Braid in trains 
- solidarity with 
🚡 Gadget bahn, gadget bahn !
Your goal was to use serious public transport only
Poll ended at .
I can't believe I crossed the 🇹🇷 Turkish border just yesterday - nor that I was in 🇷🇴 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 Diyarbakır
Poll ended at .
Well, the reason for our waiting time arrived in the neighboring track : the delayed 
Güney Ekspresi on its way to Ankara blocked the single-track section ahead. Now back on track towards 🇹🇷 Malatya - already visible at the dark horizon. #AzadiRail
Güney Ekspresi on its way to Ankara blocked the single-track section ahead. Now back on track towards 🇹🇷 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. 🇹🇷 #Malatya - 🇹🇷 #Diyarbakır. Anyways, #AzadiBus number one of many 🚍 !
The bus is clean, spacious and has good sleeping seats at least. Four hours of travel time ahead 🤐.
#AzadiBus stop #1 : Yeniköy - highway rest area. #AzadiRail
#AzadiBus stop #2 : Elazığ bus terminal 🚍.
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 : #Diyarbakır bus terminal - my destination, arrived 35 minutes late.
The bus terminal was surprisingly calm with low traffic considering the proximity to the 🇮🇶 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 :
- 🇹🇷 Sivas - 🇹🇷 Malatya by regional train with amazing sight
- 🇹🇷 Malatya - 🇹🇷 Diyarbakır by comfortable night bus
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#AzadiRail day 6 : let's have fun with with #Diyarbakır public transport 🚍🚌🚍🚌 !
Anyway, vegan restaurant discovered in an absurde location in a completely broken street in #Diyarbakır 😋. #AzadiRail
#AzadiRail day 6 was a relaxed day in the downtown of #Diyarbakır. Now preparing to leave early for tomorrow's #AzadiBus to 🇮🇶 #Erbil 🚍.
#AzadiRail day 7 begins with a Dolmus to the #AzadiBus bus station with 30 people squashed in. Always a pleasure of an experience 🤓 !
From 🇹🇷 #Diyarbakır bus terminal, my #AzadiBus will bring me to 🇮🇶 #Erbil / #Arbil / #Hewlêr in Iraqi #Kurdistan region. #AzadiRail country 8 of 9 in sigh 🎉 !
The bus is comfortable and modern though not as fancy as the bus I had on my way to Diyarbakır. To my surprise, the steward spoke decent English. This will simplify the communication at #IbrahimKhalil border crossing.
🚂🇫🇷🇩🇪🇦🇹🇭🇺🇷🇴🇧🇬🇹🇷🇮🇶
Wow, the bus has working 220 V AC power outlets 🤯 ! #AzadiBus #AzadiRail
Some more #AzadiRail content : next to our highway, there's the railway line from 🇹🇷 Diyarbakır 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 #GüneyEkspresi westbound 🚂 !
is present here. #AzadiBus departure in 🇹🇷 #Batman - ¼ of the travel time passed ✅. Inside temperature of the non-A/C bus : 35 ° C #AzadiRail
Miracles happen : after 2 h in my #AzadiBus, the A/C suddenly started working 🥵. #AzadiRail
#AzadiBus half time. 4 hours left. #AzadiRail
#AzadiBus stop #3 : 🇹🇷 Cizre, right at the border of 🇸🇾 Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. 30 km to the 🇮🇶 #IbrahimKhalil corder crossing. #AzadiRail
#AzadiBus stop #4 : Nerdiş - highway rest area. 3 hours travel time left. #AzadiRail
#AzadiBus #CrossBorderBus stop #5 : the 🇹🇷 #Habur / 🇮🇶 #IbrahimKhalil corder crossing. #AzadiRail
After 7 travel days, finally crossing the border to 🇮🇶 Iraq 🚍 !
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Our #AzadiBus has about 2 h delay so far. #AzadiRail
Our #AzadiBus arrived with 4 hours delay in 
#Hewlêr / #أربيل / #Erbil. The trip took 12:45 h in total. I'm just exhausted and flopping into my bed. #AzadiRail
#Hewlêr / #أربيل / #Erbil. The trip took 12:45 h in total. I'm just exhausted and flopping into my bed. #AzadiRail
#AzadiRail day 7 was : 🇹🇷 #Diyarbakır - #Hewlêr / #Erbil - 12h45 by bus.
🚂🇫🇷🇩🇪🇦🇹🇭🇺🇷🇴🇧🇬🇦🇩🇹🇷
One day in #Hewlêr / #Erbil : I spent most of the day walking around the cozy bazar. Later, I ensured to have #AzadiRail #GadgetBahn content served from 🇮🇶 Iraqi #Kurdistan : the Hewlêr cable car - sadly out if order.
#Hewlêr / #Erbil : I spent most of the day walking around the cozy bazar. Later, I ensured to have #AzadiRail #GadgetBahn content served from 🇮🇶 Iraqi #Kurdistan : the Hewlêr cable car - sadly out if order.
#AzadiRail day 8 was : enjoying the flaire of #Hewlêr / #Erbil and recovering from an exhausting travel day - served with vegan food in the bazar and a cursed #GadgetBahn .
🚂🇫🇷🇩🇪🇦🇹🇭🇺🇷🇴🇧🇬🇦🇩🇹🇷
It still feels somehow strange to sit in northern 🇮🇶 #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 #Hewlêr / #Erbil. Now enjoying some tasty Çay in the sadly-not @diningcar at the international bus terminal waiting for my bus to #Zaxo / #Zakho at the Syrian border to arrive.
#Hewlêr / #Erbil. Now enjoying some tasty Çay 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 🇹🇷 Habur and 20 km from the border of 🇸🇾 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, 🇮🇶 Iraq, the 🇸🇾 Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria / #Rojava and 🇹🇷 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 #Pêşabûr / #FayshKhabur border crossing from 🇮🇶 Iraq / #Kurdistan to 🇸🇾 Syria #Rojava. #AzadiRail
#Kurdistan to 🇸🇾 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 ✅. Heck, it's hard to find ATMs accepting international bank cards in #Kurdistan 🏧. Anyways, after a short evening walk, got enough cash to pay my remaining days of vacation. #AzadiRail
#AzadiRail day 10 : first failed attempt at the #Semalki border crossing in #Pêşabûr / #FayshKhabur. The 🇮🇶 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 🇸🇾 #Syria / #Rojava by foot.
🚂🇫🇷🇩🇪🇦🇹🇭🇺🇷🇴🇧🇬🇦🇩🇹🇷🇮🇶🇸🇾
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 Çay 🥰.
So far, #AzadiRail day 10 : to the border of 🇸🇾 Syria / #Rojava but sadly back to 🇮🇶 Iraqi #Kurdistan from there on. Next attempt tomorrow morning.
🚂🇫🇷🇩🇪🇦🇹🇭🇺🇷🇴🇧🇬🇦🇩🇹🇷🇮🇶🇸🇾
#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 cafés.
Anyways, this is sadly already my last night in #Kurdistan. Tomorrow I'll start my trip back home 😥.
#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 #Êlih / 🇹🇷 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.
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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 café, 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 détour, 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 3½ 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 / 🇹🇷 #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 / 🇹🇷 #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
Almost 12 a.m. border crossed. Welcome back to Turkish Kurdistan ✊ !
#AzadiRail homeward day & night #1 :
🚂🇮🇶🇹🇷
After one more hours, I was now taken to *another* #AzadiBus. They say my bus won't stop in #Êlih / 🇹🇷 Batman today so I should take that other one. It's not getting better, is it ?
Anyways, I'm now sitting in a bus and we're about to depart. ETA : 4 a.m. - heck, I'm tired. #AzadiRail
Finally, on our way to #Êlih !
#Êlih !Things I won't miss in Europe : People smoking in every bus I take 🙄. #AzadiRail
1 a.m., first #AzadiBus rest at a highway rest area. I'm cold. #AzadiRail
Can they just stop smoking inside the bus 🤬 ? #AzadiRail
I swear, next vacation will be less busses by night. #AzadiRail
Finally back on track ! After a week of bus travels, my first #AzadiRail train back home : I'm in #Êlih / 🇹🇷 Batman waiting for the famous #GüneyEkspresi / Southern Express #SleeperAndEater bringing my to 🇹🇷 #Ankara for the next 25 hours.
Êlih is a cute station, a couple of cargo carriages in the cargo terminal, a cute maintenance vehicle for display, three tracks but sadly no catenary.
The station has three train pairs per day : twice the regional link to the Kurdish capital #Amed / 🇹🇷 #Diyarbakır and six days per week a pair of my Güney Ekspresi linking #Misircê / 🇹🇷 #Kurtalan, Êlih, Amed and 🇹🇷 #Malatya with #Ankara over night.
Basₜᵣₒ@lewd
Folowing your adventure with a lot of interest. They say that The journey is more important than the destination. Keep that in your mind. You will arrive at your destination ⏰ at the end....
Folowing your adventure with a lot of interest. They say that The journey is more important than the destination. Keep that in your mind. You will arrive at your destination ⏰ at the end....
@bastro Sure, otherwise I'd just fly from Hewlêr to Strasbourg rather than traveling 8 days by train 😉.
I btw. didn't consider my vacation as adventure but just as a relaxing trip 😇.
Norra kommissionen@lewd What happened to crossing into Syria?
@nordkommission Things I won't mention in public 😉.
@lewd As long as you don't get arrested 🫣
@nordkommission If you're curious, read @braid 😉. But no, I didn't run into legal issues.