I must say that Sofia has been the biggest disappointment of my trip so far. After walking for 4 hours through the city center, I felt like there was not much more to see, so I decided to take the day bus to Istanbul. My reason for going by bus instead of train (which would be free with my interrail ticket) is that the trains here are not even comparable to the trains I am used to in Norway and West-Europe. The night train to Sofia had no lights in the whole train (the conductor had to use his cell phone when he was looking at the tickets), the train was overbooked, so there was noise and people in the coupés and hallways and the bathrooms were flooded with urine, which could be smelt through the whole train.
The 10 hour long day bus that I took had the standard of an international long distance flights, where there were two stewardesses who handed out snacks and drinks, there were bathroom breaks every two-three hours, people had their own individual screen with TV, radio, games and music, and the customs took less than half the time of what it did with a train. For me this whole bus trip has been more like a sightseeing trip through nice scenery, where I slept well and I read books while watching MTV the rest of the time.
A Turkish trailerstop where they keep their chickens in the backyard and grill them in the restaurant in the front. This is also where I met my monkey friend above. |