! One of the men spoke German and at least we could have a chat! I passed a lovely hour watching them play and moved on. The castle was closed for renovations, but the lovely little mosque was open. The young man let me have a sticky beak inside even though I didn’t have my scarf with me! Oops! Breaking all the rules! From there on I wandered through the lovely little streets in search of the clock tower. These were all the attractions in this town. Easy to do! Three places to visit! While sitting down relaxing watching the world go by I noticed the Hamam nearby, since 1573, I decided to visit an Hamam again! Nearly stepped into the men s entrance, oops, social faux pas. It was to be one of the best decisions I have ever made! My massage was utterly superb. The lady used to be a doctor, then after her husbands death retrained as a masseuse. She literally fixed my shoulder problem in two sessions! She had thumbs of steal, and was so strong she massaged the marrow inside my bones! My gosh, I was scrubbed, massaged, scrubbed again and washed. Was quite funny as nobody spoke English, the woman just grabbed my knicker elastic to swing me around, which cracked up all the women present! One of the women spoke German and became the translator to the thousands of questions these women wanted answered!  So funny they were! The main question