8 September 2009:
This place goes by many names. Officially it is known as Antakya, but people here call it Hatay (name of the region Antakya is in), and in ancient times it is also known as Antioch. And the last reason, Antioch, is why I’m here in the first place. With a name this famous, it is not difficult to imagine how much history this place has. Not to mention that Antakya is located just next to Syria, just in case I feel like jumping over to the other country.
The overnight bus from Kayseri stopped almost everywhere along the way, and leaving at midnight, we arrived in Hatay almost at 8am. I counted Ningde, Adana and Iskenderun. Could have been more but I was trying to get some sleep as well. As the bus pulls into the Hatay otogar a few km out of the city, many touts come up asking if we were going to Aleppo, Syria. The bus company should have a servis bus to go to the city. Mine did but the bastard didn’t want to go to the city center and made me walk 2km. Cursed him to lowest depth of Hades.
nangka.org 