Heart of Hemşin country Population: 1,700
The road from Ardeşen on the eastern Black Sea coast cuts inland along the beautiful valley of the Fırtına river heading for Çamlıhemşin, a one-street town that is nonetheless a lot bigger than Ayder. Here you’ll find basic shops such as a bakery, a couple of waterside restaurants and a large tea garden. Here, too, you’ll find taxis to take you further up the valley to Şenyuva, Zil Castle and Çat.
There’s no sightseeing to be done in Çamlıhemşin itself, although there’s a fine waterfall to the right of the road as you come into town and a pair of humpbacked bridges guarding the road junction as you leave for Ayder or Şenyuva.
The one exception is the Konak (Orta) Mahalle just out of town on the road to Şenyuna. Here in staggeringly lofty positions that make you wonder how the builders ever reached them you’ll see enormous wood and stone houses dating back to the 19th century and built by those returning from working in Russia with money to spend (source: the Nişanyans) or by Armenians (my taxi driver).
None of the mansions is open to the public but you can drive around looking at their solid, if largely undecorated, exteriors; if you’re lucky someone may invite you in to admire the enormous stone fireplaces and the incredible views from the tall windows. Most come equipped with wooden serenders (Black Sea granaries) and/or with wooden structures fitted with shelves on which sit circular beehives.
At the southern end of Çamlıhemşin the road forks. The left fork goes off to Ayder, the right to Şenyuva.
White-water rafting
The Fırtına Vadisi appears to be taking over from the Çoruh as the place to come for white-water rafting thrills (June through August). At least six companies operate along the river.
Dağ Rafting Tel: 0464-752 4070, www.dagraft.com
Fırtına Rafting Tel: 0464-751 8153, www.firtinarafting.com
Best places to eat
Pause in the local bakery to pick up a slice of Laz böreği, which is rather like a Danish pastry, or a Hemşin ketesi, a thick bun stuffed with helva.
Otherwise there’s a cute little waterside cafe, the Moyy (Hemşin for strawberry) right in the centre where you can get such luxuries as plum tart or apple cake to go with a filter coffee.
Transport info
There are four buses a day in high summer from Rize to Çamlıhemşin and hourly ones in the middle of the day from Pazar. Expect far fewer services in winter. 
Day trip destinations
