ठुर्स्दय १स्त् माय - बल्गेरियन Motorway

Thursday 1st of May

We are travelling to Istanbul, taking the poppy-scattered highway and potholed village roads. My journal leaps around with the bumping of the truck, leaving wide arcs of biro across the pages. We are definately out of the comfort zone.

Spring is in its full glory in Bulgaria. Lush fields stretch out to the horizon. Occasional pockets of people, mostly shawled women, are planting for the summer crop. Horses wander freely, or are tied to to loose pegs. In the distance five large birds circle a tree slowly. There is something menacing in their concentric circles, their steady glide. Surely not vultures?

What has happened snce I last wrote? Days slide into each other. If it wasn't for the name of the day on my watch I'd think it was the weekend. Last night Chelsea beat Liverpool and got their revenge for the last encounters. I am glad I am avoiding the piss-taking at school.

We're approaching the Turkish border. By all accounts this will be a time-consuming process. According to Pete the Irish are liked, the English hated, and the Australians veer between the two. Either way it should be a couple of hours of beaurocracy then a two hour drive to the centre of Istanbul, where we will sleep in sight of the Blue Mosque and the Bosphorous.

Last night we free-camped at the best spot yet. We climbed a mountain range in Bulgaria, the truck winding through a sun-dappled forest, to an awesome view of a mountain-ringed lake in the valley floor. We headed straight for it, bouncing through dirt tracks and villages alike, till we reached the shoreline.

We dined on a delicious kebab/sausage/salad meal bbqued on a high campfire, Terry and Caroline, Mike and Andrew braved the lake on one of our inflatable rafts before the sunset. Scary stories. Songs. A good night's sleep followed by a glorious sunrise. To be honest, when this trip is good, its really good.

We have reached the border, Turks are gawping and giggling at us as we wait, smelling of woodsmoke and eager for the East.

12:58 - The border.

We are sat in our sweaty transport about 2 hours into our check in. Everyone is tired, hungry and hot. Some are managing to sleep through it, most are reading, some restlessly wandering or performing "Moz-Fu." this new martial art invlves slapping, clapping and scratching in order to defeat the tiny buzzing enemies. They have infiltrated the truck and we must defend ourselves.

A breeze stirs the close air on the truck. Hunger knaws through the boredom.

How to spend the time? Get used to it Crofty - border controls are now your way of life.

4:09 - Freedom!

Clear at last! The border pulled up every coach, demanding some permit that had to be faxed to istanbul for stamping, then faxed back. All well and good, but the fax was broken at the border. Also we had to clear the truck of ourselves and our bags for a search. It turns out 1st May is a traditional day of protest, and crowds were dispersed by teargas in the centre of the capitol. Perhaps they thought we had bombs.

Ce la vie! Now we are travelling, and with full bellies from a lovely pasta salad, and the promise of a bed, we are happy again!

6:56

We are hugging the coastline of the Sea of Mamara Mutli-coloured cubed buildings glow in the setting sun. This light makes the entire wait at the border worthwhile: the sight of the sea is exciting and welcome. They look like toy houses in these villages, and seem devoid of life! Only the occasional man tilling his field, or a stray dog lying in the sun, seem to be the inhabitants.

I have spent the last hour learning Turkish and can manage "I don't understand" to "do you speak English" with a few other smatterings of phrases. Andrew and I will be fluent by the end of the two weeks in Turkey!

The traffic suddenly halts. We might be some time getting into the centre. It has been a long day.

On a side note I'm probably just going to upload my pictures to Flickr - you can get them by clicking on the slideshow on the blog. Its just taking an age uploading them to blogger, and my tummy is rumbling. Its 1:50 in the afternoon and I haven't seen anything of Turkey yet. I'll be writing up Istanbul a bit later hopefully, but right now it feels like i've been underground in our hostel for an age, and there's an exciting city to explore out there.