Further Wanderings

A little of Turkey is in Europe. By some definitions Georgia, or even Armenia are in Europe. But Bulgaria was the first clearly, firmly, non-Asian nation on our trip.

Because of the time pressure discussed in the Turkey entries, we were really making a flying trip through the Balkans. We would have liked to spend two or three months covering the ground between Istanbul and Vienna, but actually had a mere two weeks. This allowed us but three days and a single real stop in Bulgaria, in the country’s second city, Plovdiv.

While we would have loved to spend some time exploring the Balkan mountains and their villages in the heart of the country, I think our choice turned out to be a good one. Even down on the plains, Plovdiv was where we got our first real taste of winter. Our bus arrived at 05:30, meaning that our first couple hours in town were not only very chilly (under 5C) but also dark.

Once the sun rose and we were able to get outside we changed some money and went for a walk around town.

Central Plovdiv is a really cool place!

Central Plovdiv from one of the city’s six (originally, in Roman times, seven… one was completely quarried away for building materials) hills

Plovdiv (or Trimontium as the Romans called it)’s amphitheatre

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Our dash through Anatolia continued with a stop in Turkey’s capital, Ankara.

Most visitors to Ankara seem to find it an uninspiring place and really rather boring. I’d visited Ankara as part of my first visit to Turkey and, contrary to the typical view, quite enjoyed it.

I think it has something to do with the fact that it’s the large city that feels most typically, simply, Turkish. Many of Turkey’s other cities, especially Istanbul are wonderful places, but can seem to get buried under the weight of their ancient history. Ankara was more or less founded in the 1920s (before that it was a small town of population 20 000) and so it can just be itself.

We arrived at the huge Otogar (bus terminal) and decided to leave our bags there… We’d be spending not much more than 24 hours in the city before returning, and figured we could make do with our daypack and the clothes on our backs for that time. From the otogar we found our way onto the metro. A few stops, then a bus, then a walk past the presidential palace (surrounded by TV crews and stern looking soldiers as there’d been a shooting in the Turkish parliament building the previous day) and we’d found our Couchsurfing host Mahir’s home office.

The broad, tan coloured hills of the Anatolian plateau as we approached Ankara

Looking up past the

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I like this title. It comes from the fact that the Turkish name for the Black Sea is Kara (Black) Deniz (Sea.) Turkey was the thirteenth country on our trip, and the last one in Asia. It was also ... [Continue reading this entry]

Either we had the schedule wrong or the train was early. Either way the trip to Zugdidi wasn't quite long enough to be a comfortable overnight. We emerged into the pre-dawn streets somewhat bleary eyed after six hours ... [Continue reading this entry]

I there was ever any doubt, I can now clearly say that the Caucuses are one of the world's great mountain ranges. Sitting nicely in the second tier below the great Himalayan ranges right next to the Andes. Though getting ... [Continue reading this entry]

Another border, another new world. Though this time the change was more evolutionary than revolutionary. Georgia was, just as Armenia had been, clearly identifiable as an ex-Soviet nation. It was just that things in Georgia seemed notably more prosperous. ... [Continue reading this entry]

Northern Armenia was kind of a like a compromise between the ease and modernity of Yerevan and the wild, rustic but inconvenient south. It was easiER to get around, with regular marshrutkas to Yerevan, and even some to local ... [Continue reading this entry]

Central Yerevan is very different from any other place in Armenia. Instead of run down and tired it's bright, glitzy and lively. Although it took us until our third day in the city to fully appreciate this. On day ... [Continue reading this entry]