The road not taken, from Göreme to Malatya

"No bus to Malatya! You must go to Kayseri." The surly ticket agent ushers me to the map of Turkey on the wall. "From there you must go to Kahta, then from Kahta to Malatya." He taps the map on Kahta circled emphatically in ball-point ink as if to give it more importance than the mapmaker had thought it merited. I stare at the map in disbelief. It's like being told at Portsmouth Harbour Station that you have to go via South Benfleet to get to London. Has someone ripped up the Silk Road?

"OK" I say sceptically, "I will go to Kayseri today." determining to find a direct bus from there. No further information is volunteered while the agent fills out the ticket.

"How much?"

"Fifteen"

If he is right about the buses, my friend Ayse is heading east, this very moment, on a non-existent coach. 

As I leave the ticket office, I am thinking I'm smart, not to be outwitted. That is before I go for a shave and haircut.