Braid in trains 
- solidarity with 
Smol trains and a ticket for my YHT back to Europe ๐ฅบ ! #AzadiRail
Now that I have all Turkish tickets collected, my travel plan home is fixed starting from Turkey :
Day & night 1 : ๐น๐ท Batman - Ankara in the Gรผney Ekspresi 
sleeper
Day 2 : ๐น๐ท Ankara - Istanbul
Night 2 : ๐น๐ท Istanbul - ๐ง๐ฌ ะกะพััั / Sofia in the Sofia-Istanbul-Express sleeper
Day 3 : ๐ง๐ฌ ะกะพััั / Sofia - ๐ง๐ฌ ะะพัะฝะฐ ะััั
ะพะฒะธัะฐ / Gorna Oryahovitsa - ๐ง๐ฌ ะ ััะต / Ruse
Night 3 : ๐จ Hotel in ๐ง๐ฌ ะ ััะต / Ruse
Day 4 : ๐ง๐ฌ ะ ััะต / Ruse - ๐ท๐ด Bucuresti by bus ๐
Night 4 : ๐ท๐ด Bucuresti - ๐ญ๐บ Budapest - ๐ฆ๐น Wien by 
Dacia in sleeper
Day 5 : ๐ฆ๐น Wien - ๐ฉ๐ช Nรผrnberg - ๐ซ๐ท Lauterbourg
Heck, that's once again 5 days of #AzadiRail travels ... But at least unlike my inbound journey I could place one night in a hotel in the middle of the journey rather than at the end.
After the arrival of our 
YHT, today's #AzadiRail evening game : hopping into a random bus in hope to be dropped of at my destination. And indeed, the cute bus in ๐น๐ท #Sivas dropped me right in front of my hotel.
YHT, today's #AzadiRail evening game : hopping into a random bus in hope to be dropped of at my destination. And indeed, the cute bus in ๐น๐ท #Sivas dropped me right in front of my hotel.
#AzadiRail Day 4 was : ๐น๐ท Halkali - ๐น๐ท Istanbul Sรถฤรผtlรผรงeลme - ๐น๐ท Ankara - ๐น๐ท Sivas
Night 4 : finally a bed without wheels ๐๏ธ !
๐๐ซ๐ท๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐น๐ญ๐บ๐ท๐ด๐ง๐ฌ๐น๐ท
Everything settled for today : I asked the receptionist to verify whether I can arrive in my hotel in ๐น๐ท Diyarbakฤฑr at 2.30 a.m. tonight - this is exactly my plan : in order to maximize the #AzadiRail travel time on train, I'm going to take the local train and a bus afterwards - rather than taking the direct bus. Sadly this means that I'm going to arrive in the middle of the night.
Now still a couple of hours to waste before returning to ๐น๐ท #Sivas railway station aka : time for #Vagonweb !
booked the After one more ride in the cute #BlueBus, I'm back at the station waiting for my train to arrive.
The busses are that much overcrowded, it's impossible to access the payment terminal to buy a ticket. Following the behavior of the locals, the solution was to simple hand the credit cards from the back of the bus to the front where the passenger next to the terminal did the contactless payment. Weird but works.
๐น๐ท #Sivas as a city did not really convince me although the station is really beautiful. The friendly officer in the ticket booth noted me my local train will be departing from platform 2, so now waiting for its arrival.
After a short waiting time, my MT30000 DMU arrived at the station. I've never been on this train class before but so far it looks really fine : comfortable, adjustable seats, toilets and definitely enough capacity to carry out the local train service to ๐น๐ท #Malatya.
Sadly in this will be my last #AzadiRail train on my inbound journey. From tonight on I will only take #AzadiBus busses up to my final destination.
Travel recommendation : the 42044 from ๐น๐ท #Sivas to ๐น๐ท #Malatya is an absolute must-travel route in central Anatolia ๐ฅฐ !
The train travels the same route as the Ankara-Diyarbakฤฑr Touristic Express others pay USD 500 for - but as a local train it's cheap as USD 5 or even included in InterRail.
From wide grass lands, little hills up to snowy mountains everything covered ๐๏ธ.
The train is by far one of the most comfortable regional trainsets I have seen so far. Little occupancy.
Some irony in this : from my entire trip so far, this is the first route and first train that was new to me. Both are an absolute highlight of my trip and my railway experience in general. Sadly after 5 days of travels, this is also the last train I'll be taking for the rest of my inbound journey.
So far, #AzadiRail day 5 absolutely appreciated ๐ฅฐ !
๐ก Gadget bahn, gadget bahn !
Your goal was to use serious public transport only
Poll ended at .
I can't believe I crossed the ๐น๐ท Turkish border just yesterday - nor that I was in ๐ท๐ด Romania two days ago. On the other hand, I can't believe I've already been traveling for 4 full days and night - while on the other hand seemingly moving incredibly slow. #AzadiRail
The train has stopped 30 km to my destination for 10 minutes with no information and I have a short transfer. *Stressed braid noises ...* #AzadiRail
You will arrive on time
You will make a short transfer
You will miss your bus to Diyarbakฤฑr
Poll ended at .
Well, the reason for our waiting time arrived in the neighboring track : the delayed Gรผney Ekspresi on its way to Ankara blocked the single-track section ahead. Now back on track towards ๐น๐ท Malatya - already visible at the dark horizon. #AzadiRail
Gรผney Ekspresi on its way to Ankara blocked the single-track section ahead. Now back on track towards ๐น๐ท Malatya - already visible at the dark horizon. #AzadiRailAt the end, we arrived with 25 minutes delay on the last #AzadiRail train. Still enough time to make the transfer to the bus stop for my #AzadiBus.
The bus stop looks way more modern and likely also hase dozens of times more passengers than the station - and also more #CatContent !
List of #AzadiRail decisions I will regret : #1 night bus with arrival at 2 a.m. ๐น๐ท #Malatya - ๐น๐ท #Diyarbakฤฑr. Anyways, #AzadiBus number one of many ๐ !
The bus is clean, spacious and has good sleeping seats at least. Four hours of travel time ahead ๐ค.
#AzadiBus stop #1 : Yenikรถy - highway rest area. #AzadiRail
#AzadiBus stop #2 : Elazฤฑฤ bus terminal ๐.
Half journey done. Bus still comfortable and I'm surprisingly relaxed. There's good supply of drinks and snacks, the air is fresh and cool.
#AzadiBus stop #3 : #Diyarbakฤฑr bus terminal - my destination, arrived 35 minutes late.
The bus terminal was surprisingly calm with low traffic considering the proximity to the ๐ฎ๐ถ Iraqi border. Anyways, I'm tired and immediately headed over to the hotel.
My room presents luxury and comfortable, sadly with street noise. Time to sleep ; work is waiting tomorrow morning.
#AzadiRail day & night 5 were :
- ๐น๐ท Sivas - ๐น๐ท Malatya by regional train with amazing sight
- ๐น๐ท Malatya - ๐น๐ท Diyarbakฤฑr by comfortable night bus
๐๐ซ๐ท๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐น๐ญ๐บ๐ท๐ด๐ง๐ฌ๐น๐ท
#AzadiRail day 6 : let's have fun with with #Diyarbakฤฑr public transport ๐๐๐๐ !
Anyway, vegan restaurant discovered in an absurde location in a completely broken street in #Diyarbakฤฑr ๐. #AzadiRail
#AzadiRail day 6 was a relaxed day in the downtown of #Diyarbakฤฑr. Now preparing to leave early for tomorrow's #AzadiBus to ๐ฎ๐ถ #Erbil ๐.
#AzadiRail day 7 begins with a Dolmus to the #AzadiBus bus station with 30 people squashed in. Always a pleasure of an experience ๐ค !
From ๐น๐ท #Diyarbakฤฑr bus terminal, my #AzadiBus will bring me to ๐ฎ๐ถ #Erbil / #Arbil / #Hewlรชr in Iraqi #Kurdistan region. #AzadiRail country 8 of 9 in sigh ๐ !
The bus is comfortable and modern though not as fancy as the bus I had on my way to Diyarbakฤฑr. To my surprise, the steward spoke decent English. This will simplify the communication at #IbrahimKhalil border crossing.
๐๐ซ๐ท๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐น๐ญ๐บ๐ท๐ด๐ง๐ฌ๐น๐ท๐ฎ๐ถ
Wow, the bus has working 220 V AC power outlets ๐คฏ ! #AzadiBus #AzadiRail
Some more #AzadiRail content : next to our highway, there's the railway line from ๐น๐ท Diyarbakฤฑr to Batman. A cute small single-track line, sadly unelectrified and with just one train pair per day. In round about one week, I'll be traveling here on the #GรผneyEkspresi westbound ๐ !
#AzadiBus stop #1 : ๐น๐ท #Batman bus terminal with lots of cargo waiting to be loaded. #AzadiRail
is present here. #AzadiBus departure in ๐น๐ท #Batman - ยผ of the travel time passed โ
. Inside temperature of the non-A/C bus : 35 ยฐ C #AzadiRail
Miracles happen : after 2 h in my #AzadiBus, the A/C suddenly started working ๐ฅต. #AzadiRail
#AzadiBus half time. 4 hours left. #AzadiRail
#AzadiBus stop #3 : ๐น๐ท Cizre, right at the border of ๐ธ๐พ Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. 30 km to the ๐ฎ๐ถ #IbrahimKhalil corder crossing. #AzadiRail
#AzadiBus stop #4 : Nerdiล - highway rest area. 3 hours travel time left. #AzadiRail
#AzadiBus #CrossBorderBus stop #5 : the ๐น๐ท #Habur / ๐ฎ๐ถ #IbrahimKhalil corder crossing. #AzadiRail
After 7 travel days, finally crossing the border to ๐ฎ๐ถ Iraq ๐ !
๐๐ซ๐ท๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐น๐ญ๐บ๐ท๐ด๐ง๐ฌ๐น๐ท๐ฎ๐ถ
Our #AzadiBus has about 2 h delay so far. #AzadiRail
Our #AzadiBus arrived with 4 hours delay in 
#Hewlรชr / #ุฃุฑุจูู / #Erbil. The trip took 12:45 h in total. I'm just exhausted and flopping into my bed. #AzadiRail
#Hewlรชr / #ุฃุฑุจูู / #Erbil. The trip took 12:45 h in total. I'm just exhausted and flopping into my bed. #AzadiRail
#AzadiRail day 7 was : ๐น๐ท #Diyarbakฤฑr - #Hewlรชr / #Erbil - 12h45 by bus.
๐๐ซ๐ท๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐น๐ญ๐บ๐ท๐ด๐ง๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐น๐ท
Leaving #Mรปsil / #ุงูู
ูุตู / #Mosul governate towards #Hewlรชr / #ุฃุฑุจูู / #Erbil. This was where the region with high ISIS presence ends with a last military checkpoint before arriving at today's #AzadiRail destination.
#Mรปsil / #ุงูู
ูุตู / #Mosul governate towards #Hewlรชr / #ุฃุฑุจูู / #Erbil. This was where the region with high ISIS presence ends with a last military checkpoint before arriving at today's #AzadiRail destination.One day in #Hewlรชr / #Erbil : I spent most of the day walking around the cozy bazar. Later, I ensured to have #AzadiRail #GadgetBahn content served from ๐ฎ๐ถ Iraqi #Kurdistan : the Hewlรชr cable car - sadly out if order.
#Hewlรชr / #Erbil : I spent most of the day walking around the cozy bazar. Later, I ensured to have #AzadiRail #GadgetBahn content served from ๐ฎ๐ถ Iraqi #Kurdistan : the Hewlรชr cable car - sadly out if order.
#AzadiRail day 8 was : enjoying the flaire of #Hewlรชr / #Erbil and recovering from an exhausting travel day - served with vegan food in the bazar and a cursed #GadgetBahn .
๐๐ซ๐ท๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐น๐ญ๐บ๐ท๐ด๐ง๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐น๐ท
It still feels somehow strange to sit in northern ๐ฎ๐ถ #Iraq in #Kurdistan region knowing I came here by public transport only. #AzadiRail
#Kurdistan region knowing I came here by public transport only. #AzadiRail#AzadiRail day 9 : I've had a relaxed morning in the downtown wasting time and money at the bazar of #Hewlรชr / #Erbil. Now enjoying some tasty รay in the sadly-not @diningcar at the international bus terminal waiting for my bus to #Zaxo / #Zakho at the Syrian border to arrive.
#Hewlรชr / #Erbil. Now enjoying some tasty รay in the sadly-not @diningcar at the international bus terminal waiting for my bus to #Zaxo / #Zakho at the Syrian border to arrive.
After I learned my #AzadiBus is 5 hours late, I decided to look for another carrier. A friendly Turkish-Iraqi guy helped me figuring out the operator leaving next, so here I am with a new ticket to #Zaxo / #Zakho for 25.000 IQD. #AzadiRail
#Zaxo / #Zakho for 25.000 IQD. #AzadiRail
After 3 hours, I arrived in #Zaxo / #Zakho, right at the border to ๐น๐ท Habur and 20 km from the border of ๐ธ๐พ Feyesh Khabur.
Zaxo is a fascinating city : it had around 30.000 inhabitants 50 years ago. With the de-facto autonomy of #Kurdistan in the Seventies, it suddenly attracted Kurds from all over the region and grew to the 200.000 inhabitants. Nowadays it's an economically important hub for trade between Kurdistan, ๐ฎ๐ถ Iraq, the ๐ธ๐พ Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria / #Rojava and ๐น๐ท Turkey.
I was highly surprised, I expected an ugly, transportation and cargo industry hub but what I got was a beautiful, clean, green and prosperous city which rather looks like in wealthy parts of Spain or Italy.
Despite its economic importance, from an international tourism perspective, Zaxo is pretty irrelevant. From a local tourism perspective, Zaxo in opposite is a major cultural attraction for Kurds from the region. Right now, Zaxo prepares for the Seluserik Festival next week. The only internationally known tourist attraction seems to be the #DelalBridge - now with a brand new, beautiful museum next to it. #AzadiRail
This said : everything prepared for trying to cross the #Pรชลabรปr / #FayshKhabur border crossing from ๐ฎ๐ถ Iraq / #Kurdistan to ๐ธ๐พ Syria #Rojava. #AzadiRail
#Kurdistan to ๐ธ๐พ Syria #Rojava. #AzadiRailYou will be able to enter Syria / Rojava
Kurdistan will let you leave but can't enter Syria
The border will be closed
You will strand in Faysh Khabur
Poll ended at .
Organized some more cash โ
. Heck, it's hard to find ATMs accepting international bank cards in #Kurdistan ๐ง. Anyways, after a short evening walk, got enough cash to pay my remaining days of vacation. #AzadiRail
#AzadiRail day 9 was : #AzadiBus with flaws from #Hewlรชr / #Erbil to #Zaxo / #Zakho, a relaxed afternoon and travel preparations for tomorrow.
๐๐ซ๐ท๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐น๐ญ๐บ๐ท๐ด๐ง๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐น๐ท
#AzadiRail day 10 : first failed attempt at the #Semalki border crossing in #Pรชลabรปr / #FayshKhabur. The ๐ฎ๐ถ Iraqi Kurdish officer at the border told me the border was closed on Saturdays, so here I am, back in #Zaxo / #Zakho spending another day on the bazar waiting for the border to open tomorrow morning.
But so far, this is already some progress : I now know In fact I can cross the border to ๐ธ๐พ #Syria / #Rojava by foot.
๐๐ซ๐ท๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐น๐ญ๐บ๐ท๐ด๐ง๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐น๐ท๐ฎ๐ถ๐ธ๐พ
After the frustrating outcome of this morning, I decided to stay in #Zaxo / #Zakho for one more day.
I took the time to visit the citadel, an ancient fortress from Roman and Byzantine times. It was beautifully renovated in past years and a pleasure to visit. The rest of the day, I was walking around on the bazar, enjoying snacks and รay ๐ฅฐ.
So far, #AzadiRail day 10 : to the border of ๐ธ๐พ Syria / #Rojava but sadly back to ๐ฎ๐ถ Iraqi #Kurdistan from there on. Next attempt tomorrow morning.
๐๐ซ๐ท๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐น๐ญ๐บ๐ท๐ด๐ง๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐น๐ท๐ฎ๐ถ๐ธ๐พ
#AzadiRail day 11 was a boring day : I stumbled into the city of #Dihok / #Duhok, capital of a local province. The city does not convince me at all : the much #Zaxo / #Zakho was a positive and outstanding surprise, the sad and boring Dihok feels to me. There are no sights, no historic building, no modern city center, no parks. Not even a good bazar, nor cafรฉs.
Anyways, this is sadly already my last night in #Kurdistan. Tomorrow I'll start my trip back home ๐ฅ.
#AzadiRail day 11 : Sadly vacation is ending soon so slowly time to get back to France. Homebound day 1 : My #AzadiBus from #Dihok / #Duhok sadly was canceled. After asking each and every ticket counter in the International Bus Terminal, the conclusion seemed to be : not just my bus was canceled, but pretty every bus. Seemingly in at 5 p.m. there will be the next bus bringing me to #รlih / ๐น๐ท Batman. That means yet another boring day doing nothing and waiting at the bus terminal since that so far is the most comfortable spot I found in this weird city.
๐๐ซ๐ท๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐น๐ญ๐บ๐ท๐ด๐ง๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐น๐ท๐ฎ๐ถ๐ธ๐พ
Since 12 p.m. I've been the only passenger in the bus terminal. In opposite, there are about 30 staff members here : about 10 different ticket offices, one for each operator, a supermarket, a car rental stand, a restaurant, a cafรฉ, security ... 30 people here to operate a bus terminal. But simply no bus nor passengers to operate. #AzadiRail
#AzadiRail, 4 p.m. Still 0 other passengers at the terminal. Still supposedly 1 hour until the departure of my #AzadiBus.
In 40 minutes, I'm supposed to arrive at my destination. In fact, my #AzadiBus has not even crossed the border into Turkey. So far 4 hours of border controls. #AzadiRail
Anyways, now that I have internet, some pictures from the #AzadiBus trip :
The International Terminal of #Dihok / #Duhok is a bit of a joke : there's a giant terminal with gates to the bus platforms but since going there would mean a dรฉtour, the busses in fact stop on the sideway of the highway close by.
Some minutes prior to departure, a taxi drives over and picks up all passengers (at the end we were 3) and drives them for the 2 km to the bus's actual stop.
With 3ยฝ h delay, our bus arrived. It's a comfortable mainline bus and the landscape of mesopotamia was yet beautiful.
After one hour, we reached the #IbrahimKhalil / ๐น๐ท #Habur border crossing. Yet another hour later waiting in front of the border crossing, we could enter it - once again featuring funny let's-walk-over-the-highway boarding. One hour later, we could get to the passport check. Yet another hour later, the Iraqi Kurdistan administration was ready checking our #AzadiBus for smuggling goods (haha, good joke) and let us leave #Kurdistan. #AzadiRail
#IbrahimKhalil / ๐น๐ท #Habur border crossing. Yet another hour later waiting in front of the border crossing, we could enter it - once again featuring funny let's-walk-over-the-highway boarding. One hour later, we could get to the passport check. Yet another hour later, the Iraqi Kurdistan administration was ready checking our #AzadiBus for smuggling goods (haha, good joke) and let us leave #Kurdistan. #AzadiRail
Norra kommissionen@lewd What happened to crossing into Syria?
@nordkommission Things I won't mention in public ๐.
@lewd As long as you don't get arrested ๐ซฃ
@nordkommission If you're curious, read @braid ๐. But no, I didn't run into legal issues.
Eva@lewd ๐