Darling Mom and Dad,
In a few hours we'll be arriving in Istanbul. We caught the ferry from Trabzon on Friday and it's been a very pleasant and restful two days sailing on the Black Sea. It's beautiful, and the little ports are crowded and not too expensive. We've stayed on deck, as it was much cheaper even than the dormitory beds.
To and Phil slept on deck in sleeping bags, while the twins and I slept in the VW - everytime we stopped we bought bread and fruit and kebabs to eat on board. Only today did we have a meal in the restaurant and it was pretty expensive.
It's fun, but alas, no place to wash, except your face! So after over 48 hours, we're pretty grubby and smelly!
Yesterday, the twins birthday - not really celebrated, except that they got a few extra cokes, and a German lady in a Kombi made them each a chocolate pudding!
The deck is pretty crowded- and agains we met a couple we first met at the border in Pakistan. Last night they showed a film - the screen over the deck, but the volume was only for first class! We sat on top of the VW and watched and fortunately that Australian couple had seen the movie before, [The Thomas Crown Affair], and could tell us what was happening.
We've only stayed in hotels twice since we left Tehran. In Tabriz there was an excellent (tho' fairly expensive) campsite, on the banks of an artificial lake.
Next stop was Maku, where we didn't find a proper camp site so we stayed in a rather grotty little hotel and Phil slept in the VW that night to guard our things. We crossed the border into Turkey the next day, with no searches at all, Aand that night we stayed in a hotel in Erzum - it rained and was very cold - it's nearly 7000 ft high in the mountains.
Then the next day we drove to Trabzon, which took us quite long because it was a winding mountainous unsurfaced road. We found a very nice campsite, with the use of a beach, in Trabzon, which is a reallypretty little town. We stayed there three nights and caught the ferry on Friday afternoon.
We don't know how long we will stay in Istanbul - at least twon nights and and probably three, depending on where we find to stay, how cheap it is, etc. We've enjoyed Turkey and everyone says Istanbul is great.
To's busy converting our sleeping vehicle into a sitting one again, and the boys are busy cutting up a watermelon. We'll see you in less than two weeks!
Lots of love,
Hugs and kisses to you both,
Your Evechen
P.S. We're most likely going via Greece rather than Bulgaria for the silliest reason! To's passport is nearly full and the Bulgarian visa needs a full page - which he hasn't got. Greece requires no visa! So we'll go via Thessaloniki and then Zagreb, and not Sofia.
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