Turkey Guide
The Black Sea coast
Uzungöl
From Çaykara, it's 45km on a paved road up to Uzungöl (Long Lake), the main attraction of this area. After Sumela, it's the second most popular excursion out of Trabzon, and especially sat weekends the place is a bit too popular for its own good. Frequent dolmuşes make the hour and a half trip up from Of, and tours (about 13YTL a head, transport only) are laid on daily according to demand by Trabzon travel agencies. The lake, at just under 1100m, is only averagely scenic, with a bazaar district around its outlet; the remaining wooden houses of the namesake village, clustered on the slope above, are more picturesque, though again outnumbered by modern concrete and brick structures.
Uzungöl makes an ideal base for rambles southeast up to the nearby peaks of Ziyaret (3111m) and Halizden (3376m), with a chain of glacier lakes at the base of the latter. It's a very long day's hike there and back – though you can go part way by car to save time – so take a tent and food for two days if at all possible.
Practicalities
In line with its mushrooming popularity as a destination, accommodation here is plentiful, with five licensed "motels" and a handful of pansiyons; it's a popular overnight stop for foreign travellers en route to or from Trabzon airport. The İnan Kardeşler Tesisleri ( 
0462/656 6021, 
www.inankardesler.com.tr ; Price: €50-62), at the high south end of the lake, where most minibuses end their run, is the oldest hotel in town, a combination trout farm/restaurant/wood-bungalow complex whose menu consists of reasonable trout, salad and pudding, but no alcohol. Opposite, the Ensar Motel ( 0462/656 6321, www.ensarmotel.com ; Price: €25-31) has a welcoming feel, friendly management and good traditional cuisine, with wooden cabins and en-suite doubles arranged around small gurgling fountains. On the other side of the lake around the base of a large waterfall, the Aygün Motel ( 0462/656 6042; Price: €50-62) has wood-panelled doubles with satellite TV and landscaped gardens. For a more homely and friendly option, the Huzur Pansiyon ( 0462/656 6095; Price: €14-24) is downstream from the village on the hillside. At weekends, when Uzungöl gets particularly busy, you might well be better off at Sultanmurat Yaylası, reached by a different road 45km southwest of Çaykara, where the well-regarded Taşkın Hotel ( 05336322746; Price: €32-49) is typical of the new wave of lodging that has sprouted at formerly primitive pastoral communities.