The Train, The Train!

Our last, long day in Istanbul spilled over into the next adventure. We gathered up our luggage at about 8pm and walked to the Sultanahmet tram stop. Took the tram to the train station. We “asked” where the bus stop was and were pointed to the waiting salon. As we hesitated, an Aussie voice said “You wait just in that room over there.” So we met Kim and Ron, an intrepid couple from Perth, who were embarking on the same adventure we were.

With no announcements or checking of tickets, we simply waited until a bus pulled up at the appropriate time, put our luggage underneath and got on. After about an hour’s ride along the Golden Horn (European side), the bus stopped at the side of the highway. Everybody piled out, so we did too. Collecting our bags on the traffic side of the bus was a little scary, as was following the people who seemed to know what they were doing and heading down a very dark, dirty side road. But shortly we could see the train station and we were guided onto the train and shown our berths by Mustafah, who finally checked our tickets and also brought us sheets, towels, water, juice and crackers. We made up our berths and settled in as the train left the station.

We did sleep a couple hours before reaching the border of Bulgaria, where we had to get out of the train, cross the tracks and proceed to a bare room where our passports were processed for leaving Turkey. Thunder and lightning and a bit of rain made it a little ominous, but we were soon back on the train. A short while later, the Bulgarian border security took our passports for processing into Bulgaria. At about 4:15 am we arrived at Dimitrovgrad. We made our way to the ticket office. However, the lady could not accept a credit card or any other currency than Bulgarian lev. There was no exchange or ATM. The lady shrugged and said, “On train.” So when the train came, we boarded and it started off. After awhile, a conductor came by to check tickets. We showed him Ukrainian hryvnia, Turkish lira and US dollars, and he was having none of it. He finally took a US bill and went away, but came back shaking his head. Visions of being escorted off at the next station ran through our heads. Happily a young man who spoke beautiful English was nearby and took the dollars and paid the conductor in Bulgarian lev. Whew!

Dozed and watched the scenery for another 4 1/2 hours to the next stop, Gorna Orjahovitsa. Off the train, and, praise be! an ATM!. Bought tickets to the next stop, Ruse.

Crossing the Danube River meant leaving Bulgaria and entering Romania. A grand bridge, as we were told, the bridge is the longest steel girder bridge in the world. The Romanian Border Guards came in and took our passports off the train, always an unnerving experience. They brought them back, all stamped. We strapped in for our last train to Bucharest!