2. Eskisehir - Erzurum - Hopa

28.9.2009

Early morning trip with the new highspeed train from Eskisehir to Ankara:



Turkish landscape at 250 km/h:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3mRw2X_LHI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEmuQJiJ02g


Ankara train station:


Some hours at Ankara:
















The trip continued in the early afternoon - train from Ankara to Kars:

















29.9.2009

Euphrates river:


High mountains at Erzincan:




Breakfast in the dining car:





Arrival at Erzurum at lunch time:


Train departure from Erzurum:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jb4Sv_bVjnM


Erzurum - 1900m above sea level, it was quite cold here....:










Scythes "made in Austria" at a shop:



5 hour bus-ride from Erzurum to Hopa (already near the Georgian border):



CONTINUE

1. Vienna - Istanbul - Eskisehir

25.9.2009


Leaving Vienna at ~14h for Budapest.

My travel buddies Florian and Marcus at Budapest Keleti station:






From Budapest at ~19h with the overnight train to Bucharest.


26.9.2009

Train across Romania:





Very slow ride on desolate tracks...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAykp7PT1BI

New tracks and higher speed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m15zUmwi9yk





Arrival at Bucharest with ~2 hours delay at around 12h.


Short sightseeing walk at downtown Bucharest:










From Bucharest by bus to Istanbul (the train didn't run at that time, as floods destroyed the railway line near Istanbul). Departure was at 16h.



Bulgarian-Turkish border in the middle of the night:



Huge duty-free shop on the Turkish side of the border:



27.9.2009

Arrival at Istanbul at 4 in the morning...


Some sightseeing in Istanbul....

...Hagia Sophia:




By ship from Europe to Asia - crossing the Bosporus:






Istanbul Haydarpasa station on the Asian side of the Bosporus:


Train to Eskisehir at ~18h:




Eskisehir station by night:



CONTINUE