Posted 25 Nov 2008 — by sarah
Category Journeys
Travelling by train you feel right in the landscape of a country, the routes tend to be less built over than road routes. Riding through the snowy mountains of Bulgaria and Serbia with the thin firs coated white on one side just a few feet away is almost tactile. It’s like you can feel it as well as see it.
Night time in a worn out little sleeping car is less fun. It can be claustrophobic to have nothing to look at but the tatty walls and your own face reflected back at you in the darkened windows.
Once it’s light, the vista opens up again. With the day you are right back in the frame and at a human level. You can see the people on the platforms, see their mouths move as they say and kiss goodbye.
Posted 15 Nov 2008 — by sarah
Category Journeys
Istanbul’s the first stop off on this trip I’ve been to before. It’s a relief to arrive here, not just because it’s familiar but the journey through Romania and Bulgaria has been long.
I’m woken at four am by border guards. They slam open the door of every single compartment and shine torches around the carriage. Apparently there’s a strong history of smuggling on this route.
Just over an hour later we get off the train at Kapikule on the Turkish side to collect police stamps in our passports and some of us pay for an entry visa at a small glass kiosk on the concrete platform.
The girl in the American couple behind me tells the boy, ‘It didn’t cost two-hundred dollars to get in and at least we’re still alive.’ Her scant comfort makes me think of my friends at the Syrian Embassy and their high visa charge for those coming from the ‘rich’ USA.
The whole experience makes me feel more like a refugee than a tourist.
