It was now about 8.30pm, so now what do we do? The local taxi drivers come up and start asking us where we're going . They ask why dont we take a taxi........well, number one it's going to be lumpy but they are willing to negotiate, this takes 15 minutes and come to an agreement, they'll charge the same as the bus fare for both of us plus 20 Euros. We have a conflab, we can live with this and also the taxi will get us there in 2.5 hours, the bus to Denizli would take about 3.5 hours. We shake on it and we're off. Tomil the driver is a nice bloke, but there's always the thought are we doing the right thing. Our dealings with people in Turkey before have always been okay and I think that they are generally an honourable people. Thankfully this is the case. If you've been on the roads in Turkey, you'll know it's a white knuckle ride at the best of times. Try doing it cross country at night time. with a full blown lightning storm with lashing rain coming down. Thinking of nodding off, well you wont. Tomil doesnt dissapoint and it's majorly scary stuff which will have you you stamping your foot down on imaginary brakes and clutching the dashboard. Tomil has never been to Pamukale before and so soon we're asking for directions as his sat nav is giving the wrong information. Eventually we get to the hostel. The owners have been wondering where we had got to and are in their pyjamas. They're very nice people and insist on giving us and Tomil some Turkish coffee as we explain that due to delays we'd missed the ferries and buses. They must think we're crazy. I'm beginning to think so as well. We say goodbye to Tomil and thank him for the fine driving. I wish him luck on the return journey, he'll be needing it.

We then decide to have a quick walk around Pamukkale, most places have shut for the night but we manage to get a pizza at a place that's about to close. we head back to hotel and crash.

Pamukkale looks a lot better in the daylight and the Calcium white mountains that make it look like its covered in Snow. The temperature last night was about 10 deg C. This morning it's about 16 deg C. We're now sitting in Mehmet's Heaven Cafe which has a great balcony looking at the mountain. We've booked the 4pm bus to Istanbul and have a few hours to kill. This leg was always going to be a difficult one, the other option had been taking a two day train through Greece. We still think this is the better option.