When You Gotta Go - You Gotta Go!
Trip Start
Jul 06, 2008
1
7
26
Trip End
Aug 18, 2008
Somewhere Between Istanbul and Goreme,
Cappadocia,
Turkey
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Our last day in Istanbul was one of relaxation. We were preparing for an overnight bus to the ever popular Cappadocia. We didn't wander far from our hostel except for a quick lunch. The rest of the time we were online or reading on the veranda overlooking the Marmara Sea. When it was time to leave, we grabbed a picture with the Turkish George Clooney (he works at our hostel) and said good-bye.
We were picked up by dolmus (minibus) at 7:30pm. The ride through town was a white knuckler gauntlet of a experience. We were weaving past vehicles, dodging pedestrians, zooming through intersections, kareening past fruit carts and their owners and narrowly missing motorcyclists. Everyone on the bus thought we actually hit one guy
01. The Longdropper
. It took a winding and swirving hour and a half to get us through the gauntlet to the main bus station. We were very happy and pleased with our bus - fully equiped with air conditioning, leg room, and reclining chairs. This was like having a special seat on a private jet compared to being shoved into the cargo section with the onions and chickens (literally) when we were in South East Asia.
The overnight bus was an excellent one. Not only dıd we have spatious seats, but we also had a server bringing waters and a snack! (Does this sound kinda like a private jet or what? Huh? Huh?) Unfortunately, there was an unahppy baby about three seats back from us. He wailed for about 2 hours straight, but did fairly well for the other 8 hours - so statistically speaking...he was great.
We made a couple of stops throughout the night and Trevor and I both opted for a bathroom break at one of them. As we were nearing the entrance to the washrooms, we notice some congestion at the doorways. For lack of better words, there was a toll booth there charging us sleepy tourists to make a pee or a pooh. We shrugged our shoulders. When you gotta go - you gotta go! We go our seperate ways, and I wait in a line in the ladies washroom. When a stall becomes available, I head for it wanting to get out of this washroom sooner and not later. Upon opening the stall door I realize that not only am I paying to pee, but I am paying to pee in a longdropper. Remember the kind? These are the toilets built flat into the floor. They almost look like a urinal lying down, and you squat over it and do your thang. I took a deep breath - (which I regretted immediately) - I headed in. This hasn't been the first time I've used one, and will no doubt NOT be the last. When you gotta go - you gotta go! I do my thang, and am ready to 'freshen' up when I realize that not only am I paying to pee in a longdropper, but I am also paying to pee in a longdropper with no toilet paper. Luckily, I keep spares in our camera case for just such an occassion.
Trevor was waiting for me at the 'toll booth'. He walked in, urinal'ed it up, and walked out. Stupid boys.
The rest of the bus trip was not unlike others. Despite the comfortable seats and the airconditioning, I was unable to sleep. It is a fairly well-known fact (well-known if that means Trevor and I know it...) that I simply am unable to sleep on buses. It is something we have almost come to accept. I was hoping that with the nice seats and spaciousness of this one, that I,d be able to get a few hours. This was not to be.
We pulled into Cappadocia at 7:00am.
WOW!
Hugs and Love,
Dana and Trevor
