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So we are making our escape, setting down in Istanbul on Saturday afternoon.

That sprawling metropolis bridging Europe and Asia.

InshaAllah we will pray Tarawih in one or two of the grand mosques.

But soon we will be moving on. If we fly, we will be in Trabzon, eastwards along the Black Sea coast an hour or so after our departure from Istanbul. If we take the bus, we will arrive sixteen hour later. It all depends what we can afford.

We won’t stop long in Trabzon.

We’re on our way to Hopa, close to Georgian border. That’s a five hour drive from Trabzon, even with Turkish driving. But go there we must.

We will pass through Rize, Cayeli and Findikli on the way, the dark waters on our left, the steep mountains on our right.

When we arrive, we may stop in town for a while, but soon we’ll be on our way again, onwards into the hills.

We’re heading for Basoba, our village in the forested hills

You can just see the side of our house on the left of this picture, the red brick next to the school building. There is a mosque up the road in the other direction. I guess I’ll join the old, grey toothless ones for Tarawih there as well.

Keep us in your prayers.