Mannheim - Budapest - Bucharest - Sofia - Istanbul - Ankara

kalinka
Traveller
28 comments

Posted 10 years ago

Hello again :D ,

we are back from our trip to Tehran and I try to describe the first part to Ankara (my english is not the best):
the most interested travellers will know, that 2014 is not the best year to travel to turkey - but it works!
We started in Mannheim on a saturday at 6.13 p.m.to get to Budapest (ESP-Ticket DB), took the next train (Ister) to Bucharest at 19.10 and arrived there about 12.15. We booked a little apartment near the station, got a shower, rested and walked a little through the City. Around midnight we took a train to Sofia, because we wanted to avoid the bus between Gorna Orjahovica and Dimitrovgrad. This russion train reminded us of a submarine: it was comparatively dark, loud and cramped and the staff in the train and the border police at night weren´t as friendy as the last ones. We arrived Sofia in time and there we had little problems with some very helpful guys in the station and a taxi driver. But the guest house and its host were very nice, the city seemed to be more friendly than Bucharest, though we didn´t see that much. We started the next part at 18.45 the same day in a regional train, which seems to be used mainly by people on their way home from work - and some travellers on their way to Istanbul. Some hours later the unfriendy staff in the train called, that we arrived Yabalkovo and we had to leave the train very quickly (dawei! dawei!). The bus to the border waited behind the station and was full of travellers from different countries, also a few from Germany. At the beginning the streets were adventurous, but they became better. In Dimitrovgrad the bus picked up some other people, which probably had taken the bus from Gorna Orjahovica. We arrived the border about 1.00 first the bulgarian control, 15 minutes later the turkish one. Each time we had to get out of the bus. After the next few meters the border control decided, that they wanted to see the luggage. Finally they didn´t want to check it, after the first guys put their luggage out of the bus. The whole ceremony took about 1,5 hours, I guess . We changed the bus at a parking (and our daughter had the chance to go to toilet!) and at 5.50 we arrived Istanbul-Sirkeci. Tired, but happy! We walked a few meters to the Bosporus and waited, till the first ferry came. We watched the sunrise in front, with the famous mosques behind us - wonderful! About 7.30 we crossed the Bosporus to Istanbul-Kadiköy, a few meters away from Haydarpasa Station. There we took a taxi to the Station in Pendik (about 60 TL, 45 minutes) and waited for the YHT to Ankara. We met three serbian travellers, who also have been in the train/bus to Istanbul and had the chance to talk a while. Than we had to check in for the train and left Pendik at 10.45. We arrived Ankara 25 minutes late. Before we started the next part of our journey, we stayed in a hotel near the station. In the evening we went to Genclik-Park, had a tasty diner and walked through the pretty park. We enjoyed this brake and the night in the hotel - and of course we were excited, how the Trans-Asia-trip will be. (I will write about this journey on the iranian page)
And here´s a special message to all the parents, who think about a longer train-travel:
Before the trip I felt pretty insecure, if it will be too much for our children (and ourselves). Though the trip sometimes was strenuous, the kids felt fine!