So, packing and trying to figure out how the hell we were going to get out of Istanbul dominated our morning. We ended up checking the satellite imagery on Google Maps (high tech hitchhiking), Felix identified an on-ramp that led onto the highway we wanted to take on the outskirts of İstanbul. We knew which bus to take from talking to Çem last night, our couch surfing host. Everything was planned (or so we thought). So, on the first bus, we got talking to this Turkish guy. Nice guy, he gave us an apple each, which had come from his tree at home. The hospitality of the Turkish people has touched my soul and I count the days until I can return.

Then we changed onto the Metro Bus system. Pretty impressive and brand new. There are two lanes, one going in each direction, in the middle of a brand new highway separated from the car lanes by a fence and the only access to the bus stops is from underneath. And the buses are as new as I have seen in Europe. So what this means is no congestion. Anyways, as we getting off, I was a bit slow the doors were closing. So, I for some reason thinking that bus doors are like elevator doors, stuck my arm in between the doors to stop them from closing. Hmmm, not my best idea. So what happened is that I am stuck in the bus with one arm up to my shoulder sticking out and the bus driver about to take off. Lots of yelling in the Turkish people on the bus prevented me from leaving like that and he opened the doors! I wandered off, feeling extremely foolish and wearing a rather sheepish grin on my face. So, after another bus ride we ended up at the end of the line. However, it was looking a bit more difficult on the ground to find where we needed to get to. And there is no sidewalk. So some highway walking and we found ourselves in a part of Istanbul which I estimate receives tourists every 10 to 15 years. For some reason there was a sheep chained to an umbrella, surrounded by rocks. Just another random thing to ponder.

But the people, as everywhere in Turkey, the people are unfailing polite and helpful. However, this doesn't stop people giving extremely confusing advice. Like how we asked for the way to the highway at two separate petrol stations and received instructions for exactly opposite directions from each place. Hmmm, well we ended up at an Internet cafe and figured out where we were and got ourselves heading in the right direction. On the way a young child wandered up to me, just wanted to talk and practise his English (he was 12). Cool little dude. Whilst he was walking with me he found a lira. Seemed to make his day.

Eventually we located the on ramp (mainly due to Felix's unerring sense of direction) and were chatting with a guy nearby who was telling us that we wont be able to get a lift when a semi-trailer stopped. It was the day of the truck for us, and it turned out in the end we nearly only got lifts with trucks. Our 3rd lift was with a truck driver who spoke intermediate German (better than me, not very difficult) and so we were having a great time chatting away. Then suddenly, we all got jerked forward and then the truck driver hit the brakes hard. I wasn't sure what had happened and I saw a suspension coil rolling out from behind the truck in the rear view mirror as we stopped. I though initially that truck had suffered a catastrophic failure or something like that. I got out and saw bits and pieces of shattered plastic spread all over the road. Hmmm, I kept walking around the truck and saw a car crashed into bushes on the other side of the road. I really had no idea what the hell had happened, was thinking that the tyre blowing up had caused the crash. Then I walked right around the semi-trailer and all was clear. The car front right hand side of the car had slammed into the back left-hand side of the semi-trailer. It had done this hard enough that the wheel was ripped completely off the car and jammed up behind the wheels of the truck, which had caused the braking. Unbelievably, there were no fatalities or injuries. Unfortunately for Felix and I, that truck would have taken us all the way to the border. We had to get away from the accident before the police arrived as well, would have been tricky to explain away the 2 hitchhikers fitting legally into a truck with only one seat. We managed to get lift very quickly with a trucker who had pulled up to see if he could help with the accident. About 1 km later we passed the burned out hulk of a semi-trailer resting against the side of the bridge. No clues as to why it had caught on fire. Unfortunately our driver dropped us in a poor location and we ended up walking for miles on the highway. Eventually we arrived at the Turkish/Bulgaria border at 9pm getting our lift there with customs officers on their way to work! Checked out duty free and some dodgy lady kept trying to get us to buy cigarettes for them. After the border crossing of Moldova/Romania, we were keen to keep quite far away from that behaviour.

So, we then tried to hitch. For more than 2 hours. We were completely exhausted from our hitching. I wandered off to try lay deuce in privacy, but no luck. I was wandered along the road when I bumped into a border guard standing in the darkness who told me to go back. Dammit. So, at around 11.30pm, we decided to wander into Bulgaria to find somewhere to sleep. Again, a border guard appeared out of nowhere, this time asking for passports. Hang on a second, where is my passport? I couldn't find it for the life of me, all the while this border guard standing there with his flashlight. Eventually, I just emptied my pack, found the passport nestled in some corner. So, back on the road, albeit it foot powered. Looking around at the strange town, trying to see if there was somewhere to sleep. There was a rundown hotel, guarded on the inside by a loud barking German Shepherd, which we only discover as we were standing in front of the door. Big surprise! Anyways, they wanted €15 per person for the night which was daylight (or rather, nighttime) robbery considering the time, the location and the fact that the hotel was quite rundown. So, walking along we were passing this kind of store/bar thing and this old guy calls out to us (in English, always surprising in Bulgaria): 'Hello my friends, where are you going?' Normally I would just kind off fob this off as attempt to get money out of me, but the combination of exhaustion, a sense that this guy was genuine and curiosity led myself and Felix to wander over and start chatting. Good move on our part. This guy was really friendly and so were his two friends. He said we could sleep on the concrete behind his shop and he opened the toilet. At this stage, this was like the Hilton to us. Then he invited us over to chat and drink rakia with his friends. Bulgarian rakia. Not be mistaken with rakia from other countries. This stuff tastes really strong. And by strong I mean bad. One of the guys, called Antonios, was the maker and he was chasing the stuff down with cola. Intense. Although, in typical Balkans style, you don't drink the whole shot, just sip at it. They also gave us more food than we could eat (and I was trying hard to eat it all). Weird combinations which actually taste great. For example, bread with watermelon and Bulgarian cheese. So, we chatted into the wee hours. Felix and I just couldn't believe our luck and ours grins split our faces from ear to ear. Eventually, we finished up and went to lay down on the concrete, which after 3 hours of drinking schnapps, felt like a feather filled mattress...