A vast, windswept expanse of concrete, ordinarily congested with Turkish lorries waiting to bring goods into the European Union. But today it was almost deserted, just a few cars. I’d reached the Turkish border crossing at Lesovo, a few hours ride south of the town of Elhovo. A cursory Passport check on the Bulgarian side. Then on towards Turkey.
The Turkish border guards directed me towards a series of identical kiosks on a traffic island. After a little searching I found the right one, and purchased my visa. Then back to Passport control, a stamp on the visa, and on to Customs. Thorough searches of cars, but, when I explained where I’d come from, I was waved straight on. A final checkpoint – I’d counted six in total – and I was into Turkey proper.
The road was good, for the most part a wide hard shoulder and a generally downhill descent towards the small Turkish city of Edirne. The rain that had marked my return to the road how now stopped. It had been very heavy overnight. Creamy, brown rivers had sprung up across the well kept arable land. A few villages, closely resembling those in eastern Bulgaria, plain minarets the only sign of having entered a new country.
Don’t forget to sample the Liver in Edirne, you can’t miss it 🙂