The Most Epic Train Journey Ever – Istanbul Turkey to Aleppo Syria

It was a cold winter in 2008 and Lindsay and I had just earned enough skymiles to take a flight anywhere in Europe.  We decided to fly into Istanbul, Turkey (considered Europe by the airlines) and fly out of Madrid, Spain.  The real adventure would be how we would get from one city to the other within 3 weeks without going through Europe.  It is scenarios like this that are the beginning of the most amazing and memorable trips because it requires you to be creative.  As we researched how to get from one city to the other we really wanted to go through the Middle East and Africa.  We were quite sure we could do this but we didn’t really know how we were going to get from Turkey to Israel, Syria, Jordan, etc.  One day while researching on Seat61 (the most amazing train travel site ever created) I learned that there was actually a 36 hour night train that goes from Istanbul Turkey to Aleppo Syria but that it was not very well known.  We quickly contacted a small travel agency in Istanbul to purchase our tickets and the adventure began.  Only a few months later we had started our trip and after spending a couple of days in Istanbul we woke up on a beautiful summer morning and caught a ferry across the Bosphorus to the beautiful, but little know (at least to western travelers), Haydarpaşa train station.  Once we arrived there the chaos quickly started.  The window attendant was clearly trying to tell us something but because of the language barrier we just weren’t getting it.  Luckily there was a handful of other westerners in the station and we knew they had to be on the same train.  Eventually everybody had boarded the train except for a small group of westerners (including us) that were standing anxiously on the platform.  The train even took off at one point which caused all of us to panic.  However, we learned that our train car (which had beds and would eventually be separated from the rest of the train as we neared Syria) was not loaded onto the train originally so the train was going to get it.  Eventually the train came back into the station with our car and we all started to board.  As the train was gone and all of us Westerners starting talking we immediately hit it off.  There were guys from Italy, England, Australia, Scotland, etc and we all just started talking, laughing and became fast friends.  We figured that we would all go to our rooms for the next 36 hours and really never see each other again but we had no idea what awaited us on this train adventure.  As we boarded the train Lindsay and I quickly found our cabin which was fantastic!  It was old but it had two perfect bunk beds and was private…what else can you ask for on a night train right?  We settled in for the long haul and just relaxed, looked out the window and ate our Turkish Delight (candy bought from the markets of Istanbul) as the train followed the coast of Turkey towards Syria.  As the evening came on we stopped at one particular station and there were two little shops on the platform with two shop owners that just kept yelling something (probably the name of whatever food they were selling).  These little shops and their stereotypical Middle Eastern owners was a perfect scene indeed.  I happened to catch a picture at this moment and to this day it is one of my favorite travel pics.  While we were sitting at this station some local vendors would run by the windows and doors of the train selling goodies.  There was one westerner that quickly jumped off the train to buy something and we were all cheering for him as he ran back to the train literally seconds before it left the station.  As the evening came to a close we passed some absolutely beautiful mountain valleys, farms, villages, etc.  Lindsay and I would just stand at the window and watch as the Turkish countryside passed us by…it was absolutely spectacular.  The night was uneventful and quite comfortable and as the sun came up the next morning we were passing through some beautiful mountain valleys that looked almost fake as they passed by the train window.  That day the train was eventually supposed to make its way into Syria but this is when the chaos really started.  About mid-day we stopped at a small Turkish village and were rushed off the train.  For some reason, we still don’t know why, the train was not able to make it to Syria so a bus was going to take us the rest of the way.  When we stepped of the train there was a couple of small vans/buses waiting there and the drivers were rushing us on.  We quickly got in, with about 8 other westerners, and began aimlessly driving around this Turkish village.  We quickly realized that we were going in circles, or at least that we didn’t have a destination, and began to wonder what was going on.  Luckily one of the westerners spoke Arabic and was able to communicate to the driver.  It turns out that these van/bus drivers had no idea where we wanted/needed to go and just piled us in their vans and started driving around.  Eventually we made our way back to the train station where our real bus was waiting to take us across the border and into Syria.  As we walked onto the bus the other half of the westerners were sitting there and we all began to laugh about what had just taken place.  For the next 12 hours we would continue to talk and laugh with this group of Westerners until we all felt like best friends.  The bus ride into Syria was beautiful.  I remember expansive fields and cute little towns just passing by the bus windows.  Eventually we made it to the Turkey/Syria border where we spend the next 3 hours getting all of our passports and visas checked out.  During this time we all just sat around and chatted with our western friends as well as some very friendly locals.  Lindsay had a scary experience while we were at this border crossing when a man followed her into the bathroom.  Luckily she is quite savvy and was able to quickly diffuse the situation by just charging past him to get back to us.  The afternoon was getting late as we sat on the border of Syria/Turkey and I remember vividly playing “eye-spy” with all of our new found friends.  After a few hours we were all cleared to go and we were heading into the mysterious country of Syria.  I remember being so excited to be entering such an exotic and misunderstood place.  The Syrian countryside is beautiful and as the evening began to fall the color of the rolling hills and countryside was absolutely stunning.  A nice little Syrian man began walking through the bus offering us drinks and one of our Scottish friends sitting behind us said “I will have a Fanta if you like.”  At this point the old man began pouring him a Coke (clearly didn’t understand his request for a Fanta) and the Scottish kid just said “or a Coke is fine.”  His face as this whole thing happened was hilarious and we all laughed about it for hours.  Eventually we pulled into the fascinating city of Aleppo just as the evening was turning into night and we were all so sad to say goodbye to each other.  The last 36 hours we had truly grown to be fast friends and we were really going to miss everybody.  Because of this we decided to meet up in Aleppo that evening for drinks so that we could avoid saying goodbye for a few hours.  Over the next week Lindsay and I ran into our Scottish friends and our favorite buddy “Harry” from Australia while in Damascus but that was the last we ever saw of them.  We will never forget our journey from Istanbul Turkey to Aleppo Syria as it was the most adventurous train ride we have ever taken.  However, what really made it special were the friends we made and the experiences we shared with them.  To this day it is one of the most cherished travel experiences that we have ever had!