The hills are alive but not in the city...

Only three hours on a high-speed rail to Vienna from Budapest; this maybe the shortest transportation time through our journey. We stuffed our backpacks into over-sized locker at Wien Westbahn station, and took the metro to the center of the city. It started to rain as we stepped out onto the street, with our rain gear deeply buries in our backpacks not present. Although we have enjoyed the little rain we have had during our travel, we can certainly enjoy a museum day like this.

In Vienna, we were fortunate to be accepted by two Couchsurfing hosts for both nights we planned on staying. We went out with the first host at night for meatballs, and asked about places to see in his homeground. There seem to be more places to visit than our time allows, such as fine arts, music, and architecture.

 

 

 

 

 

The second day turned out to be a fine weather, and so we went out for an eight-hour walk. In the evening we went over to the second host's apartment. The couple our age also invited their friends, and our endless conversation about everything took place over pumpkin soup and kaiser schumaan, a pancake-like sweets.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beer in Eastern Europe

Kamenitza, lager, 4.4%, Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Lav, lager, 5.0%, Ceralevo, Serbia

Jalen Pivo, 5.0%, Apatin, Serbia

Soproni, 4.5%,  Budapest, Hungary

Dreher Classic, 5.2%, Budapest, Hungary

Buda + Pest

Budapest. We stayed in a cozy guest house with kind staff. We got a city map and went off into the center of the city. We were unaware that the city has two sides; Buda and Pest. We visited castles and churches on Buda side on the first day, and rented a bike on the second to see a bigger side of Pest. Relaxing at a hot spring thermal bathhouse, and then nap in a park.

 

 

 

Nice relaxing time to rejuvenate but a day and a half is not enough time to do much.

Plan and Schedule

Next destination is Amsterdam. We will meet up with my friends, and then go to Paris to meet up with Sahe's friend. For the first time in three and a half months of traveling, we actually have an itinerary to keep that involves others. We have nine days to travel 2,200km (1,300miles). What a good chance to see if we are still capable of planning and keeping a schedule.　We decided to leave Turkey earlier than originally planned to, and started structuring a route. Serbia, or Romania? How about Czech, or Croatia, or even Poland? We have too little knowledge about Eastern Europe, and so any place appeared appealing. We finally agreed on Beograd in Serbia, Budapest in Hungary, and Vienna in Austria, each for two nights. Train rides included 20 hours to Beograd, and 12 by highspeed trains from Vienna to Amsterdam.

 

Tram in Sofia

The first night train, Balkan Express, rides on the same rail as the famous Orient Express that no longer is in service. We boarded the train and our cabin, the second class sleeper with six beds, was already occupied by three others. However, the entire car was otherwise empty, and so we were luckily given an entire cabin to ourselves. We arrived the Bulgarian border at 3:00 in the morning as per scheduled, and we got off in the cold platform for a quick passport control. The Bulgarian entry procedure was done in the car two hours later. Around noon, we arrived Sofia station and the conductor announced for everyone to get off. Apparently the 20 minute delay made the car miss the connection, and so it had to wait for the next train bound for Beograd. So we spent not-planned seven hours at the capital, and the boarded the same car with our luggage still in its place.

Seven hours later, our car was sitting on the track with no power

Trying to keep in time with already delayed schedule, we decided not to spend any nights at Beograd, and enjoy a half-day visit. Unfortunately, we did not come across any queens of tennis, but were amazed by how developed the city was, despite constant battling for unification and independence until recent years. There were some destroyed building left untouched to remind people about the war, but everything else was as calm as Donau River.

We hopped on another night train that same night, and this time we tried out the eight-seater box seat. We arrive Budapest at six in the morning, and with our luck we successfully found a guestroom with a vacancy. With a couple hours of nap, we were back on track with our schedule.

Beer of Turkey

After a countless tries of watered-down beer in China and Central Asia, finally a glass of beer with a bold flavor. But according to Greeks I met on the street, beer here has no "taste" in comparison to those of Greece.

Efes Pilsen, pilsner, 5.0%, Efes

  Efes Dark, 5.5%, Efes

Ballon Fight in Goreme

The bus arrived Nevesehir, the hub terminal for Cappadocia region, at six in the morning. We woke up to a local passenger calling us, and were escorted off the bus into the terminal building half asleep, not knowing who he is. He turned out to be a travel agent trying to sell us a guided tour. Disappointed to see such people outside of mega-city, we declined to take his offer and waited for the shuttle bus to Goreme.

 

Shoe String Hostel

Goreme is a small town located in the middle of a landscape full of cone-shaped rocks sticking out earth. Erupted volcano covered the earth with a great amount of ashes thousands of years ago, and some area became petrified, others were washed away by rain and wind over the years. What remains today, teeth-like rock formation with nooks, were used as caved residence for people settled in this area.

The first things in site off the minibus, were stone buildings in between sharp statue of rocks and a countless number of hot-air balloons floating in the sky. We walked around town, calm in the early sunlight, looking for a place to stay. We found a hostel with a cave room as per Sahe's wish, and after a rest, we walked around the beige town. Although the streets are lined with shops and cafe, there were no one trying to pulley us into their territory as they shamelessly did in Istanbul. Seeing selflessly friendly people made me realize never to judge the locals while in a city.

There was one other thing that Sahe wanted to do while in Goreme. It is to go on a hot-air balloon ride. From 500 meters (1,500 ft) to less than a meter off the ground, the direction solely depends on the way of the wind. There are over ten balloon companies in Goreme, and it is one of the common attraction to see the rock formation from above. As much as I wanted to try it, going up high is something I always wish to avoid, and so I sent Sahe off alone.

Hot-air ballon can only go up when the air is cold. A shuttle bus came to pick her up at five in the morning, and I decided to watch her from the highest point I can allow myself to be in. I found a nice area to situate myself and saw dozens of balloons on the ground, growing their domes like mushrooms. One ballon was already off the ground, but others waited for the dawn. One slowly slid off the ground, and then another, then another. Soon the sky was filled with siluhette of balloons, appeared like holes in the sky. When the sun finally rose above the mountain in the distance, bright colors of balloons lit up as they moved away from the ray towards the town, and one by one they landed on the hill on tue other side.

Sahe was on the one in the middle

It was nice to start off a morning after seeing the sunrise. Later in the day, Sahe and I made sure to see the sunset together from the same altitude.

A hidden town

In a desperate need to leave the mammoth city of Istanbul, population 12.5 million, we began our research for domestic destination possibilities. Turkey, known for nine impressive world-heritage sites listed at UNESCO, has much to offer both in nature and culture. This meant that if we do not select carefully then we will end up reuniting with tour groups. We chose Amasra, a small town on the coast of Black Sea, Trabzon, another town on the coast further east, and Cappadocia, a world heritage site known for its unique landscape and historical culture. We allowed ourselves to spend about seven to ten days total on this mini-adventure.

As soon as decided, we went to the terminal, selected a bus company out of hundreds of rivals, that would take us overnight to the first destination. We went back with our recovered backpacks in the evening, an hour and a half earlier to locate the departure station and the vehicle. Apparently buses are commonly used by locals for long-distance traveling, and vehicles are often well equipped and appear brand new. When a bus pulls into a terminal, a boy with a brush and a bucket would run up to clean it. Inside, an attendant will serve drinks and snack while on the road. Seats may not be the most comfortable for a sleeping purpose, but the service is exquisite.

 

 

 

We arrived Amasra at 7:00, a town just waking up to the late sunrise peeking above cliffs that surrounds the secluded coast. This is exactly what we wanted. Sahe and I looked at each other, and went on looking for a place to eat. After a delight Turkish coffee and çai, we then went to the ticket office to find out about our next bus. The destination was able to be reached by single transfer, but since we were not sure how long we would stay in Amasra, we left with no reservation and started looking for our home for the night. This was easy, as owners with available rooms are walking around the town looking for visitors. We met an elder lady and a daughter, who kept saying, "she-vuyu, she-vuyu". Sure, a sea view would be nice. Her soft and kind smile was all that took to convince us. We walked uphill, then onto steps, then finally stairs to reach the room, and the place was magnificent. Apparently, the furnished apartment owned by her sister is now empty and was used for accommodation during the summer. With a kitchen, a living room, and a sun-room with a great view, we couldn't believe that the price was almost the same as what we paid for in Istanbul for our 30-bed dormitory.

 

 

The town is built around a fort-like walls built during the Roman and Byzantine Empire periods, and houses appear to be stacked on top of one another. We got ourselves lost trying to find the way to the highest point going through narrow paths, and we finally found a light house at the peak. Black Sea extended out until it disappeared in the horizon, and down below, a small beach was now occupied with local people swimming and tanning. We decided to join them. The time moved as slowly as the calm breeze, and we enjoyed the productive day of doing nothing. As much as we wanted to spend our rest of our stay in Turkey, we decided to plan to leave the next day.

 

 

 

We continued to stay relaxed in the morning, and went to book a bus ticket at noon, only to learn that there is only one seat left on the bus to Trabzon. Oops. We got too comfortable. With a help from locals, we visited other bus companies but we would have to waste a day by traveling non-direct. So we changed our plan and decided to leave in the evening to Ankara, and then take the 1:30 bus to Goreme in Cappadocia instead.

 

We walked to the terminal in the evening, to find our one-day landlord there. She called us over to give me the adaptor for my cell phone. She wanted to give it back to us so she was carrying it in her purse all day to find us. If we had kept the original plan to leave early we would have been long gone, so it was a relief to know at least one positive thing came out of our procrastination.