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I rode Turkey's viral 30-hour train through the snow and the mountains.
The Dogu Express is an 800-mile train journey all the way across Turkey, from Ankara out to Kars. On the 800-mile route, you pass some of Turkey's best mountains and valleys, and get to enjoy it with freshly-cooked food and coffee. And all that for 400 Lira (roughly $12).
You can book to stay in the same Kars hotel as me here: agoda.tp.st/zCV7sBXD
And buy the same e-Sim that allowed me to stay connected to the internet this entire trip across Turkey (aka made it possible at all) from Airalo here: airalo.tp.st/5qe4wdET
(these are referral links, where I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you)
But since videos of it travelling through the snow went viral on Turkish Instagram, it's impossible to get a ticket for the sleeper beds, and sitting up for 30 hours on a Turkish train is no picnic. (even if it was somewhere outside of home where I brought and ate food and therefore probably qualifies as a picnic)
I was on the normal Doğu Ekspresi, after doing this I would probably also recommend doing the same. It's so much cheaper and if you want to visit Erzurum, I would just go and do that at your own pace, rather than on on excursion. Read the seat61 Turkey page for all the advice you need. I was working with Amber Travel who I can 100% recommend, they consistently tried to get me on one of the sleeper beds by checking for cancellations for me until the very last second, and also helped me get a ticket for another journey I did in Turkey and provided a lot of good advice.
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