Accidental hitching
The bus system works on a completely different level here in Turkey. Lindsay and Matt (the american couple i mentioned before) were saying that we were spoiled by middle eastern buses, where we could rock up at pretty much any hour and get on a bus within an hour. At the bus station in Adana we were shocked to find out that the direct bus to Cappadocia was full, and that all the bus tickets here are exorbitantly priced.
So we were forced to take another bus to another near town and told to transfer--not really much more difficult, they said, just a slight annoyance. After 5 hour or so the bus dropped us off at a indiscreet intersection, happily pointed in the direction of Goreme, and took off. Supposedly a bus was coming sometime, so we settled ourselves in view of the road, crossed our fingers, and kept an attentive eye for the alleged bus.
During the 10 minutes we were here we joked about hitching a ride because the bus was so expensive, but I don't think any of us were seriously tempted to do so. But as a large semi truck went by I pointed at the empty cabin, after which the semi promptly slammed on its brakes and pulled over. I gave Lindsay a look and said, "uhm..i guess I'll go ask if he'll give us a ride?"
He happily agreed to drive the three of us to Neveshir, a city about 5k from Goreme. Turns out this would be the good hitching experience to my one bad in jordan. Ali was one of the nicest people you'd meet, proudly showed us pictures of his wife and kids, and even gave us chocolate (yes, we hitched a ride AND accepted candy from a stranger...)! and okay, he didn't speak any english and was missing a finger, but really I was completely enchanted. If this experience was any indication, Turkey was shaping up to be pretty darn awesome.
So we were forced to take another bus to another near town and told to transfer--not really much more difficult, they said, just a slight annoyance. After 5 hour or so the bus dropped us off at a indiscreet intersection, happily pointed in the direction of Goreme, and took off. Supposedly a bus was coming sometime, so we settled ourselves in view of the road, crossed our fingers, and kept an attentive eye for the alleged bus.
During the 10 minutes we were here we joked about hitching a ride because the bus was so expensive, but I don't think any of us were seriously tempted to do so. But as a large semi truck went by I pointed at the empty cabin, after which the semi promptly slammed on its brakes and pulled over. I gave Lindsay a look and said, "uhm..i guess I'll go ask if he'll give us a ride?"
He happily agreed to drive the three of us to Neveshir, a city about 5k from Goreme. Turns out this would be the good hitching experience to my one bad in jordan. Ali was one of the nicest people you'd meet, proudly showed us pictures of his wife and kids, and even gave us chocolate (yes, we hitched a ride AND accepted candy from a stranger...)! and okay, he didn't speak any english and was missing a finger, but really I was completely enchanted. If this experience was any indication, Turkey was shaping up to be pretty darn awesome.
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