I had a hard time finding info for this trip so figured I would post the info in case anybody else is interested in doing any part of this trip.I started in Nisporeni, Moldova, but basically began in Iasi, Romania. I took a bus from Nisporeni to Iasi at around 6AM that costed about $5.I then took a train from Iasi to Bucharest, which takes 9 hours. A first class ticket was 140 Lei = 33.25USD. First class isn't a huge jump over regular, but there was a good amount more space and I found it enjoyable. I had a nice trip and met friendly people.I stayed for two nights at Popcorn Hostel in Bucharest, which is a 5 minute walk from Bucuresti Nord. I got a private room for ~$25/night (I don't remember exactly and don't feel like checking).From Bucuresti Nord I took a train to Istanbul. A 4 bed couchette costed 183.98 lei = 43.69 USD. There were 3 people in my compartment, so we had an extra bed for luggage. The people on this train were great and it was overall a very fun trip. It takes 18 hours, with border crossings in Bulgaria and at 3am in Turkey which is very inconvenient, so plan for it. We arrived at Istanbul Halkali station early in the morning around 7; normally there is a free shuttle service, but it was a national holiday so the train into Istanbul was free.In Istanbul, I used a luggage storage service called "Istanberry", run by some apartment complex called Istanberry Apartments. It was easy, drop off, get a ticket, costed 16 TL which is like, ~3USD. This is around Taksim and there are a ton of fun things to do around that area by walking, so I just walked around, ate, went to cafes, etc etc. Around 8:30PM I went back to the luggage storage place, had them call me a taxi, and took it to the Sogutlucesme train station. It was about a 30 minute ride and costed around 50-70TL (I don't remember exactly; there is an extra fare because you go over a bridge crossing to the asian side).There are high speed trains from Istanbul to Ankara, but they were all booked when I got my tickets. I bought a sleeper compartment on a non high speed into Ankara for ~250TL, or around 50USD. It left around 10pm and arrived in Ankara around 7AM. I took a taxi to Deeps Hostel, one of the few hostels in Ankara, and stayed for 4 nights or so at around ~$15 for a private room.People don't seem to visit Ankara, but it was awesome. There weren't any "sights" to see that I found interesting, but the city has a fun vibe, everyone is really nice, and there are a ton of cafes and really tasty food to eat right around the hostel. I loved it there.The usual train people take from Ankara to Kars is the Dogu express, but there is a new train called the Turistik Dogu Express. I booked a ticket for this despite it being way, way more expensive, for two reasons. The regular Dogu Express was packed full, and on the Turistik Dogu Express I could book my own room on the train which sounded really fun. Fare was 400TL, which is $70 USD.The good things about the Turistik train is that there aren't that many people on it. Mostly, its turkish families on holiday, but I met some younger german people my age who I spent a lot of time with. However, all of us wanted to book the regular Dogu Express but couldn't because it was packed. So, your luck may vary. The train ride itself is insanely awesome, beautiful scenery, its really fun having your own room and all that space. I'm moving to Georgia for a few months so I had a lot of luggage and I'd be a bit stressed about the space in a 4 couchette room. Also, in my experience people in Turkish don't speak English too well, and I'd be a bit worried about booking one bed in a 4 couchette room on the train and feeling a bit awkward, it seems to be a thing people book in groups. I'm sure the experience would be interesting and unique either way, depends what you are looking for. Non-Turistik train is significantly cheaper, which is a huge plus.The downside, or upside depending on how you look at it, of the Turistik train, is the tours. The train leaves at 5pm from Ankara, and then at 6AM the next day you stop at Ilic for three hours, and can go on a tour (for a 60TL price). I did this tour because it sounded quite nice, you go on a boat ride through a canyon and then go to some village and see some random stuff. Its all in Turkish, but one of the German people who was there spoke Turkish and translated for us. I didn't go on any of the other tours, one stops in a city whose name I don't recall and the tour is to some waterfall, but me and someone from the train just went into town for Kebab and sweets. Second stop is in Erzerum, I don't know what the tour is but me and some people from the train went into town to get Cig Kebap, some local food from Erzerum and it was really tasty.If you are just a single person riding the train and haven't met other people, the touristic stops would be super boring imo. The tours seemed nice-ish but nothing too spectacular. I'd have preferred the train to run continuously, I think.Another big downside is that it arrives at Kars very late. In theory at midnight, but in reality we arrived around 2AM. I took a taxi to my hotel for 10TL.Kars seems a bit boring but I'm here for a few days to catch up on work. Seems sleepy but as usual in Turkey the food is really good. My hotel costs a bit under 20 Euro a night for a large private room.The bus to Georgia is run by a company called VIP Turism. You can look up their number online and call them to make a reservation. As of now, the bus leaves on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 9am. It costs 100TL, or around 20USD. Some people from the train were able to book a taxi to take them all the way to Tbilisi for 400USD. Split between 4 people, this is way better than the bus, as its the same price but probably faster and more convenient.If you are into train travel this trip is really fun and exciting, although I'd give some time in each city to recuperate and see some sights. If I took the high speed from Ankara and the regular Dogu Express, the travel price would have been less than flying, and even so was right around the same, as to get to Tbilisi you have to fly through Istanbul anyways.Tickets within and from Romania were purchased on https://ift.tt/32FPtj7 Turkey: https://ift.tt/2O9ovxc can find more info at seat61.com, which is what I used for most of my info. via /r/solotravel https://ift.tt/32IxTeo