SITREP - 2023Z10MAR25

 

Pictured, Marcus Aurelius, Istanbul Archaeological Museum; I took it this afternoon.

Well, my bus got into Istanbul at about 6 yesterday morning. Said bus had been delayed by 11 hours, so it proved to be a long day in Burgas, with a large portion spent waiting at the bus station; thankfully it is enclosed. We were on the road at 2315.

Roughly an hour after leaving the station we hit the Turkish border, which lead to all of the passengers standing on the side of the road in the snow for about an hour. After the bus had been examined with a fine tooth comb, our bags x-rayed, we boarded again and got going.

It was in the predawn light that I was woken by the driver, and hurried off the bus. Having fallen into some sort of a light sleep, I was dazed getting off. Standing at the bus door, a taxi driver approached me, accosted me, and asked if I wanted a cab? Having researched this, we haggled over the price of the fare, agreed on the price, and I jumped in with him. As all cab drivers in Turkey, and anywhere else not Australia, do, he increased the price once we were half way back. I explained in the very finest colloquial Australian vernacular that this was not going to happen, and that he was going to wind up on the road if he kept this up. He agreed that the original price was okay after all, and we made our way to the hotel.

We arrived, and it was then that I discovered one of my bags missing. The important bag. The one with my external hard drive that contained all of the photos of my kids on it. The only photos I have of my kids.

Panic set in. My phone has not worked properly since leaving Australia, and only wants to work with internet phone calls, which meant I was unable to ring the Bulgarian bus company, however, I was able to email, which I did. Three hours later I received a response, and they'd found it! Laptop and all other things still in it! Hard drive included! Talk about relief.

So that was yesterday. I now have a cold.  I think I developed when I was on the side of the road at the Bulgarian/Turkish border, which has left me in a less favourable mood, but such is life.  Just to add to the fun, all chemists were shut yesterday, so it's taken until this morning to get any medication. Thankfully I am feeling much better now.

My external hard drive now lives with my passport, and on my person.

Stay hip!

N.