[Roadtrip] Where East Meets West - Part 6 (Final)

May 3, 2017


Yeay, alhamdulillah, this one will be the final part of my WEMW travelogue. :)

The best part of road trip... stamps on the passport!

We left Istanbul, still with no idea how the highways in Turkey work (I mean how to pay the toll). Although we had few challenges entering Turkey, alhamdulillah the return journey was okay. Custom officers let us go without any inspections. Well, they already have all data in the systems, why should they stop us at the border... we were leaving anyway.


Resting at the R&R, have I told you that most petrol stations provide free WiFi?

Just, the funny part of entering Bulgaria at this border point (Turkey-Bulgaria) was when we need to get our car disinfected. I was not sure for what reason but after returning home, I found out it was for Food & Mouth Disease (FMD). Hmm, but still... why to the car?

It was not for free though. -_-'



Entering Romania again, via Giurgiu-Rousse Friendship Bridge.

Romania was very beautiful, especially at the countryside. Unfortunately, we always driving through this country when it was approaching night time. Mountains along the way, lakes as well (we could just see reflections of moon on the water). Just, there were not much of highways, so, expect to drive on one lane road for each direction.

Keep patience when there will be lots of lorries in front of the car and you will be scared to cross them. T_T

Countryside of Romania.

Sunset in Romania.

Beautiful view!

We were on the road for the whole night, taking turns to drive. But, somewhere we felt something wrong with the car. T_T

Flat tire.

We know the theory of changing flat tire but... haha we did not want to risk our life doing so in the middle of the night out of nowhere. So, we decided to stop at the next petrol station and requested the worker there to help. He was nice to change for free :)

The bad part was, the extra tire was in the boot... with all our stuffs ON TOP OF IT. Imagine the situation when we need to unload our stuffs to take the extra tire and all equipment needed. I still remember it was very cold!


Buda Castle, I think. 

Crossing the border of Romania-Hungary was another funny experience. (I hope I remember correctly haha)

The car queue at the customs was quite long, so the driver (I am not sure was it me or Azila) tried her best to keep awake. Suddenly someone honked at us. It woke everyone up to see there was no more queue there!

Our car was in the middle of the road in front of customs and everyone was asleep!

-_-' heeee


The funicular.

Arrived Budapest early morning, I think just before sunrise. If you are wondering where did we pray along the journey... sometimes we took turn to pray outside at the petrol stations, but when it was really cold we prayed in the car.

We parked the car somewhere close to the funicular and walked around the city. I will not share much about Budapest in this post, as I have been there before... in 2012.

If maybe you want to read more about this classical city, refer these link. :)

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - PART 1



View of Chain Bridge from the funicular. 

We had our lunch at a seafood restaurant in Pest. 

Important things to remember when you want to park your car in Europe:
  • Make sure it is NOT parking area for residents. For most buildings in Europe, there are flats on the first floor upwards so some people already pay for their own parking spots (just avoid the spots with plate numbers). 
  • Make sure you pay the parking fee (if it is stated there)
  • Make sure your valuable items are stored safely, even it is just the GPS. 


Our #4000kmroadtrip

This map marks the end of my road trip travelogue with my amazing friends. Really, if we want to get to know someone, travel together. We will see how we react through thick and thin of the trip. 

Yes, I have LOTSSS of weaknesses / bad habits / annoying attitudes that I only realized after travelling with other people. 

Consider travelling as a way to get to know ourselves as well. :)
Self-reflection, yea?

HK, Czech
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