Above: Since my first visit over twenty years ago, Turkish bus services have been at the leading edge of modernity and comfort.
It was an uneventful day with just a bus ride back to Istanbul. It was an even nicer bus today but the signature lemon-scented cologne given out periodically was missing! It only took about 4 hours to get to the first stop in the Istanbul area and another couple of hours with get to my station.
The time passed quickly as there was wifi on this bus. There was even in-seat power but I didn’t need it. Turkish buses are at the forefront of technology, it appears. There was even a driver’s bunkroom under the bus, accessible both internally and externally.
I did have to transfer twice to get to my station though, with a bit of waiting as they shuffled passengers around. One of the buses was super-modern with a big picture window in front.
I was a bit surprised when I got back to Otogar (my station). Couple of days back, I had thought that for such a big city, Otogar was rather small and navigable. I now realise that I had only seen a fraction of it because I stumbled on to my ticketing office too quickly. It was maybe six times the size above ground and there was an underground city of bus parks so that the the ground level doesn’t get congested.