Back in Istanbul

Enjoying an Efes and large loaf of bread at a cafe in Istanbul on our last night.
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In a continuation of our misadventure in Selcuk, our bus ride to Istanbul was not straight forward. The tickets we bought the day before were for a bus service that did not exist, due to an oversight on the part of the Pammukule bus service. So the company phoned another service that happened to be driving near by and asked the bus to stop on the highway. They loaded 4 people into a taxi and the manager from Pammukule got out his scooter and gave the 5^th passenger a 20 minute ride to the highway. He argued briefly with the driver of the competing company and won, securing 5 seats for us.

Our overnight bus from Selcuk arrived to Istanbul in the morning rather late and we found that the price was 10 lira different from what we had paid (because this was a cheaper, slower, less luxurious bus). Also, we had been promised a transport service into Sultanhamet. So I went to the Pammukule office in the bus stop and argued and gave the poor clerk a cold stare until he handed over the 10 lira ($8). It was a small victory, but felt really good.

We made our way to the Metropolis in Sutanhamet and got a room for that night. We made a last search for an Indian guidebook but no luck. We would have to arrive blind, but for an internet booking for the first 2 nights, make our way to the backpacker's street (Pharan ganj) and buy a guidebook in Delhi.  Oh well, at least we had another enjoyable dinner in Turkey to finish off our trip.