Perşembe Plateau

Perşembe Yaylası sits at around eighteen hundred metres in the mountains behind Ordu, a broad flat-bottomed upland basin of grass surrounded by ridges, and its feature is the stream: with almost no gradient to work with, the water wanders across the meadow in tight, looping meanders, doubling back on itself repeatedly, which makes it one of the most photographed pieces of landscape in the eastern Black Sea. Around the meadow are the low wooden and stone houses of a yayla settlement, used in summer by families who come up from the coast with animals, and the plateau holds a festival in July with music, wrestling and food. Wildflowers cover the grass in June and July. It is cold at night even in August and cloud rolls over the ridges constantly - the Black Sea moisture comes up the valleys and sits here, so the plateau spends a good deal of its time in mist, which is either atmospheric or a wasted trip depending on the day.

What you actually see

• The meandering stream - loops doubling across the flat meadow.
• The yayla houses - the summer settlement on the plateau.
• The wildflowers - the grass in June and July.
• The cloud - mist coming up the valleys over the ridges.

When to go

June to September; the road is snowbound outside those months. July for flowers and the yayla festival. Mornings are clearest before cloud builds.

Honest expectations

Cloud and mist can hide the whole plateau for days. Nights are cold at altitude. Facilities are a few pensions and simple restaurants in season, closed the rest of the year. The mountain road is long and winding.

Nearby

Ordu and its cable car are on the coast; Giresun and the hazelnut hills are east.