Getting Around in Turkey

Option 2: Bus
Living in Germany, the land of schedules, maps, and plans, I havebecome a little bit spoiled. I now, like the locals become a littledisgruntled when the bus is more than a minute and a half late.
The first challenge was to find the right bus. With no routes or mapavailable it was hard to decide whether to embark bus 4Td or bus 395. Answers to questions like 'Bus, Taksim' would generate answers ofnumbers and letters spit at rate that made them difficult tounderstand. When accomplishing the task of deciphering the correctbus, don't bother asking when it comes. The answer to this questionwas: 'When it comes.'
When the bus does come by the 'bus stop' it does notexactly behave in a normal manner. Turkish bus routes are comparableto rally races. The bus will sit at the starting station until thedriver is good and prepared to leave. At which point he begins hisrace to the end station. Hints the problem with the 'bus stop' becausethe bus does not exactly stop. The drive will open the door as thebus approaches then slow and look out to see if any of the bystandersare interested in his wares (this is the point that you run up to thebus and jump on) and then he is off again. The bus did come to acomplete stop one time, but this was a special occasion that thedriver had some business to take care of and left the bus for a fewminutes. It was all I could do to avoid the temptation to take thebus and run the race my self.