Adventures in Asia: Istanbul, Turkiye to Sofia, Bulgaria

Yesterday was our last day in Istanbul, but we had most of the day to spend there before we traveled onward. Diana began her day in a cafe nearby the hotel, and I headed down the street to a barber for a magnificent "Ottoman" haircut, which of course involved cutting my hair, but also waxing away nose hair and singeing my ear hair with an open flame, neither of which I have previously had the pleasure of experiencing! Invigorated, I returned to the hotel to meet Diana. We went off for lunch, and after that Diana had a hammam appointment; so I dropped her off in this beautiful building . . .

. . . and then enjoyed a good long walk around Sultanahmet by myself.  

After the hammam we took it easy for awhile, reading and drinking coffee and (in my case) eating more baklava. Turkish coffee is typically served in these beautiful cups and although I do not love Turkish coffee, I love drinking coffee when it looks like this!

Eventually, before going back to the hotel to get our bags, we went for another walk, around the Topkapi Palace walls and into Gülhane Park. It was a lovely afternoon for a walk. We worked our way back to the hotel, where we picked up our bags and called a taxi. It was rush hour and traffic was brutal; the taxi took the long way around to Sirkeci Station in an attempt to avoid the worst of the traffic, but it still took an incredibly long time. Anyway, eventually we got to Sirkeci, which is where the historic train station is and where the Oriental Express used to terminate. Now, Sirkeci is under renovation, but below it you can catch the subway, which will take you many, many stops into surban Istanbul and the Halkali station.

This, now, is where the Istanbul-Sofia express begins.

Boarding began at 19:30 for the 20:00 departure. For me, it was the first sleeper train experience since I was a very little child, and I was excited (so was Diana)!

This is our couchette:

It includes a mini fridge, with a few snacks (there is no catering, but we knew this, so had brought our own food).

All made up for the night!

Unfortunately, the train has to stop for both Turkish and Bulgarian border control, and at the Turkish border you have to get off the train, so that was quite disruptive to our sleep, but otherwise the train ride was lovely.