Im used to the Kas run for my visa which I miss now as I have to go to Bulgaria to renew my visa.
Its a gruelling journey.
It costs around 35 lira on the Metro but if you get back at 4pm in the morning like we did then you end up paying an extra 45 lira to get home depending on where the bus drops you off.
Different Metros drop you off at different places I have discovered. Unless its something to do with the holiday season finishing.
Thinking we would get the 12 noon bus spend a few hours going have a look around and then catch the returning bus back :DWRONG!
We got dropped off at what seemed like a store in the middle of nowhere and got told by the coach conductor 1 hour. So we interpreted that as being a coach coming in 1 hour.
We waited in the middle of nowhere for another 3 and a half hours until finally we got a coach going to Bursa which again dropped us off in the middle of somewhere close by Kadikoy and then we had to get a taxsi.
On the way back over there was a problem of some roadworks on one of the huge bridges over the bosphorus and we waited over an hour in that bottleneck of traffic.
When we got to the actual place on the bridge there was nothing there except a couple of guys with a machine doing the road :0]
all because of the system of getting onto the bridge it was absolute chaos. God help anyone dying to go to the bog in that congestion.
Coming through customs is another process that takes for ages. All your possesions are laid bare. Your passport gets checked about 4 times in and out of the country. You are jumping on and off the bus standing in queues in the peeing rain and cold so wear something warm if you ever do it that way.
Then on the way back over the border we nearly missed getting our visas because we realised after the last passport check that nobody had mentioned renewing visas! So you have to TELL them on the way back because if your visa is still valid it does not occur to them that you are renewing they are not mind readers. It was a good job I opened my gob when I did or we would have come straight back and no new visa duuhhh:D
Bulgaria is bleak. I couldnt wait to get back into Turkey which is so full of life.
I know this is Calis beach but there is your info if you ever have to do the BULGARIAN RUN. Dont do it if you can avoid it its hell.
