We arrived in Istanbul at 6am, well before the train, but the bus station was quite unimpressive. It was just as dirty as the trains and there are 160 bays for the buses to terminate at. We needed local money so wandered around asking people for ATMs and getting pointing fingers. After twenty minutes we found eight of them in one spot. We bought breakfast from a man who watched us eat as though we were animals in a zoo and overcharged us. Nothing has a price on it in many shops and there are no bargains for tourists.
At the border we saw a bus which advertised trips from Istanbul to Bucharest. It belonged to Murat, a Rumanian company, so we looked for their office to see about travelling with them on August 1 or 2. We found the office, but it was closed and no info seemed to be inside. We walked towards the taxis; there is no rank, they just compete for customers. A burly driver approached us and quoted $38 to the hotel, which was twice the going rate. Another driver engaged him in a loud discussion while he walked us to the taxi and put our luggage in the boot. He became angry and walked back to the other man and started pushing him. By the time we had lifted our bags out of the boot they were exchanging blows and everyone up to 50 meters away was watching. We walked 100 meters and found another taxi with a polite driver who quoted $25 and drove us to our hotel. All the taxi drivers talk on their mobiles and use them for navigation; even the tour bus drivers do this.
We arrived at the hotel at about 7:30 and were told to wait a few minutes for our room. We actually got in at noon. There was nothing to do in the lobby except to watch the families with little children waiting for transport or rooms. There was a steady stream of young children playing games with the rotating glass doors while their parents ignored them. Several times a toddler stood half in and half out as the door swung towards them. Piercing screams were regularly emitted for no particular reason.
A little boy of three had a fight with his sister of four. She knocked him down, punched him twice and kicked him as she walked away. The boy got up and laughed and the parents did nothing. The women passing through had all levels of Islamic covering, but there were many niqabs.
The room is quoted at $300 per night and we have it for two nights as part of the tour package. It is lovely and we had a wonderful shower and two hours sleep. There are five lights in the room but it is still too dark.
At 7:30pm we had a group meeting with our guide Burhan. There will be 32 people following him around like imprinted ducklings.
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