After the (now unusual) experience of a night in one place, we were in Ted’s Coffee for 9.30am to collect our tickets for tonight’s Sophia Express. Mark was there early to hand them over and we had a good chat about life in Romania and how it compared with the UK.
So far we have taken 4 trains to cross Europe. This time of year, there is no direct train from Bucharest to Istanbul so we have 4 small day trains to take us to across the country for our final overnight train from Dimitrovgrad. It’s a chance to catch up on work, do some reading, or simply watch the world go by.
Bulgarian trains
These are day trains so back to seats and carriages. Our first train had open compartments and then we have separate compartments. You will note the colourful exteriors!
The stations
We have stops at Russe, Gorna Orjahovica and Dimitrovgrad with time at each to grab some food and a drink. The stations are not as grand as previous ones and have much smaller Christmas trees. They still have a Soviet feel to them in my opinion.
The Views
Green, rural, flat would be my summary in 3 words. We did have one major Geographical feature (and it’s a big one) when we crossed the River Danube.
New friends
It seems to be a legal requirement for Bulgarian stations to have a cat at each station! They are clearly very much in charge and graciously allow us to make temporary use of their stations.
Language challenges
The Bulgarians use a different alphabet. Luckily I am able to resolve some difficult translation issues with some sign language and help from a local!
The last leg
We will finish with our final overnight train which leaves at 11pm to take us into Turkey and Istanbul. Last task before turning in is to switch our phones to a different SIM for Turkey. And we will be woken up for a late night passport check on the border.
So join us tomorrow for the final instalment as we complete the trip and arrive in Istanbul. We will review how the journey went and offer some advice for next time.
This is part of a series of articles covering our journey from London to Istanbul by train. The whole set is:-
- Part 1 – The plan
- Part 2 – Travelling to Prague
- Part 3 – Onwards to Budapest
- Part 4 – Bucharest, an unlikely holiday destination
- Part 5 – Crossing Bulgaria
- Part 6 – Completing the Orient Express
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