What's in the box? (See what you got)

As Luke said, tickets for the sleeper train from Sofia to Istanbul were all sold out when we got to the ticket office. So instead of waiting another day we decide to travel in what most locals consider the luxury option- coach.

Unlike Luke, I'm not a train enthusiast (he's keen to point out enthusiast, not spotter), but do like travelling by train, particularly for 10 hour journeys. For starters, I'm one of those people who gets car sick, (or coach sick) so I find it hard to read a book on a coach. I also like the freedom to walk about on a long journey, and enjoy the luxury of having access to a toilet over such a long period of time (and before anyone quotes the "these days coaches have all the mod cons like toilets on board and air conditioning" line, trust me - they don't in Bulgaria). There is also the obvious fact that on a train you can move carriages if you happened to be sat near someone who smells, talks to themselves or looks threatening. [Please note : I do none of these things. Luke]

But, having decided to try out the coach, we boarded our luxury vehicle at 8pm. The ticket vendor explained we would depart after the driver had eaten, as he was observing Ramazan and hadn't eaten all day having just driven from Istanbul. He ate his impressive spread on the coach, and I was commenting on the dedication and commitment this must take when Luke pointed out he was washing down his great feast with half a bottle of brandy. Is he such a dedicated Muslim?, you may ask. Is he going to be able to drive now?, I was certainly asking. Fear not, he was not driving back - he was in charge of passports, smoking a lot at stops and I think, though couldn't testify, smuggling.

So what was so much greater about the coach, that Eastern Europeans love so much?

1. They hand out free coffees and soft drinks, and you could help yourself to free bottles of water (remember what I said about toilet facilities).
2. You got to stop at a selection of bizarre shops at which you could buy cheap goods to take over the border. Such goods included bumper packs of Milka chocolate bars, a giant remote control tank, huge pink panda toys and a fake Disney Princess foldaway double blanket.
3. My favourite, there was Turkish television on live for the whole journey.

Sadly we only caught the end of the Turkish "Survivors", but we were just in time for the prime time Turkish “Deal Or No Deal?” or "Var Misin? Yok Musun?"

Deal or No Deal is the perfect show to watch if you don't speak the lingo, as it is pretty mind numbing in any language, and you really don't need to understand what anyone's saying to see what's going on. Whilst they still have the same organised  zaniness as the UK version, they take it more seriously than we do with lots table banging and even some poetry reading from one of the box holders. They also have the added bonus of not having to have the smug, Tory-bearded face of Edmunds on their show. They do however, manage to drag their show out for even longer -I know, I wouldn't have thought it possible -even longer, than the ridiculous hour it drags on for in the UK.

One episode lasted two and a half hours. Two and a half hours. That's longer than a football match, longer than a feature film, and surely longer than any sane person would want to watch another person opening a box. Next week paint drying for beginners...

Is this what you call luxury?!

I'm becoming more of a train enthusiast every day

(Posted by Louise)