I had a nice view of the water from the ninth-story rooftop at breakfast. Today was gritty, not as insane as İstanbul, but just a lot of riding next to heavy traffic and breathing bad exhaust fumes. Dinner in Rize made me feel better, and I found a beach campground about 15 km east of Rize just in time, before it got dark. I’m looking forward to the new time zone coming up in Georgia, so I can ride until 21:00 again. I finally saw tea bushes today. Some were on steep hillsides. They look nice and manicured, although there are some ferns poking out here and there. I passed a few Çaykur factories. I saw a few çay pazarlar, and I didn’t have time today, but I want to stop and buy some tea to take home in the next few days. It looks like I’ll cross the border into Gürcistan on Saturday. I cannot understand the Turkish habit of cars stopping on the side of the road, usually blocking lanes, with their hazard lights on. And also the honk warning before they cut you off with a right turn. Not very courteous. I’m ready for a new country.