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Instagram hype East Express: dancing in the train

2019-10-09T03:08:20.253Z


The East Express from Ankara to Kars has become a phenomenon in Turkey - not least through Instagram. The passengers celebrate nostalgia, togetherness and a good deal of kitsch.



Tugay Cicek hangs out of the train and gets 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 Euphrates River, which meanders through eastern Turkey. The wind blows on Tugay's cap. The alarm rings, a train companion with a black mustache shoots 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 has gotten what he wanted: thrills and a photo that he can later share on Instagram. Under the hashtag #doguekspresi (Ost-Express), his pictures of the train appear, which has become a phenomenon in Turkey.

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14 pictures

Turkey by train: Instagram phenomenon East Express

1300 kilometers in 24 hours and 30 minutes: The "Dogu Ekspresi" starts from the Turkish capital Ankara and travels to Kars on the Armenian border. He crosses seven provinces and drives long distances along the river Euphrates. Every day the express starts at 6 pm in Ankara and according to plan the following day at 6.30 pm in Kars, but often also with delay.

The demand for the East Express is so great that there is now even a second East Express, especially for tourists. However, he drives the same distance in 32 hours, because he stops in between, and he is much more expensive.

No option for Tugay who prefers the classic Express. The locomotive pulls seven sleeping cars, with compartments for two or four people, three large compartments and a food trolley.

Wine supply in the sleeping compartment

After departure, it is not long light. But the landscape is interesting only the next morning anyway. The sun rises in the province of Sivas. The terrain becomes mountainous and wilder. On the peaks on the horizon there is snow - the further the train goes east, the more.

In Wagon No. 6, Tugay has put on a training jacket of the German national team - Thomas Müller is his favorite player - and is leaning against the window. "I study tourism, but have never come out of western Turkey," he says. The train was the opportunity. The area of ​​Turkey is more than twice as large as Germany, and not all Turks have the opportunity or desire to travel to distant provinces.

Tickets for the sleeping cars are hard to get hold of. Tugay and his girlfriend Sadberk Silan were lucky and have completely reserved a four-compartment. There, the students have also created a small supply of wine. Because alcohol is not sold in the state railway, as the influence of the conservative government is noticeable.

In the province of Erzincan the train goes through a gorge. The stream of the Euphrates widens here, the water is turquoise, smooth and still. The sunlit mountains are reflected in it - a postcard motif.

The East Express has been around since the thirties, he even started in Istanbul. For about two years it is popular with Turks, but also with foreigners. Responsible for the hype are above all Instagram videos and photos, which show how the train meanders through dreamlike landscapes, shared by people who obviously have a lot of fun on the journey.

Fairy lights and garlands as window decoration

At night, the train is about 90 km / h, says a train attendant, during the day often only 70 km / h. Speed ​​is not what travelers are looking for. On the train nostalgia is celebrated, and with a little kitsch: Four students from Samsun have hung photos in Polaroid optics in their compartment, strung on a clothesline in front of the window. In addition, fairy lights and garlands dangle. Flowers, tealights and cassettes decorate the fold-out table.

In the wagon no. 9, 46-year-old Tülay Özcelik dances to Turkish music from compartment to compartment. She wears a red and white sweater with a reindeer motif and white jeans. The blond hair swells under a red cap.

Özcelik says she spent a full year on this trip, tracking travel blogs and making preparations. Now that she finally has a ticket, everything should be perfect. She shares with her 50-year-old girlfriend Hülya Meydan a two-sleeper, the women have decorated in red and white. Above the seats converted into a bed lies a red blanket, also with a reindeer motif.

There is a sink in the corner and a table next to it. On it are the leftovers of the breakfast that the two of them prepared: homemade brownies and pastries, tomatoes, cucumbers, cheese and cookies. From the brought cooker it smells like black tea. "The ride is very beautiful, surrounded by nature," says Özcelik. In addition, you quickly get to know people and on the second day it feels like "a family".

The two women have been friends for 25 years and traveled together halfway across the country, they say. Özcelik knows very well about the terminus Kars. It raves about Lake Cildir, which is just over an hour's drive outside the city center. Often the lake is still frozen until mid-March. There, travelers can ride a horse-drawn sleigh over snow and ice.

Waggon dances via Instagram

Most use the trip to look at Ani, the "City of 1001 Churches" right on the Turkish-Armenian border. In the 10th and 11th centuries it was the capital of an Armenian empire and important station on the Silk Road. Today the city lies in ruins and Armenia directly opposite. A border river that flows through a ravine separates the two countries. The border has been closed since 1993, since 2016 Ani Unesco is a World Heritage Site.

Kars is also famous for its cheeses, just as every province the train travels through is known for anything. In Sivas, for example, the Kangal herding dogs are bred. The people in Kayseri, a passenger says, "paint a donkey and sell it as a cow", is the name of the most cunning businessmen.

Erzurum is famous for its "Cag-Kebabi". That's why kebab ordering is a tradition on the train. And this works like this: A few kilometers before Erzurum city, the East Express stops suddenly in the middle of the track next to a train from the opposite direction. Unnoticed by most travelers, a kebab salesman climbs aboard and begins his work.

East Express in Turkey

The train

The East Express runs daily throughout the year. In summer it is air-conditioned, heated in winter. The most popular travel time is December to March. The sleeping cars are then booked faster.

During the classic train ride, the new train for tourists stops for three hours in Ilic (at a known gorge), 2 hours and 40 minutes in Erzincan and 2 hours and 40 minutes in Erzurum. Places in the sleeping car are usually readily available here.

tickets

The tickets for the classic East Express and the tourist East Express can be purchased online. The sale for the classic East Express starts one month before departure at midnight.

Tickets for the classic express cost between 48 Turkish Lire (about 7.60 Euro) and 118 Turkish Lire (about 18.70). Discounts are available for students and travelers under the age of 26 or over 60 years.

The prices for the tourist East Express are between 250 Turkish Lire (about 39.70 Euro) and 400 Turkish Lire (about 63.40 Euro) - depending on whether you want to occupy a sleeping compartment individually or as a couple.

Sleeping cars in the classic train can also be booked through agencies. This is usually only in the package (train, hotel and sightseeing in Kars) and is therefore a little more expensive than single bookings.

The next hour he goes from compartment to compartment, receives orders and passes them to his restaurant. The travelers pay immediately and in cash. In Erzurum the train stops for ten minutes. The train attendants pick up the bags of kebab, bring them to the individual wagons at a run, and distribute the food.

Anyway, there are many traditions in the East Express, such as all sorts of waggon dances, which the travelers mostly perform to Turkish music. Nobody really knows who started it originally. Someone first shared it on Instagram, the others celebrate it.

Tugay, Sandberk and their new friends find the dances rather silly. But they are enthusiastic about the journey. In Kars they want to spend the night for two nights and drive to Ani and Cildir Lake. In addition, Tugay has found favor with train travel and plans a ride on the South Express. He does not take the travelers to the beaches in Antalya, as the name suggests, but to the southeast. Even there the student was never.

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2019-10-09

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