Cycling At 50 Plus: The Metrobus From Sofia to Istanbul

This is the final stage of our overland journey from London to Istanbul. We had initially thought of taking the train but we read that the train is very slow, much slower than the bus. This part of Europe is a little bit behind in infrastructure that explains there is still a lot of catching up in land transportation especially the train.

The bus was very modern and up to date. The interior was clean and the seats were very comfortable, a far cry from the train that we took to Sofia. We passed through the Bulgarian country side and there were farmlands and vine yards all the way. The road was still of two lane, the expressway only started after we entered Turkey. We stopped at a few towns to pick up passengers and to allow the use of rest rooms. The towns still have the look of sadness, the people are still unsure of their status, are they still communists or capitalists. There is not much big scale construction of new buildings but I would prefer this way as the charms of the old are still retained.

When we crossed to Turkey there were passport checks at a brand new control center. It was huge and inside were amenities like restaurants and banks. Turkey definitely felt different from Bulgaria. There were tolled highways for the vehicles and even the farmlands were more orderly, though I notice that the extensive vineyards of Bulgaria stopped at the border, that's a subtle sign you are coming to a Muslim country from a non Muslim as wine drinking also takes leave at the border.

With the excellent roads in no time we were in Istanbul and the bus stopped at the main terminal outside the city. To get into the city there is an efficient metro which will whisk you to your desired places in a breeze. Istanbul is very modern and has the look of a European city, at least the East European. There are many newly constructed buildings and the city is huge. All tourists go to Sultan Ahmet or the surrounding and that was where we headed to join the mass of thronging visitors who mistakenly think that this part of Istanbul is Turkey. I found out that there are places outside the tourists belt where you can experience the Turkish atmosphere without being looked at as a cash machine. This was what I found by accident at Zeitinburnu, a place where I took accommodation after being cooped in Sultan Ahmet for 3 crazy days, 5 stops away from Sirkerci. The prices and the attitude of the locals made up for the biased way we looked upon the people of Istanbul who had been on our nerves especially the hotel keeper who asked us to vacate the room because his double booking, the hustlers in the form of beggars and the mass of humanity that choked the tourist spots and hence the outrageous prices.

Well after almost three weeks on the road you have to forgive us for sounding jaded and cynical, fatigue was creeping in and what we wanted was just to go home. There was a gathering of the clan on the plane flying to Kuala Lumpur, Faris was on duty and Zahir had flown in from London for his wedding anniversary, and that was the peak of the memorable time we had in charting our way from London to Istanbul.