Turkey part #3

I'm off to Turkey again.

On Tuesday (or Monday, long story), I'm high-tailing it to Sofia.

Why the long story? Well, inter-country communication isn't exactly a high-point on Balkan agendas. Namely, inter-country transportation. I've complained about it way back when I arrived in September. It's virtually impossible to book inter-country travel here in the Balkans.

Bulgarian Rob tells me that they're doing contruction on the Belgrade-Sofia line. This is bad news. If I take that train, it's five hours to Belgrade (for 175 km!), I spend the whole day in the city and then it's a night train to Sofia. I arrive in the early morning, rested and refreshed. Then I'll meet up with Rob and we'll get a bus to Istanbul, arrive in the evening, get something to eat and then sleep.

However, Rob tells me that the Belgrade members of his organisation have informed him of construction on the train line and that service is disrupted.

In that case, I can either take a bus to Sofia or a 24- hour train from Arad to Sofia. No idea why there are direct trains from Arad and not Timisoara, as we're almost twice as big as they are (incidentally, the train originates in Budapest and ends up in Thessaloniki).

And I just had an idea...taking a 26.5 hour train from Timisoara to Istanbul, switching in Bucharest. I can meet Rob there at night.

Hmm...definitely a possibility. Good thing I bought a life-time supply of Gravol! And I'm glad I'm getting more use out of my visa. That sucker was expensive!

I decided against trying for Georgia and instead I'm concentrating on the West coast. I emailed one of the places I'm staying for travel advice and they said that as a single female, I should not attempt going alone. Many of these Eastern coastal cities are flooded with Russian prostitutes (Natashas) and I could easily be mistaken for one.

Rob is leaving on the 27th and I'm taking a night bus to Izmir. Then, I will catch another bus to Selcuk and have some time soaking up the history by Epheseus. The guest house where I will stay is supposed to be incredible and I'm really excited about seeing it.

Then I will go to Cappadocia for some time amongst the moonscapes. I'm especially looking forward to the medieval churches. I went to Croatia specifically to see a UNESCO basilica and it did not disappoint. Let's hope Turkey will be the same.

Who am I kidding? We all know I'm really going for the kebab!