Torfolk - Istanbul six days
Torfolk - Istanbul six days In theory one should be able to reach Istanbul in about three days from home. But theory is now not reality. Now I don't only blame the railways for being slow, I also made some stop. 24 hours in Budapest and a few hours popping into the Biofach fair, where I met a lot of people - is that what is called "speed-dating"? Anyway, the route is briefly Karlstad (Sweden), Copenhagen (Denmark), Nurberg (Germany), Vienna (Austria), Budapest (HUngary), Belgrade (Serbia), Sofia (Bulgaria) and finally Istabul. Eigth countries. Cost for train ride from home to Munich was about 260 Euro, not included any sleeping wagon. Cost from Munich to Istanbul 200 Euros iuncluding two nights of sleeping wagons (BUdapest-Sofia and Sofia-Istanbul).
Apart from stopover in Nuremberg the following was noteworthy: Night train from Hamburg to Frankfurt was quite - up to Cologne that is. in Cologne suddenly - at 3:30 at night - the train was filled by Playboy bunnies, pirates, chinese, vodo magicians and god knows what. There wasn't even sitting space for all of them. Most of them went all the way to Frankfurt, singing and drinking all through the night. It is a bit hard to wake up in the middle of the night like that. Stayed overnight in Hungary. Was there 1990 on my first IFOAM conference. Saw again the place where I got cheeted by black market exchange and where the tram caught fire. Made my normnal sightseeing thing: i.e. back and forth on a few tram lines, walking. In the end the weather was really nasty so I spent most time in the hotel. Cost level in Budapest was much higher than I expected.
Train was delayed to Sofia. When I arrived there, there was nothing, new information no announcements. I lost my connection to Istanbul and had to find a hotel in the middle of the night. Next morning I went to the railway station. Do you think they wanted to reimburse my ticket? Forget about it. They gave me a form that had to be filled with all kind of data, which I should send to the complaints department (no, you don't think they could take it there). I did ask about reimbursement for my hotel costs in Sofia, but the looked at me as if I was a retard. So I didn't ask about if they could reiburse my lost hotel in Istanbul either. Weather was ghastly, slush and cold so I didn't see much of Sofia. From the little I saw I didn't miss much - and the camera failed so I didn't get any pictures.
Arrival to Istanbul was just a bit delayed. I couldn't find the hotel I booked, hotel Umay, despite asking both police and taxi drivers. So I called them and they picked me up by foot at the fountain between Sultanahmet and Aya Sofia. That was good service. The hotel cost 30 Euros and have wireless internet, some 200 m from the Blue mosque (Sultanahmet), is simple but with a nice atmosphere and nice staff. Unfortunately (for me) they are renovating the place. You can see pictures from my trip in the Swedish posting below.
I sit now in a simple diner with local food, A good meal for a few Euros. Turkey is a good bargain currently as the Lira has plummeted, even more than the Swedish krona!
Apart from stopover in Nuremberg the following was noteworthy: Night train from Hamburg to Frankfurt was quite - up to Cologne that is. in Cologne suddenly - at 3:30 at night - the train was filled by Playboy bunnies, pirates, chinese, vodo magicians and god knows what. There wasn't even sitting space for all of them. Most of them went all the way to Frankfurt, singing and drinking all through the night. It is a bit hard to wake up in the middle of the night like that. Stayed overnight in Hungary. Was there 1990 on my first IFOAM conference. Saw again the place where I got cheeted by black market exchange and where the tram caught fire. Made my normnal sightseeing thing: i.e. back and forth on a few tram lines, walking. In the end the weather was really nasty so I spent most time in the hotel. Cost level in Budapest was much higher than I expected.
Train was delayed to Sofia. When I arrived there, there was nothing, new information no announcements. I lost my connection to Istanbul and had to find a hotel in the middle of the night. Next morning I went to the railway station. Do you think they wanted to reimburse my ticket? Forget about it. They gave me a form that had to be filled with all kind of data, which I should send to the complaints department (no, you don't think they could take it there). I did ask about reimbursement for my hotel costs in Sofia, but the looked at me as if I was a retard. So I didn't ask about if they could reiburse my lost hotel in Istanbul either. Weather was ghastly, slush and cold so I didn't see much of Sofia. From the little I saw I didn't miss much - and the camera failed so I didn't get any pictures.
Arrival to Istanbul was just a bit delayed. I couldn't find the hotel I booked, hotel Umay, despite asking both police and taxi drivers. So I called them and they picked me up by foot at the fountain between Sultanahmet and Aya Sofia. That was good service. The hotel cost 30 Euros and have wireless internet, some 200 m from the Blue mosque (Sultanahmet), is simple but with a nice atmosphere and nice staff. Unfortunately (for me) they are renovating the place. You can see pictures from my trip in the Swedish posting below.
I sit now in a simple diner with local food, A good meal for a few Euros. Turkey is a good bargain currently as the Lira has plummeted, even more than the Swedish krona!
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