Sofia to Istanbul

Since I had bought my couchette ticket right after Alexis and Rieke, I had hoped we would all be in the same compartment. Nope, they were two doors down. I ended up sharing a compartment with a lovely Dutch lady who was travelling from Amsterdam to Turkey. She's an art historian but works as a fuind raiser and has travelled all over Europe and Afica. She was facinating and had so many interesting stories! We chatted long into the night. Eventually, Alexis came and we all sat talking about politics, racism and discrimination in Europe. Finally, we decided to go to sleep. At 4:30, we were woken up by the passport control. I got my passport ready but no one came. Waiting...waiting...waiting... I opened the door to peek out. Alexis was there, so I went to his room. He, Rieke and I sat on the floor eating Bulgarian bread and taking, watching the run rise out the window. By 6:30, it was completely light outside and no passport control person to speak of. Finally, they came. I saw what was taking so long. They were inspecting every car, even taking off the ceiling pannels to check underneath. Drugs? Stowaways? Bombs? Who knows? After they stamped my passport, I fell asleep. I woke up at 8:30 at the Turkish border. I assumed we would reach the border at 2:30...or at worse, 5:00, considering the initial delay at the beginning. I had planned on going out in a tank top and shorts with a blanket. "It's night" I reasoned with myself. No one will see me. Well, at 8:30 am, it's blazing sunlight. People gave me odd looks, but I didn't care. I changed my money in advance and had my $45 USD all prepared. "Nope" I was told. "It's $60 USD now". "Bullshit" I said. I showed them my previous visa for $45. I'm pretty sure it's still $45 and the guy pocketed the extra. The Europeans on the train were each quoted different amounts...even those coming from the same countries!

I got back on the train and slept untl 12:30. I was supposed to have arrived at 8:30 am. Now, they were telling us it would be 2:30 pm!

The Americans on the train were paranoid. "What if we lose our reservations?" I had recharged my Turkish cell phone at the border so I let them call. I also let the Fre, my "roomate", call to find a room. After a few calls, she found a place to stay.

Finally, we arrived. Fre and I got something to eat: my beloved lentil soup and ayran. Bulent arrived a few minutes later, so I said my hello and goodbyes and we were off!