Four Legs

Yesterday entailed another long day of travel from Pamukkale back to Istanbul. Hanna pointed out that yesterday’s journey was split into four parts. She made this observation about twenty-seven times yesterday and kindly pointed out what leg of the journey we were on as it was occurring. It seems only fitting to write this post according to each leg:

LEG #1: CAR
Our short time with the car quickly came to an end. We only rented it for two days because that’s what Bonnie (planner extraordinaire) decided. What she says becomes law. One thing she kinda forgot to think about? We had to return it by 9:30am back in Selcuk…a three-hour drive from Pamukkale. Good one, Bon.

We left our creepily empty hotel at 6am while it was still dark and managed to find our way back to the main highway without getting too lost. The only English-language radio station (all crappy dance mixes of current songs) fueled our early morning three-hour drive. We luckily did not need to fill up the gas tank again. Phew.

LEG #2: TRAIN
The car rental guy came to pick it up around 9:30am, but we still had two hours to kill before our train. As it was cold and pouring rain, Hanna went into an interior waiting room to take a nap. A creepy old Turkish man walked into the room, stared at her, and growled, “Nighty-night” in the voice of the devil every few seconds. Hanna obviously was not able to sleep with the creeper watching her and forced Bonnie and Mike to wait in the room with her. We played a few games of Taboo with the cards Bonnie ingeniously thought to bring. Time flew, and the monster of an old man went away. The train finally came, and the hour ride to the Izmir airport passed without event.

LEG #3: AIRPLANE
Before we left Istanbul, we scored a last-minute flight deal back there that was about the same price as the ferry/train/minibus combination. Why not, right? The only bad part, however, was getting to the airport around 12:30pm; our flight didn’t take off until about 5:30pm. The Izmir airport is no JFK or Heathrow, but we were shocked at food prices. Burger King meals were over US $10 each. Kebabs which should cost about US $3 were around $6-7. Absolutely nuts. The forty-five minute flight back to Istanbul was over in a blink, and our last remaining mission for the day was to get back to the hostel at which we previously stayed.

LEG #4: METRO/TRAM
Hanna’s a big liar. Technically it was a five-part journey as we took both a metro and a tram. The combo ride took a little less than an hour, and we were at our hostel with chicken wraps in hand by 8pm. Our fifteen-hour day of travel was finally over. Despite the music and talking from the restaurant below us, we slept like little drooling babies last night.

Just Like Home

We woke up around 9:30am yesterday (notice a trend?) and ventured out to the lobby for free breakfast. Sadly no rooftop terrace this time around, so we menacingly threatened to leave the empty hotel. In the end, however, we were won over by eggs, bread, olives, cheese, and coffee.

Feeling a bit lazy, we bummed around the hotel lobby for a while. Mike went to take a shower, and the womenfolk said they would be back to the room in a few minutes…which turned into an hour as they watched yet another episode of Real Housewives of Orange County. Mike was devastated that they watched an episode without him and did not speak to them for the rest of the day. At least he had these guys for company:

The Backyard of Our Hotel. Yes, Lambs.

Hanna cut Mike’s hair while we were visiting some friendly old bums on the Sunshine Coast a few weeks ago. We have scissors which we will lose when we don’t check our bags from Greece to Italy in a few weeks, so she wanted to give a little follow-up cut before his hair awkwardly starts growing in more:

The Hippest Salon in Pamukkale: Our Hotel Balcony.

Mike really doesn’t care what his hair looks like, but Hanna obviously is a total snob who refuses to be seen with a husband who doesn’t have perfect hair. Unfortunately for the both of us, Hanna‘s, uh, skills aren’t the greatest, so there are definitely some awkward snips in there.

We figured we couldn’t laze about the hotel all day long, so we headed out to explore the small town. The hot springs of Pamukkale are ensconced in travertine-laden hills (simple speak: a big, chalky-looking hillside with small thermal pools), and we were looking forward to taking a dip in the pools as all the tourist posters showed. Turkey tourism has led us on because you cannot swim in the natural pools overlooking the town; you can only swim in one bathhouse on top of the cliff. We decided not to spend US $30 each for this not-as-exciting experience and instead watched an amorous mallard have his way with a young, good-lucking duck in the lake at the bottom of the hillside.

The Calcium Carbonate-Covered Hillside Looks Like a Ski Slope.

Bonnie Tells Us That We Basically Have the Same Picture in Each Place. We Actually Aren’t Traveling the World; We’re Just in Front of a Green Screen.

Being out for a few hours was waaaaaaaaay too much for our lazy bums, so we headed back to the hotel when thunder crashed. It rained for a bit, but then the sun came out as it continued to thunder. Bizarre.

Yes, we’re in Turkey and should be out and about exploring, but sometimes it’s nice just to have a lazy day, especially when a friend visits. Back in New York, Bonnie comes over to our apartment to watch trashy reality TV all the time, so today was a good reminder of what we’re missing.

The Shortcut

Our destination after Aphrodisias was Pamukkale (more on the town later). The guy at reception at our hotel in Selcuk kindly gave us directions between the two towns and even told us of a shortcut that would cut out about 30 miles. We’re all for saving gas, so we decided to follow his advice. His last words of caution? “The road may be dirt for two or three kilometers, but that’s it. Don’t worry. It will save you time.”

Bonnie ceded her position of driver to Mike. A quick interjection: Turkey is the first country since Cambodia that drives on the right side of the road. Keep in mind that was almost six months ago. We are completely used to left-side road rules by now, and so it’s a bit confusing for us when walking across the street. Our natural instinct now is to look to the right first. Whoops. When Mike jumped into the driver’s seat, he had a moment of confusion: “Think right, Mike. Think right. Stay on the right side, Mike. RIGHT.” When he went to hit the turn signal on the right-hand side of the steering wheel, he was annoyed that the windshield wiper came on. It sounds pretty dumb, but it took extreme concentration to realize that the turn signals are on the left side of the wheel. Since we really don’t drive at home and have been used to the New Zealand cars, we’re all messed up.

We couldn’t quite find the shortcut at first, but we stopped and asked directions…three times. The route became clear, and the road turned to dirt. We knew we were going the right way. What the guy at reception had neglected to mention, however, was that the dirt road became a mountainous dirt road. It went on for much longer than two or three kilometers, so Bonnie is really glad Mike drove. Many more times than once, the ladies yelled at Mike to slow down, even though he was going like 0.2 miles per hour. The road winded its way up and down the mountainside, and we passed two cars on the ride. Two. The only signs of life we saw were dogs that insisted on chasing the car, donkeys that stared us down, and black goats on the side of the road.

Being the city kid that she is, Bonnie had a mini-panic attack because of the steep cliffs. Mike and Hanna, however, reassured her that this was nothing compared to parts of New Zealand. An hour later we finally finished the shortcut. Be assured it wasn’t a shortcut. Bonnie maintains it was a pretty drive though. (No pictures exist as our knuckles were too white.)

We finally arrived to our hotel in Pamukkale. Though this hotel is absolutely massive, we think we are the only ones staying here. Keys are in the doors of all of the other rooms indicating they are empty. Kinda feels a little Shining-esque… It’s a bit old and rundown, but it’s cheap with friendly staff. (Thanks, Bonnie.) This town is known for its hot springs, so it’s packed during the summer. Uh, it’s not summer here as it’s about 55 degrees. Many restaurants are empty or not even open, but we finally settled on one for dinner:

Kebabs Cooked on Stove Grills.

Since it was even colder at night, we curled up in our triple room to watch The Real Housewives of Orange County. Mike complained the whole time. Those women are obnoxious.