Night train to Istanbul
After arrival in Ruse and the passport procedures I went to the ticket counter right away. The station has a special international ticket counter. The lady speaks decent English. I show her my telephone where the train from Dimitrovgrad to Istanbul is listed in the “trips” part of the interrail app. There is no problem to get a reservation. I even have the choice between a bed in a two bed compartment for 15€ or a bed in a 4 bed compartment for 10€. I allow myself the luxury.
Station hall in Ruse
The night train does not go all the way to Istanbul. It ends at the station of Halkali, a suburb, from where there should be a metro connection to the center. Some of the Turkish high speed trains which link Istanbul to Ankara and other eastern towns also start at Halkali.
Station in Ruse
But first I have to go to Dimitrovgrad. This involves taking a train to Gorna Oryahovitsa, change there for Stara Zagora, and there change again to Dimitrovgrad. The first train leaves from Ruse at 11.39 am. At each correspondence there is a comfortable waiting time of around half an hour so that it should not be any problem to catch the connecting trains. However, after arrival in Dimitrovgrad I have to kill 4 hours before the train to Istanbul departs.
The underpass to the station in Ruse
I leave my comfortable, but hot hotel room at 11 am and walk the short trip to the station. This time I do not cross the vast station square with its confusing car traffic but take the tunnel. There is a metal barrier gate, but one wing is held ajar by a piece of brick just wide enough to let me pass with my backpack. Behind the entrance it is dark. I discern several corridors lined with closed or abandoned shops. I hear voices but cannot see anybody. But at the far end a part of the gate is also open. I continue.
Station master waiting to do his job
Part of the ceiling is on the point of coming down or already has come down. Somebody is sleeping in a dark corner. There are a couple of chairs in front of a cafe which seems to be open. Inside somebody seems to be busy with his products. In another corner I discover the origin of the voices. A couple of men sit in a shop. A hairdresser is doing his work. He must have very good eyes since it is next to dark. I actually would have needed a hair-cut. But I leave the tunnel as quickly as possible. Maybe I should have given them the advice to open the gates completely so that there customers aren't scared away.
Different stations in Bulgaria
Will this truck ever run again?
In the station I meet Mason from Indonesia. We were on one of the free walking tours in Bucuresti together. He actually works in Melborne. After 7 years he can take 3 months of sabbatical. He uses it to travel across the Balkans, visit his family in Indonesia and visit some central Asian countries like Usbekistan. In that order. In contrast to me he would have preferred modern, air-conditioned trains. Because the one which will bring us to Gorna Oryahovitsa consists of two Grafiti covered old carriages with windows to open but no air condition. I have to admit that it is a bit run-down. The seats could get a make-over and the plastic wall and ceiling covers have turned gray. Off course there isn’t any Wifi and there are a couple of spots without any signal along the line. And the current from the sockets is so weak that the phone does not charge.
The train to Gorna Oryahovitsa,
The train stops at every single station. The bigger ones are clean, freshly painted, there are flowering plants and the trees are neatly trimmed. There is a station master standing on attention or waving off the train. However, at the little stops the buildings are in ruin. Instead they have poured a concrete platform with a new, windowless corrugated iron shelter. It is an invitation for vandalism and negligence.
Renovated little station
At some of the major stations we encounter a train in the other direction. One, pulled and pushed by three electric engines, has containers on flat carriages. The containers bear an orange explosive sign. A train full of ammunition for the Ukraine war. The signs make it very easy for everybody to find out what kind of train this is.
Train full of explosives
In Gorna Oryahovitsa it turns out that we can stay on the same train. After change of the engine it will continue to Stara Zagora. It is nice to have Mason guarding my stuff so that I can go outside to walk down the platform. The railwaymen give me a friendly wave when they notice that I take pictures. The station was built in the communist era. Everything is grand. But the rolling stock is old and graffiti covered.
Balkan landscape
I have hoped to get a glimpse of the old Bulgarian fortress capital of Veliko Tarnovo from the passing train. Unfortunately only the rather bleak looking new part of town can be seen. However, between two tunnels there is a short glimpse of the town before, Trapezitza, clings like a swallow’s nest to the mountain side. The line crosses the Balkan mountain range between Gorna Oryahovitsa and Dabovo. There are numerous tunnels and even a reversing tunnel to cover the height distance. The mountains are covered with healthy forests.
Different trains in the station of Dabovo
But soon the peace is rudely disturbed. At several stops school kids board the short train. It fills up completely. The kids make an incredible noise and run up and down the aisles. Like anywhere else, the teachers have lost any authority. The only thing they still can do is to apologize to us, the common passengers. It is their first time on a train, the lady explains. The kids will stay with us until Stara Zagora.
Station of Stara Zagora
He noticed just in time that the engine was arriving which he had to couple to the train
Stara Zagora is another big, modern station. Inside there are posters advertising the local history museum. Mason tells me that Stara Zagora is one of the oldest, continuously inhabited towns in Europe. In the surroundings there are Thracian tombs, Roman baths, mosaics, a forum and there is a museum for Neolithic dwellings. Maybe a good place for a stopover for the way back or another trip.
Inside the train to Dimitrovgrad
The next hour we will spend on the fast train to Sofia. However, the line between Stara Zagora and Dimitrovgrad is not rebuilt. The express finds its way at very low speed. It runs through a nice landscape, but unfortunately I sit on the right side of the carriage and a huge guy with an impressive belly blocks most of the view out of the left window across the aisle.
The pizzeria close to the station in Dimitrovgrad
After arrival I leave the station in Dimitrovgrad and look for a restaurant for dinner. I find a pizzeria just a five minute walk from the station. There is a pleasant outside seating area, but it is still hot and I prefer the much cooler interior. And I have a streak of luck. The restaurant is very good and their Wifi connection is excellent. I have the chance to have beer, food and write my notes. Thus, the waiting time is well spend.
At night in the station of Dimitrovgrad
When I finally arrive at the station there is already a waiting crowd of travelers who want to go to Istanbul. Three Belgian interrailers do not even have a reservation. As it will turn out later, they will also find space.
The night train to Istanbul
When the train arrives I am let in first. The conductor leads me to a two bed compartment, but with a different bed number. It is neat, new, clean, there is a sink and even a fridge, I get some snacks and water and there are no rattling sounds like on many other sleeper cars. And in addition, I have the compartment for myself.
My compartment
The only disadvantage is the passport control. After an hour the train stops at Svilengrad and the Bulgarian border police boards the train for a passport check. But at least everybody can stay in his compartment. That is different another hour later in Edirne, the turkish border station. Everybody has to get his luggage and get out of the train. First we all stand in line to get an entrance stamp into our passports. Then we proceed to another building where our bags are x-rayed. They do not search our pockets….. But the interruption also has an advantage: I meet the other couple from Berlin again who wanted to go to Kars and continue to Georgia (see part 13). They have spent a couple of nights in Sofia and will stay in Istanbul for a week before continuing east.
Luggage control at the Turkish border
Eventually we can board again and go to sleep. The scheduled arrival time in Haflaki is at 6.37 am. However, the train is more than an hour late. We arrive at 7.45 am.
The outskirts of Istanbul
I had had the illusion to arrive in Haflaki early enough to catch the next high speed train to Ankara at 7.50 am and the connection to Kars. When we get out of our night train the crowd for the train to Ankara is still lined up for the check-in procedure with luggage control. I go to the ticket counter to ask whether there still is a ticket to Ankara available but the train is full. So I will stay in Istanbul for the time being.
Metro train on the BN1 line
From Haflaki we have to take a metro train into town. Access to the metro is via automatic gates. There are machines selling tickets. They can be set on different languages, including German and English, but the translation is incomplete. The couple from Berlin tries first and manages to get out a ticket valid for three days. It can be paid with the bank card. Then this ticket machine goes on strike.
Inside the metro train
We try another one. Something does not work. But we discover that the same machine also sells Istanbul tickets which can be recharged with the required desired amount. Eventually it turns out that the sales works when the bank card is not inserted into the reader but held firmly against the chip reader with the wifi sign.
Station of the coastal metro to Sirkeci
Eventually we board the metro. It is fast and clean. We all get out at the metro station close to the old station of Sirkeci. Unfortunately the European trains of the Turkish railways do not go to this old beautiful station any more. It is now only used by an hourly metro train. But it still has a very nice cafe and there is a museum and an old steam engine built by Krauss in Germany in the 1880’ies on a plinth outside.
Steam engine on the plinth in front of Sirkeci station
I am in Istanbul.
Suleimanye mosque
Another 1429 km to Kars
Inside Sirkeci station
After checking into the hotel I walk back to Sirkeci station to ask for a reservation to Ankara and further east to Kars. To be save I have stored several different options, with change in Sivas or in Ankara on different days this week. However, when I ask at the ticket counter it turns out that the tickets to Ankara are sold out for the entire week and the tickets to Sivas for the next 10 days. I could have taken a bus. But I wanted to do the whole tour by train. I have to abandon the idea to go to Kars. Instead I have more time to stay in Istanbul and see more of the city. And I have more time to visit some interesting places on the way back.
There are not trains any more but a nice waiting hall
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