The Mytilene pulled into Karlovassi Port and we got off. There were no buses there and we had the feeling that we werent in the right port to get the ferry to Kusadasi on the Turkish mainland. We werent the only ones looking confused. The locals werent exactly helpful. We then got talking to some fellow travellers, Aussies John, Leanna and Tracy (whose suitcase had been lost!)... after the initial confusion, we all got back on board as we needed to get off at the next port called Vathy. The weather had taken a turn for the worse and it was blowing a gale, quite chilly and lots of rain. We all had a chat about where we'd been and where we were heading. The ferry had been delayed quite a few times along the way and we were running about 2 hours late. It was looking as if we werent going to be able to get the ferry to Kusadasi as that had long sailed. The next ferry was at 5pm , so we had a bit of a wait on our hands. Samos beautiful sunny Island, you lucky things , I hear you say. It was pouring down with major thunder and lightning. This storm wasnt going to go away in a hurry. We did wonder if the 5pm ferry would get cancelled as the sea was very rough and personally I wouldnt have wanted to go out on it. The Meander Express ferry wasnt the biggest of boats. So we sat it out and sympathised with Tracy about her suitcase disappearing. Tracy was traveling solo and so it cant be much fun knowing that the bulk of your gear has gone. If you're reading this Tracy, we hope that there's been some developments in getting the case back.

Eventually the storm cleared and we went through the passport controls. It was now sunny and the 1.5 hour crossing was going to be fine. The only problem for us though was that we were 8 hours behind schedule and we really needed to get on the bus to Pamukkale if we were going to get there before midnight. More faffing about and the ferry is held up as we have to wait for a cruise liner to leave port before we can dock. It's a pain. Eventually we clear customs etc and wish good luck to our Aussie mates who are all heading in different directions to us. It's now dark and 7.45pm. We're running out of time.

This is where our luck runs out. The next bus is at 10pm and only goes to Denizli City and no connection to Pamukkale. Even if we get this bus we wont get to Pamukkale until gone 2am in the morning. The hostel we've booked wont even be open.