Advertisement
Selçuk to Istanbul
Amanda Monaco 8th June I had my last Turkish breakfast, finished packing and even sent some stuff home. I treated myself to one last 1L kebab and hung out at the carpet shop with everyone like normal. Mehmet saw me off at the bus stop and we told the bus driver where I would be getting off to save me going all the way back to Istanbul. On the bus I dreamt that when I got off the bus an elephant took me to the airport.
9th June After the ferry crossing I was waiting for the staff to tell me where to get off but no-one was saying anything and none of the staff spoke English even though they said they could before. I start to ask questions and it all gets confusing from here. Someone on the bus ended up interpreting for me and they start to tell me I will need to get a taxi for 30L to the airport, but I just paid that for my 10hr bus, there was no way I was paying that. I got off with the interpreter before Istanbul and he tells me they must have lied to me before I got
on the bus. Next thing a local Turkish man is trying to give me 10L as I kept saying I didn’t want to pay all that money. It was tremendously kind off him but there was no way I could have accepted it. I wasn’t poor, just tight with my money and the principle of the matter was what bothered me the most, but his kindness got me a bit emotional and the interpreter also tells me he will pay for it too. I think they felt bad as I was lied to and were trying to make up for it. They end up telling me there is a transfer bus then a dolmus which would be hard as no-one would speak English. I preferred the cheaper option and I still had plenty of time so if it came down to it I would then just get the cab. So I get on the transfer after the company tells the driver where I am going and to tell the other driver where I want to go. I thank them all again and show the driver my paper with SABIHA GÖKÇEN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT on it. When I need to change he
waits with me till a dolmus comes along and he tells the driver where I am going. After once again driving forever he stops and points up a long street. I had to walk from there and it looked like a long one. I am pissed but I paid him 1.25L and I physic myself up for it and not 1min later a hertz car reverses and asks me if I need a lift as it’s a long walk. Do I? What a relief. So I saved 28.75L and had plenty of time to spare. And I was worried!!!
10 June So here I am, the following day, still at the airport. Turns out I completely missed my flight as I thought it was a 3:30pm flight and it was actually at 3:30am. I had a bit of a laugh about it but then realised that easyjet don’t refund, so I go to the desk and she checks more flights but they are really expensive. Now I start to worry. I spend 3 weeks in Turkey not spending money and here I am now wasting it because I made a stupid mistake. I ended up booking Condor as they
were cheaper but still expensive, costing me 122Euros (280Lira which I could have done heaps more travelling in Turkey for that). This of course gets me upset, even though I tried to see the funny side, it didn’t stop the tears. Why am I so dumb sometimes. What a waste of money. I start to question whether travelling is for me considering I feel like I make stupid mistakes that cost me money or time. I have been travelling for 4 months now, I should be getting the hang of things, not crying whenever something goes wrong.
So I just sat around the airport as my flight wasn’t until 3:15 the following morning. I had a few naps, read, listened to music, stretched, stared into space, met an Iranian man Mohammed and had a chat. We drank apple tea, played Frisbee in the airport and napped again. Let me tell you this is not the airport to get stuck in. No TV’s, no radio, no shops. Here are some turkey observations that I wanted to share with you:
• There is no smoking on any of the buses, but if your staff you can go ahead and light
up.
• All the food you eat always consist of tomato bread and cheese.
• You are almost always offered Elma Çai (apple tea)
• The men are constantly horny and looking at the women that pass them calling out and trying to pick them up. One line is “lady you have dropped something” as you pass them, so after you stop and look they tell you “my heart”
I am sad to be leaving Turkey but I know that one day I will be back. Turkey ye yi seviyorum. Hoşçakal
Advertisement
Tot: 0.072s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 13; qc: 33; dbt: 0.0386s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb