article_snippet.sent: But my journey across the Mediterranean, like those of thousands of other migrants, wasn't easy.
article_snippet.sent: But Syrians don't need visas to get into Turkey, so Turkey it was.
article_snippet.sent: While in Istanbul, I discovered many Facebook pages about illegal smuggling from Turkey to Italy by sea.
article_snippet.sent: I met a Syrian guy in a hotel in Mersin who had already paid money to one smuggler and was planning to depart within a few days.
article_snippet.sent: So I decided to meet a Syrian guy.
article_snippet.sent: Hundreds of migrants killed when boat capsizes .
article_snippet.sent: Why migrants head to Mediterranean .
highlights_snippet.sent: Moutassem Yazbek describes harrowing 12-day journey from Turkey to Italy .
  
highlights_snippet.sent: Yazbek, a Syrian refugee, paid a smuggler $6,500 to get a smuggler to Italy in December .