#2: [27-Jan-07]

22-May-2004 -- After 3 successful confluence visits (see 40N 27E, 41N 27E and 42N 27E), Harald and I decided to get another point. We choose a point in the East of Istanbul. Starting at 8:00 a.m., we went almost to Düzce, and then left the highway into northern direction heading to Kurukavak. The road was not the best, especially not for Harald's roadster, but we could manage to get through. It took more than an hour to drive to the highest point of the mountains. After another 30 minutes going down, we reached the confluence point by almost 900 m. Because of a deep valley, we had to walk for more than 2 km until we could turn again in the direction of the confluence point. Approaching the point by less then 350 m, we stopped beside a fence, which surrounded a hazelnut field. (Turkey is one of the largest exporting countries of hazelnuts.)

To find the right direction of the confluence point, I was walking up and down the road with the GPS in my hand, closely observed by a Turkish farmer and his children. After 5 minutes the framer asked us if we needed any help, where we wanted to go to, where we were coming from, and if we wanted to have tea and lunch with him. Harald, who speaks quite good Turkish, answered that we just wanted to go 350 m into northeastern direction. The farmer explained us the way to the Black Sea, the way to Istanbul, and how we could reach the next village. "What about tea and lunch?", he asked again. Harald replied: "Just 350 meter in this direction", pointing into the hazelnut bushes. The framer still did not get it. After showing him the GPS navigator and a map of Turkey with the degree lines of longitudes and latitude, he was totally confused. But he still insisted on having tea with him. We told him that we first wanted to go to the point and then, we would join him for tea. "Tamam! I come with you", he said, jumped over the fence and guided us through the fields. After a few minutes, following the GPS, we reached the confluence point.

Irfan, the name of the farmer, still was not sure that this made any sense, but he marked the confluence point for further visitors by digging a hole under one of the bushes. We took the pictures and followed Irfan home to have tea with him. At Irfan's home, we didn't get only tea; we had an excellent confluence meal. While we were eating, his whole family and all neighbours appeared. Everyone was very surprised that they have been living for years beside such an imported landmark and nobody knew it!

Maybe life in this unknown village will change after the day when two strangers came, taking pictures of hazelnut bushes and disappeared forever, maybe not. But now there is a little hole in the ground at 41N 31E. And maybe you will eat Confluence Nutella (hazelnut spread), made of hazelnuts from the bushes you can see in our pictures.