#18 "Where are we?" (By Grandma)

We thought we were travel experts by now.  We've done buses, metros, and walking for many hours.  Today we took a metro to the end-of-the-line to see a small town.  It looked simple enough --- ride metro, catch local bus into the city center. 

The metro ride was very long.  When we arrived we saw a queue of about 50 people waiting for a bus.  We assumed they would, of course, be going into town.  The wait for the bus was about 30 minutes in no shade.  

We were happy to board. Someone offered me a seat but I declined because I knew the distance to town was very short.  

As the bus pulled away we noticed it was going AWAY from town.  But we thought it might be circling so we weren't too concerned.  Then as it went further we thought maybe we should get off the bus and take a taxi back.  But the bus didn't stop at all, it just kept going.  Then we knew it would be too far for a taxi. 

We saw signs that we were leaving some cities and then entering some.  We'd never heard of any of them.  

After driving north for about 45 minutes the bus pulled into a bus barn and dropped someone off. As it was leaving I told Kent we'd better get off.  (We'd been standing in the crowded bus all this time.  I was feeling faint).  We got off at the next chance and walked back to the bus barn.  There we saw minivans that were headed back where we came from.  We bought a ticket back to the metro station. We both had seats in the minivan.  

You wonder why we didn't ask someone where we were going?  Our Turkish is still pretty rugged and we only have vocabulary to ask for toilets and water.  We did get to pay for out potty break.

Sept. 11, We've wanted to have a local breakfast but we aren't usually out and about for breakfast but today we went for it.  It was okay but not as good as Egypt or Jerusalem.  It didn't include yogurt. It had scones but they were cold and tough.  Dad ate most stuff.  You can see a ton of bread.  We had peach juice.  It came with tea but we declined.  

Sept. 12.  We went to a mall tonight.  It is the biggest , nicest mall I have ever seen.  It includes this ice skating rink, movie theaters, a bowling alley, a game arcade, many restaurants, a huge grocery store, and all the name brand shops you can think of.  We rode the metro to get there.  It is 4 levels. And it was packed with people.... Some in traditional dress and some "normal " attire.  We are in an interesting area.  Lots of contrasts.