Middle East - Anthony Ham [547]
The daily Bosphorus Express (Bosfor Ekspresi) train, for example, runs from İstanbul to Bucharest, from where you can travel onwards by train to Moldova and Hungary. You can also catch the Bosphorus Express as far as Dimitrovgrad (Bulgaria) from where you can travel onwards to Sofia (Bulgaria) and on to Belgrade (Serbia). You’ll need to take your own food and drinks as there are no restaurant cars on these trains.
Greece
The crossing points between western Thrace in Greece and eastern Thrace in Turkey are at Kipi–İpsala, and Kastanies/Pazarkule, near Edirne.
One of the most popular ways of getting to Turkey from Europe is to make your way to Alexandroupolis in Greece and cross at Kipi–İpsala, 43km northeast of Alexandroupolis, or Kastanies–Pazarkule, 139km northeast, near the Turkish city of Edirne. Both borders are open 24 hours.
At least six weekly buses travel from Athens’ Peloponnese train station to İstanbul. You can also pick up the bus in Thessaloniki and at Alexandroupolis. Alternatively, you can make your own way to Alexandroupolis and take a service from the intercity bus station to the border town of Kipi. You can’t walk across the border, but it’s easy enough to hitch (you may be able to get a lift all the way to İstanbul). Otherwise, take a bus to İpsala (5km east beyond the border) or Keşan (30km east beyond the border), from where there are many buses to the capital.
The best option for travelling by train between Greece and Turkey is the overnight train between Thessaloniki and İstanbul called the Filia-Dostluk Express. The 1400km journey takes 12 to 14 hours, including an hour or two’s delay at the border, and accommodation is in comfy, air-conditioned sleeper cars. You can buy tickets at the train stations but not online. For more information see the websites of Turkish State Railways (TCDD; www.tcdd.gov.tr) or the Hellenic Railways Organisation (www.ose.gr).
IRAN
There are two border crossings between Iran and Turkey: the busier Gürbulak–Bazargan, near Doğubayazıt (Turkey) and Şahabat (Iran); and the Esendere–Sero border crossing, southeast of Van (Turkey). Gürbulak–Bazargan is open 24 hours. Esendere–Sero is open from 8am until midnight, but double-check in winter as the border might be closed. Travellers are increasingly using this second crossing into Iran, which has the added bonus of taking you through the breathtaking scenery of far southeastern Anatolia. And to make things easy, there is a direct bus running between Van (Turkey) and Orumiyeh (Iran).
There are regular buses from İstanbul and Ankara to Tabriz and Tehran. You may also want to consider taking a dolmuş from Doğubayazıt 35km east to the border at Gürbulak and then walking across the border. The crossing might take up to an hour. From Bazargan there are onward buses to Tabriz; from Sero there are buses to Orumiyeh.
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CARNETS
A carnet de passage is like a passport for your car, a booklet that is stamped on arrival at, and departure from, a country to ensure that you export the vehicle again after you’ve imported it. It’s usually issued by an automobile association in the country where the vehicle is registered. Most countries of the Middle East require a carnet, although rules change frequently.
The sting in the tail is that you usually have to lodge a deposit to secure it. If you default on the carnet – that is, you don’t have an export stamp to match the import one – then the country in question can claim your deposit, which can be up to 300% of the new value of the vehicle. You can get around this problem with bank guarantees or carnet insurance, but you still have to fork out in the end if you default.
Should the worst occur and your vehicle is irretrievably damaged in an accident or catastrophic breakdown, you’ll have to argue it out with customs officials. Having