By Robin Ewing
July, 2013
On the way to the Bulgarian border, I was pulled over by another Romanian policeman. He just wanted to know how much my car cost. After inspecting my license, he didn’t ask me, like the last policeman, if JR Ewing was really dead.
We drove straight across Bulgaria yesterday, only stopping for lunch on the Black Sea. Bulgaria doesn’t have the medieval charm of Romania (or the stray dogs) but it does have the countryside roadside prostitutes who do little dances for passing cars. The landscape is stunning. Sprawling sunflower fields and thick forest and straw-colored fields. We even saw a rainbow.
The empty, potholed road to Istanbul winds up a mountain and after an hour of wondering if we were even on the right road, the border crossing suddenly appeared. It is one big building in the forest where you have to figure things out for yourself. 1) visa 2) passport 3) insurance 4) car registration and 5) baggage control. Baggage control was a jolly man who made me open all the boxes in the back of my car and then tried to take one of the notebooks we are donating to the school in Mongolia. I told him he was stealing from poor children and he reluctantly gave it back.
Almost made it to Istanbul but after 12 hours of driving, I had to pull over and get a hotel about 200km before. I am now having breakfast on the hotel roof overlooking the terracotta houses and the domed mosque, while listening to the call to prayer and thinking about all the great Turkish food to come.
Jamie and Wardlaw arrive at 4pm so have to figure out how to get to the airport before then. Can’t wait for them to arrive. I’m sad to see Helen go today to return to London. She has been a great travelling companion, despite having forgot her driver’s license, and has kept me laughing. Thanks Helen!
Adventures in Istanbul with my brother and cousin to come!