My Big Bus Adventure from Armenia to Bulgaria and Back - Part I

There's a scar on my right palm that will always remind me of my first really unusual travel adventure. It was the summer of 1996. I was 24 years old and smack dab in the middle of my Peace Corps assignment in the Republic of Armenia. Life in Armenia during the 1990s were pretty tough. My friend Elaine and I were in dire need of a vacation. Unfortunately, the Peace Corps isn't known for paying much of a salary and I was pretty broke. Flying to Europe from Armenia was prohibitively expensive for me.

Armenia is also located in an area that was rather hard to travel in back in the 1990s. Because of Armenia's strife with its neighbors Turkey and Azerbaijan, no one could travel directly to those countries from Armenia. Because of the United States' strife with Armenia's southern neighbor Iran, Americans could not travel there from Armenia. Our only vacation option was to take a bus north to Georgia. From Georgia, we could travel to Europe... by bus. In fact, we wouldn't even have to change buses in Georgia. Armed with that information, we decided to take a three week trip to Turkey, Bulgaria, and wherever else we ended up.

Why take the bus?

Elaine found out there was a bus that went from Yerevan, Armenia to Istanbul, Turkey twice a week. In 1996, the tickets for this bus ride cost about $75 per person. Getting to Istanbul would involve driving through Georgia, even though Yerevan is only about 30 miles from the Turkish border. The Turks and the Armenians have a long standing argument over the Armenian Genocide, which occurred during the early part of the 20th century. The Armenians contend that the Ottoman Turks murdered over a million of their people. The Turks deny that there was a Genocide

Despite Armenia's problems with Turkey, lots of Armenians are willing to travel there to buy goods, which they then sell in Armenia. In fact, as we later found out, that was the main reason there was a bus that went to Turkey. Most of the Armenians I knew had a lot of contempt for Turkey, although some of them probably still had some relatives living there. The Turks, after all, had also slivered away much of Armenia's territory, including its beloved Mount Ararat, which is still very much an Armenian symbol but sits on Turkish soil, tantalizingly just past the border.

Getting tickets

Elaine and I went to the main bus station in Yerevan, a place never known for its cleanliness or efficiency. We were, of course, the only Americans in line. We felt the stares of the people watching us purchase our tickets. Some of them were whispering, wondering why us "rich" Americans making about $5 per day were bothering with the bus.

June 22, 1996

We climbed aboard our bus to Istanbul at about 5:00pm on June 22, 1996. In retrospect, we came rather unprepared. As the bus filled up with people from Armenia, we noticed that most of them had brought plenty of provisions. Elaine and I had brought a little bit of food for the road, but not enough for the three day trip we were about to start.

The bus made its first stop in the northwestern city of Gyumri, Armenia, which is perhaps 15 miles from the border with Turkey. More passengers boarded and we headed toward Georgia, a trip that would take a few hours.

We crossed into Georgia in the late evening, perhaps around 9:00 or 10:00 at night. Border guards came aboard to check everyone's passport. No one gave us any trouble as we moved onward. Our trip through Georgia lasted all night and, unfortunately, I didn't get any sleep at all. I have never mastered the art of sleeping just anywhere, so I was up all night watching the countryside fly by in the night.

June 23, 1996

As dawn broke on Georgia, we traveled down a dirt road in a very underpopulated area. Suddenly, the bus came to a halt and we were sitting in a line of vehicles. It was about 6:00am and the border wasn't yet open. There were many cars, buses, and trucks waiting for the Georgian border patrol to get to work so that they could get to the business of buying their goods in more prosperous countries.

I glanced out the window and saw a sign written in Russian and Georgian. Georgia has a different flag than it did when we took our trip, so the sign has since been redone in Georgian and English. At the time I didn't know where we were. I later found out that we were at the Vale-Posof crossing.

I got off the bus and took a look around. To my left, there was a beautiful field full of wildflowers and a backdrop of majestic mountains. To my right, there was another field, one that was obviously used as a rest area by people waiting at the border. Some of our fellow travelers had spread out blankets and were eating bread, cheese, and vegetables. They were also drinking shots of vodka.

Elaine and I sort of felt like novelties to the Armenians. They eagerly invited us to share their food. As I recall, Elaine and I were a little shy about joining them, but they insisted. So for breakfast that morning, we bonded with our new friends from our bus ride. Upon further exploration of the little field we were sitting in, I found a few bushes that had been very well used as toilets. I imagine they were a lot more pleasant than an actual WC would have been.

As we moved closer to the border, I noticed the huge barbed wire fences that divided Georgia from Turkey. It was a lot like what I'd seen in the movies, basically a well guarded compound with several austere looking buildings. There were also a few Russian border guards who seemed a little too confident with their machine guns.

Elaine and I had heard a lot about the Georgian and Russian border guards. Some of our Peace Corps colleagues who had taken this trip spoke of having to bribe the officials to get through. We had visited the Georgian embassy in Yerevan and were told we did not need a visa because we had an Armenian visa that allowed multiple entries. Nevertheless, we still got hassled by a cocky young Russian soldier who threatened to send us to Tbilisi for the proper papers. Somehow, our kindly bus driver managed to get the guard to leave us alone and let us pass. We were at that border for approximately six hours, as the Georgian guards checked everybody's luggage and boxes of goods for contraband.

Merhaba Turkey!

Getting through the Turkish border patrol was a comparative breeze. At the time, Americans could buy single entry visas for $20 at any border. The price for visas has since gone up a bit, but it's still very easy for an American to visit Turkey. The guards glanced at our passports, stamped them, and sent us on our way. One thing we did not know at the time was that the entire country was on a timezone that was two hours earlier than Georgia's was. This was information that would haunt us on our way back.

My words cannot do justice to the amazing beauty of Eastern Anatolia. To me, it looked like a fairyland. As we drove further into the country, my eyes beheld beautiful evergreens, mountains, waterfalls, streams, blue skys, and lots of little houses. Eastern Turkey, when compared to its western counterpart, was still very primitive in 1996. I don't imagine things have changed too much. However, one thing I did notice was that there seemed to be electricity for everyone, which was more than I could say for Armenia back in the 1990s.

Unfortunately, I couldn't enjoy the scenery as much as I would have liked because I was very tired from not sleeping the night before. However, despite being tired, I still couldn't take a nap. I envied Elaine, who seemed to be able to drop off at the drop of a hat.

After driving for a little while, we stopped on the side of the road for a watermelon and vodka break. There was a nice wooded area where we could all sit and enjoy the pastoral scenery. Gazing on the horizon, I could see many minarets, definitely a different sight from what I regularly saw in Christian Armenia.

We were stopped a couple of times by Turkish police, who boarded our bus apparently searching for Kurdish people. When none were found, they let us go on our way and we traveled through the Black Sea region of Turkey, stopping in the seaside city of Trabzon to allow one or two folks off at their final destination. I found myself wanting to get off in Trabzon. It looked like such an inviting city, especially since it was right next to the sea in the hot weather we were enduring. But we had a date with Istanbul and the bus pressed on through the night. Once again, I didn't sleep.

Istanbul

We arrived in Istanbul on the evening of June 24th, 1996. Our bus stopped on the Asian side of the city in a district called Aksaray. Elaine and I bid farewell to our fellow travelers. We were both very tired, though I was a lot more exhausted than Elaine was. Stumbling into a small hotel in Aksaray, we rented a room. After a quick shower to wash off three days worth of grime, I promptly passed out and slept soundly until the next morning.

Elaine told me that she wanted to move to a hotel in Taksim, which was a district on the European side of Istanbul. Somehow, we hailed a cab that took us to Taksim, an area that was decidedly more upscale than Aksaray was. Walking just a few blocks from Taksim Square, we landed on a small, inexpensive, but comfortable hotel called Hotel Avrupa (Europe). This hotel room was almost fancy for us, since it came with a continental breakfast. We did, however, have to share a communal shower. I don't remember that ever being a problem.

After we dropped our bags, Elaine and I ventured out into Taksim, a very exciting area of Istanbul. We wandered around the square and eventually found our way to the Bosphorus Strait. On our walk, we passed the Dolmabahce Palace. I guess we must have been looking fetching enough, because we were soon approached by a young, attractive Turkish man who spoke excellent English. He claimed to also speak Japanese and worked as a tour guide. Before we knew it, this young man had decided to tag along with us. It wasn't such a bad thing. He knew of some great sites in Taksim and took us to them. We saw the movie Baraka in a Turkish movie theater, which turned out to be a fun thing to do. Baraka, for those who don't know, has no spoken dialog. It's just music and stunning pictures, making it a truly universal film for everyone.

Our Turkish friend also took us to a very nice outdoor beer garden on Istikal Avenue. We enjoyed Efes beer on tap, which was vastly superior to the canned version. Istikal Avenue is truly an experience in itself. This elegant boulevard is populated with restaurants, clothing stores, music and art stores, and chocolate shops. It was in a music store on Istikal Avenue that I discovered music by Kizilirmak, a Turkish band that has a very appealing and sexy world music vibe.

The Turkish guy invited Elaine and me to go out with him and a friend that night. I didn't actually want to go, but the Turk was insistent and Elaine was game. So we ended up meeting him later that evening and he took us to his apartment, where we met his friend, Donor. I think Donor was supposed to be my "date", even though he was engaged. We went to a bar and did some dancing... then the Turkish guy propositioned poor Elaine. Luckily, she was able to politely refuse. After that, we caught a cab back to our hotel.

The rest of our time in Istanbul was very nice. It's a very large city and there's so much to see and do. We visited the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque), Hagia Sophia, which is a mosque turned museum very close to the Blue Mosque, and the Grand Bazaar, which is an enormous covered market. It was in the Grand Bazaar that I purchased a beautiful blue silk scarf, several Turkish tiles, and some spices. I also experienced the Turkish art of haggling for the first time. I can't say I was very good at it, but I probably could have spent an entire day there and come home with plenty of new treasures.

It was in Istanbul that I also got conned into buying cherry juice by a guy dressed in touristy Turkish regalia who was basically selling a photo op. Later that day, we went to a wonderful Turkish restaurant and enjoyed a lovely lunch served by friendly waiters. There was a live music and we could watch several Muslim ladies sitting in the middle of the restaurant making bread.

All in all, I'd say Istanbul was a big success... though next time, I think I'll be glad to go there with my husband.

Stay tuned for my next installment as we head from Istanbul to Sofia, Bulgaria!