Rooms at the back of bus depot |

Arriving in Hatay at 230 am I was nowhere to go. It was the town Otogar. After taking back my luggage, again I was approached and asked where I wanted to go. Hatay is a usual tourist stopover to cross into Syrian border. Even the Otogar has some sort of hostel rooms at the back of bus bays. Then I told them I was heading to Syria and the earliest bus was at 8.30 in the morning. Ok so the rooms were mainly serving for this type of travelers. So I checked in into the twin room for 30 Lira only to get decent hours to sleep.

Sleeping in the bus journey was killing me. Couple of hours sleep on proper bed that I could stretch my leg could refresh me the next morning.

But be warned the room wasn’t a typical hostel. It’s a bed without window and traces of previous occupant were all over the room. I couldn’t care any of that.

I didn’t have the visa entry to Syria. Month before that I called the Syrian embassy and they assured me to get one at the border because they don’t have embassy at the country I’m residing.

Lonely planet guide book says the same. The bus attendant took my passport the whole night to check about the crossing border requirement. I didn’t bother not give him but later I realized it was their way to secure the passenger buying their bus ticket not their rivalry. Because they have my passport I couldn’t go anywhere else.