What happened in Turkey

We once went on holiday for two weeks to Turkey. It was a two centre thing booked through a small travel company that specialised in little hotels. The first place was about 3 hours from the airport, and they laid on a bus that dropped people at different places near Bodrum on the west coast. We had a great week: restaurants in the harbour, trips to *two* of the 7 wonders of the world, and a haircut at the barber shop that only opened when the barber got back from his day job as a fisherman.

Then we get on the bus back to the airport with the people going home, but we'll be getting another bus from there to the second half of our holiday along with the people who've just arrived. But a travel rep gets up at the front and tells us that the company has ceased trading. Not to worry, everyone's flights home are safe. I go up and say that we're not going home, so what happens to us? "Oh, you're fine, but you'll have to get there by the local bus because no new people are arriving." And they drop us at a bus stop outside the airport.

It's about another 3 hours to Kaş on the south coast, and we have to change buses on the way. We sit and wait for the second bus in the heat of the day. The bus station is a big open dusty area with a few buildings by it. Eventually our bus arrives, so we get on. The driver switches it off, and nothing happens. The inside of the bus is baking hot, so I get out to cool off. I'm trying to get a cold drink from a vending machine when the bus drives off. On the bus are my girlfriend, my luggage, my passport and my money, except for the coins in my pocket. I'm waving at the bus and shouting, but it doesn't stop. Some locals talk to me but we have no common language. I sit on the bus station kerb and try to figure out what to do. After five or ten minutes, no plan comes to me.

Then the bus comes back. Turns out that the bus station was on the main road which bypassed the town, and the bus went down into town to pick people up before it set off. The locals had been trying to tell me that, but I couldn't understand them. Everyone seemed amused by the silly tourists.

#turkey

#bus

What happened in Turkey, part 2

back to stories