Thunderstorm at the wind's box seat

In search of the perfect place to sleep, I followed one of those narrow mountain roads that promise to end in nowhere. As I wound my way up the summit metre by metre, a dark, almost theatrical storm front brewed on the horizon. When I reached the top, I was briefly taken aback: before me lay the panorama of Mercimek Tepesi, one of the paragliding hotspots near Turhal. The view was spectacular – the night view, on the other hand, was less so. Between lashing gusts of wind and lightning that crashed so loudly it was as if the sky itself was protesting, I quickly realised that, given the crashing lightning, I had decided against spending the night in the ‘thunder's box seat’. You have to know when to admit defeat to the weather gods. | Turkey