Trabzon, Trebizond, Trapezus: whatever transitions the name has undergone since the merchants of Sinope founded it in the 8th century BC, this city on Turkey’s Black Sea coast has always had an exotic ring to Western ears.
The 271 kilometers that stretch between Trabzon and Ünye are a constant progression of seaside harbor towns squeezed on a narrow ledge of land between the mountains and the beach
The land east of Trabzon is the quintessential Black Sea country. The west has mountains; in the east they are higher. The west has a wet climate; the east is even wetter.
During your climb up the Hemşin this river will be your constant companion-a scattered torrent crisscrossing the broad valley base here, a gushing, cascading waterfall in the forest depths or an icy streamlet trickling from under the great Kaçkar glacier