Right, haven't posted for a while so got loads to write
Still with the team 'Two Muppets and a car' we left Budapest (thankfully getting out wasn't half as bad as getting in) and crossed into Romania. Spying a nice little side road off the main road we went up it to find somewhere to camp. The first sign that something was up was when we passed an army camp with loads of rusting military vehicles outside. We then saw a load of military helicopters and a military airfield on the other side of the road. Going round a corner these massive gates appeared across the road with armed guards - we had driven straight into a military zone! The quickest and neatest emergency stop and U-turn was immediately implemented and Tallulah has never accelerated so quickly as we sped out of there! Camped a few miles further on at the head of the valley and we treated to the most spectacular demonstration of Romanian air power as the booms of afterburners filled the valley and jets from the aforementioned airfield streaked into the sky. These were followed minutes later by bright flashes on the horizon as they dropped live bombs on a training mission! This whole spectacular was naturally accompanied by a beer and a cigar apiece - not a bad camping spot all in all!
Woke up surrounded by cows and continued on the slog to Bucharest. Romania is the most beautiful country and we had a great drive through the mountains. Got lost on the outskirts of Bucharest trying to find the ring road but after asking locals and using a compass (both far more reliable than maps we have found) we found the ring road. Banish all thoughts of a dual-lane tarmac affair - it was a rotting potholed affair with lots of traffic. We were entertained by the lunatic overtaking manouvers (general rule: if you don't mind driving your car off-road then you can) and the astonishing industrial waste land of derelict soviet building projects.
Rattled (literally) on through Bulgaria where we lost our fuel cap and one headlight gave up the ghost (our team name is very apt!) and up a corking road to the border crossing with Turkey. Met the angriest border guard ever and the other team had issues because they left their V5 Proof of Ownership document at home before camping just inside Turkey. This time treated to a natural spectacular as an electrical storm raged on the horizon. Sadly we had no beer this time but we soldiered on anyway.
Arrived in Istanbul which is incredible. I'm not going to try to describe the buzz and the sights and the sounds but watching the mosques turn orange in the setting sun was pretty spectacular. After food we found a completely random Shisha bar in the grounds of the "Turkish and Balkan Cultural affairs" behind a graveyard (the dead centre of town chortle chortle) and spent an enjoyable evening drinking Turkish tea and smoking shisha before moving on to a bar with a collection of other ralliers.
Eating yoghurt and honey on the roof terrace this morning for breakfast looking across Istanbul and at ships sailing from the Black Sea through the Bophoros (the gates to Asia and the great divide between West and East) to the Sea of Marmara whilst sitting in the sun wasn't a bad way to start the day. Walked into Asia after breakfast to try and sort out a ferry which brings us up to know - back in Europe still trying to sort a ferry across the Black Sea.
So everything is pretty good!
Love jules and will xx
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