In less than two weeks after we, ever-so-enthusiastically, started the GLAadventure, the team has already clocked good figures - six international borders crossing Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Austria and Italy. And there are still a few countries left on this European leg.
The first border crossing between Turkey and Bulgaria was not only the most time consuming, but also rather challenging. We were mentally prepared for delays as people in Istanbul had warned us about. As we approached the Turkish border, we came to a standstill. It was a massive gridlock till as far as the vision would go. This queue of vehicles was the longest that I'd encountered in quite a while. We crawled - barely.
Things were so bad, that when, at intervals of every 15 minutes, we'd get a stretch of five measly metres, we'd erupt in great joy! Imagine our plight, and empathise with us, please. Upon talking to some travellers, we were told that it could take us anywhere between 4-12 hours to cross the border. We didn't anticipate a crucial thing - it was time when the school holidays were getting over in Europe and countless families were heading back after a holiday in Turkey. Our timing couldn't have been worse, in hindsight!
Mercifully, the progress was slightly more rapid than we expected and after approximately two hours we reached the border exit point. We had to declare the equipment and the cars at the customs. Communicating in English is a major barrier in these parts of the world and we spent another hour at the Turkish customs - explaining them, not only through slow and modulated voice efforts, but also hand gestures. That was tough, but also quite entertaining when I look back at it.
All of us were starving by now as most of the provisions that we had stocked up on in the car were over and there weren't any food outlets near the border. Suffice to say, we were all frustrated and the hot weather wasn't helping. Finally, four hours later we exited the Turkish border. Our joy was short-lived, however, as the Bulgarian border formalities began.
We had to get a European Green Card insurance for the cars. The insurance shops to offer this service are few and far between, and it took us quite a while, and driving to some godforsaken place near the Bulgarian border to find one such shop. Again, communication was close to impossible with the two Bulgarian women working at the shop. With no other option left, I decided to get onto the computer system myself to explain what needs to be done. They took their time to figure this out. After two hours of excited agreements and revolting disagreements, we finally got the insurance and were on our way to Bulgaria. It took us close to 10 hours to complete the border formalities.
Know more about the Great OverLand Adventure here.
