We were awoken by Bulgrian police as we exited the country and went through passport formalities. Closely followed by train guard who told us; "in 20 minutes we at Turkey boarder, after that coach to Istanbul, I need sheets back". So that was that. To tired to be bothered to tackle him about something that he probably has no power over (apart from to tell us earlier) we sleepily obeyed. We knew that Turkey needs visas and we were able to attain these at the border easily for $20 each. The coach was comfy and with my hoody pulled up I managed two bursts of sleep. On the second burst we were awakened by the train guard (who now I guess is a bus conductor) who said "Istanbul, five minutes". So there we soon were at the station.
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| Arrival in Istanbul |
We had no LIRA on us so approached a cashpoint but wondered what to get. When Sarah visited it was tens of thousands to the dollar, I'm glad I asked for a second opinion from another traveller as the LIRA seems somewhat more stable at TL 2.85 to £1. I'm glad we didn't pull out our entire savings in error.
Arriving while it was dusk and still few on the street was an experience and also knowledge that we would be here 5 days sent me into relaxation mode. We reserved beds of a roof in a hostel, and while a little different than we imagined the breeze coming through made me curl up on my bunk and fall into the deepest of sleeps which would compensate for 2 nights of night trains. Sarah did the same and I think I noticed out the corner of my eye a housemaid pull a blanket over her as she also drifted off.
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