One Bus to Another

The bus from Veliko Tarnovo to Istanbul was an overnight due to arrive at 06:30. Miserable sleep was had with all the starts and stops. I exit Bulgaria with any problem. We drive a little further to the Turkish entry point. The passports are collected and I am the only non Bulgarian / Turk on the bus, so am shamed to march off to get a visa. All the guy at the visa counter was interested in was EU10. I don't even think he looked at the nationality on my passport, just stuck it into the first page he could get his hand on. Off to emigration to get it validated. No problems there.

Next stop: customs. Everyone had to get off the bus, and stand in a lineup behind their bags. I have no idea what sort of loot they were after, but they really were going through the bags. It was five in the morning and absolutely freezing with a drifting fog in the air. He skipped my backpack taking pity on me, not sure what the guy that had about 20 packets of God knows what confiscated thought of that!

We made it to Istanbul for ten. I was asleep on the approach, but minarets from the mosques dominate the horizon. My first spotting of a mosque on my travels. I'd get used to this site over the next couple of months! I still have to hear my first call to prayer.

I don't want to hang about Istanbul, but get a bus straight to the East, to Sanliurfa. I find a 13:30 departure. Just enough time to get something to eat and relax for a bit.