Day 6 - Western Turkey

So the bus from Veliko Tărnovo was fine but is was more of an epic shopping trip than an A-B express. We stopped off at every available duty free shop for cheap booze. On that note, I became a mule for the staff who are obviously rather partial to whiskey and have a minor import racket going. Any passenger who doesn't buy their allowance gets given a bottle to carry through. I didn't mind.

As a result of the frequent stops for shopping/loo/passport & customs, I got about 2 hours fitful snoozing in.

Managed to get to the high speed train station in Pernik to my next way-station, Ankara. 3 metro trains, 1 tram, 1 ferry, 1 taxi and a good deal of walking did the job. Crossing from Europe into Asia on a Bosphorus ferry was very cool. The metro/tram/ferry runs on 4 lira token purchased per line journey and once you've figured out that's the system, it's pretty straightforward. 

The taxi for the final bit contained some language challenges until I imitated a train, complete with 'choo choo' noises and and a final 'woowooo!' for the whitstle with downward arm pump. Yes. I really did that. The driver seemed satisfied enough with my dramatics to allow me to climb in. 

I couldn't find anything around Ankara train station of any interest so read for a bit while waiting for the overnight to Erzurum. Compartment to myself, happy days. No snacks on board. Good job I had a kebab for breakfast and some Turkish wagon wheels in the pack. 

Crossing the Bosphorus. 

Kebab for breakfast? Why not!