OzBus 14

Task for the day: get Iranian visa.  This involves going to the embassy and waiting it out till we get all the paperwork sorted.  Lana is also in need of a visa, so we decide to meet up in the early morning to have some breakfast and head to the embassy.  French toast for breakfast and off we go!

The heavens have opened up in the morning and continue to cover the city with a grey, wet blanket.  Once at the embassy, we fill out a form, queue for a bit, pay some money into the bank and are then told to come back in 2 hours while everything from their side is sorted.  An excuse for coffee and a good long one to one.  After a nice chat, we head back to the embassy to collect our passports.  The whole process takes a lot less time then I expected and with that, we head back to the hostel and see what the rest of the group are up to.

We find Liam and decide to have a small bite to eat at the hostel.  Liam needs a new camera, so he and I head out into town to try and find a shop that sells.  Little did we know that there are a lot of shops focused on cameras.  Lots.  We shop around and I manage to teach Liam in the art of haggling.  Eventually he find the right one and we then head to explore the city.  First thing we see are ferries, so we decide to hop on one and see where it takes us.

We end up across the river and wander around for a bit.  Within our walking, we find a local food market and a street market.  Walking around brings us the sense that we are in a culturally diverse country.  We head back to the ferry dock in the attempt to try and get back to the hostel.  The walk rejuvinates our travelling ideas and we decide to meet up with the group.  Dinner is not too far, but way more expensive then we all expected.  Tonight is a night we all decide will be dedicated to the art of getting plastered.

We head back to the same place Liam and I went to the night before, as we knew we would be looked after and possibly get some free things.  As predicted, we get a couple of shisha pipes for free as well as a short of god-knows-what.  We then mingle across back to the hostel where the drinking continues.  This trend is followed will the next morning, when we all decide to go to bed.  6am is not a bad time to hit the hay.  Lie in for the morning is inevitable.

Today will be a nine hour drive to Turkey.  Breakfast is painfully scarce and doesn’t fill me with confidence, seeing as I would have to survive till we get to the border.  As we set off we are told that the border crossing will be a long process and that we should be prepared to have a good run around in order to get through.  With that in mind, we all try to get some rest as we leave the beautiful Plovdiv.

Upon getting to the border, we have to get off the bus and give our passports over before the bus can cross.  I guess they wanted to make sure we weren’t stowing  anyone in our bus.  Once getting to the Turkey side, we again have to detach from the bus and run back and forth in order to pay for our visas.  After about 40 mintues, we eventually set off in search of Istanbul.  The state of the road starts to show us the we are in the process of leaving Europe.

4pm and we finally roll into Istanbul, greeted by the sun and an amazing view of the harbour.  Orient hostel is located in the centre of the old district and, despite having very charming hosts, makes me have some reservations of our accommodation.  After a complimentary apple tea, we are shown to our rooms.  A four bed dorm that can only be described as “cosy” will be our home for the next 3 nights.  After settling down and locking our bags to the sewage pipe in our room, we set off in search of some culture.

Istanbul is littered with cafes/restaurants and shisha bars.  There are hosts standing outside EVERY cafe and restaurant proactively welcoming you into their place.  Very unnerving for those not wanting to be pestered or just trying to make a simple decision on where to go.  There are also a lot of mosques.  Lots.  We don’t have much time before meeting back at the hostel, where we will be dining for the night.

Traditional food is on the menu, along with a complimentary shisha pipe and some fruity shots.  10% discount on everything means we end up staying till 11pm, way after the start of our dinner at 7pm.  Not seeing this as enough, Liam and I decide to head into town for a few more drinks.  Due to the lack of time post arrival, we don’t know much about the city and what it has to offer.  Within the vicinity we managed to walk around, there seems to be nothing.  Ironically, the place we end up is opposite our hostel.  We settle down and start to chat to the staff, who are all friendly and sharing, the general theme with everyone in the city.  We drink into the night but my night is shadowed with the task of tomorrow as I will be attempting to get my visa for Iran.

The morning after the night before and the hotel greets the group with a cordoned off breakfast room. The breakfast isn't much to talk about, but the night before is, so we just have a good chat in our ... [Continue reading this entry]

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This is the first step towards my departure of the trip ahead of me.  The countdown has already begun, yet the time doesn't seem to stretch as much as I need it to.  For those that are reading this, I ... [Continue reading this entry]