We spent three days at Sile, a town with a harbour on the Black Sea coast, 25 miles east of Istanbul. We called in on a fellow truck enthusiast, Gokhan, who was in the process of converting a 1985 MAN truck into a motor home. We last saw him in February 2021 when he optimistically reckoned his project would be completed on budget and within twelve months. Gokhan had set a new completion for Spring 2026 – his budget was already blown!
The harbour area was busy, people were walking along the harbour wall, eating in the restaurants and buying fish from one of the stalls on the quay. At first light, local men would arrive with their fishing rods to fish from the quay side. Some didn’t leave until after dark. There was a flurry of activity when a fishing boat returned to harbour and the catch was offloaded into refrigerated vans waiting on the quay.
Gokhan took us to one of the more traditional restaurants around the port. It was in an old wooden building constructed on stilts over the water. Obviously, talk kept reverting to the truck conversion, discussing what equipment to fit, which systems to use. Gokhan smiled wryly when Tony reminded him of the KISS Rule – Keep It Simple, Stupid!
