Without an itinerary or a place to stay, we've become real backpackers. We boldly decided to head south to Izmir as our first action. Of course we failed to check any bus, ferry, or train schedules so our day became a comedy of errors, seemingly missing every transport mode by fifteen minutes. By 3 o'clock, having barely made it out of Istanbul after a day of missed connections, we sheepishly headed for the airport and booked an evening flight to Bodrum. We've learned the backpacker's first rule: get a bus schedule, then make a plan. |