Aydın Tiryaki
30 June 2026
İnebolu

We started our walk by descending the stairs at the building known as the Türkocağı, or as it has long been called, the Halkevi. We passed in front of the Türkocağı building, then in front of the teachers’ lodge. We then turned right in front of the İnebolu Lighthouse on the slope.

The walking route is not a straight line. First we walk due south, straight across from the harbour. After reaching the small breakwater, the road continues curving slightly eastward — a navigator would probably describe it exactly that way.

We chose the sidewalk along the Abana road, the one across from the harbour. In the afternoon hours, the sidewalk right next to the harbour was still in full sun — a very harsh, scorching sun — while the opposite sidewalk was in shade. So we preferred the shaded side and walked along it.

That sidewalk is truly a fine one. Wide, even, carefully built. There is even a tactile guidance strip running the full length of the path for visually impaired pedestrians. A very well-made, carefully constructed sidewalk.

The slopes alongside are beautiful too: lush green trees, flowers, shrubs — a genuinely lovely environment for walking. There are neatly built stone retaining walls along the slopes, and İnebolu’s nature is so devoted to greenery that plants have pushed through even the gaps between the stones, flowers have grown and bloomed. It makes for a truly beautiful sight.

There is traffic on the adjacent road — it carries two-way traffic — but it is not heavy; it cannot be considered an obstacle to walking.

In the morning hours on very sunny days, this sidewalk may be difficult to use, as the sun hits it directly. But after three in the afternoon, once the sun begins to shift to the western side, the road falls entirely into shade and becomes a cool, breezy path that is very comfortable to walk along. It is particularly worth choosing at those hours.

At the beginning of the route there are some charming little fishermen’s cafés — they could well serve as a stopping point.

We can only catch glimpses of the harbour’s beauty from between gaps — the small boats and vessels are visible, but only partially. Because the harbour is now completely cut off from the outside world. In the past, more than twenty years ago, one could walk the full length of the breakwater; the harbour was a beloved walking route for the people of İnebolu, a place where fishing enthusiasts would spend hours. We naturally miss those days. But now the harbour has become an excessively restricted area. The coils of barbed wire surrounding it prompt a genuine question in one’s mind: what exactly is being protected here, and why does it require this level of security?

After the small breakwater, the road continues with a gentle uphill slope toward the Abana road. After walking uphill along the sidewalk for a while, the sidewalk simply comes to an end. Even so, walking up to that point makes for a very pleasant route.

As for the sidewalk itself: it is well and carefully built, but it has one shortcoming at present. It is clear that the sidewalk has not been cleaned or swept in a very long time. In places, soil, sand and gravel have accumulated to such a degree that ordinary weeds have begun to grow on top. Of course, this area is very humid and the climate is well suited to things taking root, so it is natural for vegetation to appear in such places. But the extent of it makes clear that no cleaning has been done for a very long time. Getting this sidewalk back to a pristine condition would probably require nothing more than a mechanical sweeper coming through a few times. At present we have a gap in our knowledge here: I am not certain whether responsibility for this sidewalk falls to the municipality or to the highways authority — perhaps it is a shared responsibility between the two. For that reason I have no wish to criticise anyone; I am simply reporting what I observed. The place was built with care, but it is not being maintained with care.

We walked as far as the point where the sidewalk ends, then returned by the same route.

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