Tugay Cicek hangs from the moving train and comes dangerously close to the ground. With one hand he clings to the open wagon door, in the other he holds his phone and takes a selfie.
The train rattles along the river Euphrates as it meanders through eastern Turkey. The wind pulls at Tugay’s cap. The alarm sounds, a train attendant with a black moustache comes around the corner.
“That’s forbidden,” he shouts, shooing Tugay away and locking the door. But the 23-year-old student from Balikesir in western Turkey got what he wanted — a bit of a thrill and a photo to post online.
The East Express leaves the Turkish capital, Ankara, and continues for 1,300 kilometres to Kars on the Armenian border, crossing seven provinces. The express leaves Ankara every day at 6 pm and is scheduled to arrive in Kars at 6.30 pm on the following day. But the journey often takes longer.
The demand for the East Express is so great that a second service has been laid on, especially for tourists. However, its frequent stops mean it’s slower, and it’s also far more expensive, so it’s no option for Tuguy. “I’m studying tourism,” he says, “but I’ve never gotten out of western Turkey before.” This train is his opportunity.
It’s not light for long after the evening departure, but the landscape doesn’t become interesting until the next morning anyway.
As the sun rises in the province of Sivas, the terrain becomes mountainous and wilder. There is snow on the peaks that emerge in a crowd from the eastern horizon.
In wagon No 9, 46-year-old Tulay Ozcelik dances from compartment to compartment to Turkish music. She wears a red-and-white sweater with a reindeer motif and white jeans. Her blonde hair escapes from under a red cap. She says she had been looking forward to this trip for a whole year. Now that she finally has a ticket, everything should be perfect.
She shares a sleeping cabin for two with her 50-year-old friend Hulya Meydan. “The ride is very nice, through the middle of nature.”
The two women know all about the terminus in Kars and rave enthusiastically about Lake Cildir, which is just over an hour’s drive from the city centre.
The lake is often frozen over until mid-March.
Passengers note the various traditions of the provinces they pass through. Sivas, for example, is famous for its Kangal shepherd dogs, while the people in Kayseri are great businessmen. “They’ll paint a donkey and sell it as a cow,” says one passenger.
And Erzurum is famous for its “cag kebabi,” a tradition that is honoured by ordering one of the delicacies to eat on the train, as it passes through this amazing landscape.
Most travellers intend to visit Ani, the “city of 1,001 churches,” directly on the Turkish-Armenian border.
In the 10th and 11th centuries, it was the capital of an Armenian empire and an important station on the Silk Road. Today, the city lies in picturesque ruins on the Turkish side of a tense border, closed since 1993. – dpa
