In 2009 I experienced one of my favourite ever journeys. Istanbul to Ankara by the Dogu Express, on to Adana on the Toros Express, bus to Antakya, and finally taxi over the border to Aleppo in Syria.

The journey started with a frog march from our hotel to the port to catch a ferry across the Bosporus after our taxi failed to show up. We made it with two minutes to spare!

We arrived into Asia right outside the iconic Haydarpasa. Station, sadly no longer in operation.

Then it was onto the Dogu (Eastern) Express to take us to the Turkish capital. A train I would take again a few years later all the way to Erzurum in Kurdish Turkey.

After some unfortunate drama in Ankara (see end of post), we boarded an overnight train through the Toros mountains to Adana. You used to be able to take the Toros Express all the way to Aleppo but sadly no more.

The train was a few hours late but that did not matter. It actually meant we awoke high up to a beautiful snowy landscape.

We secured a bus that hugged the coast to Antakya and then negotiated a taxi to take us across the Bab al-Hawa border crossing into Syria. It was quite a grilling from border officials until we were allowed in.

Finally we were dropped off at the famous Hotel Baron in Aleppo, which listed Winston Churchill, Agatha Christie & Lawrence of Arabia as former guests.

Read about that Ankara drama HERE.