#2: [07-Dec-08]

27-Feb-2005 -- After the disappointment of failing in our first confluence hunt (an unsuccessful visit of 40N 31E) we were a bit apprehensive at tackling another; especially as all the relatively close ones to Ankara had already been visited and the nearest was now about a 5 to 6 hours' drive away.

Thankfully, the winter weather was relatively mild and so we set out at lunchtime on Saturday, 26 February 2005 for the drive to Tokat. En route, we unfortunately missed the chance to visit Ballıca Cave, which lays about 30 km southwest of Tokat and is supposed to be one of the larger and more interesting caves in Turkey. Those on a confluence re-visit should perhaps take the opportunity to visit the cave.

On Sunday morning we headed southeast via Artova and Sulusaray where we visited the local Jandarma to obtain information regarding security around the Confluence. Thankfully the response was positive and we carried on through fairly flat farmland to Elmalıütüğü. From here we went north and then east, but this proved to be a mistake and we had to back-track past Elmalıütüğü and on to Uylubağı (where we should have been in the first place).

Uylubağı is a small village with the majority of the houses north of the road. We drove past the couple of farmhouses on the south side and down the track for about 0.5 km where the track ended. We tried to drive on but the four-wheel drive vehicle almost became stuck in the mud and so had to quickly return to the safety of relatively firm ground and decided to walk the rest of the way. However, this was no hardship as the Confluence was now only about 1 km away. Following a slow trek through extremely muddy fields and a jump over a small stream, we reached the Confluence at 13:20.