Istanbul was a…learning experience. Which is a mature way of saying that it’s probably been my worst travel experience so far. That’s relative to the rest of my trip, though: on its own, Istanbul was about 50% wondrous and amazing, and 50% stressful and unpleasant. So I have mixed feelings.
Starting with the positive. The city itself is incredible. Twisting mazes of cobbled streets, lined with stores and dotted with domed mosques and the occasional mausoleum. Delivery boys carrying trays of tea and sandwiches dart between the vans and taxis crawling up and down the steep hills. Stray cats slink out of the narrow alleys, and lazy dogs nap in the sunny squares.
Rising above the hubbub, dominating the cityscape, are Istanbul’s famous landmarks: the Galata Tower, the Sulemaniye Mosque, the Hagia Sophia. Inside, they’re jaw-dropping achievements of art and architecture: soaring ceilings richly detailed with intricate, colourful patterns, minarets reaching deep into the sky, sweeping courtyards lined with domed arches. At their feet, tourists swarm along the marble walkways cutting through expansive parks and squares, themselves dotted with ancient columns and fountains.
Outside the sightseeing areas, though, you come back to earth surprisingly quickly. For the locals going about their business along the narrow streets, the centuries-old buildings towering over them may as well be invisible. Except for the still-active mosques, Istanbul’s long history isn’t a part of their lives.
This kind of blasé attitude towards the city’s history is strange to me as a New Worlder. Historic landmarks are such a rarity in Canada, especially Western Canada, that there’s no way for them to “blend in.” By their very nature they stand out, even before they’re inevitably sectioned off and converted into museums. But I suppose when your city is over two thousand years old you just get used to everything around you being historic in one way or another.
And of course the city has changed a lot over those two thousand years. One of the places I visited was Sultanahmet Square, a long public plaza lined with museums and dotted with ancient Roman columns. Walking down the square, it occurred to me that it looks nothing like it did fifty or a hundred years ago, let alone 1,500 years ago when it was the Hippodrome of Constantinople. Every city in the world has changed profoundly over the past hundred years – heck, I’ve come back to cities after five years and been amazed by how much they’ve changed – so maybe it makes sense to not get attached when your city has been doing that for twenty centuries.
Like I said, though, Istanbul was also frustrating and stressful. I hadn’t realized before how much Asia was my comfort zone for travelling. It’s still strange and different compared to Canada, but I get Asia at a certain basic level. I know the difference between a sketchy street and one that’s just a little grungy, I can spot a guy that’s looking for trouble, and I know roughly where to go to get a good product at a fair price. In short, I know who and what to trust in Asia.
I wasn’t prepared me in any way for a European-style tourist trap, which are ruthless. I hope the locals use the money they got off me to put up a nice plaque or something to my memory, because I managed to get completely fleeced in every single transaction I made in the city.
Every cheque was an unpleasant surprise in Istanbul. I watched my bill go from 56 lira when I started eating to 63 for no apparent reason, and got charged 12 lira for an orange juice when the signboard on the store across the street was selling them for 8. In real terms I was only getting cheated for one or two Canadian dollars, but it’s hard to feel good about yourself when you’re being repeatedly and blatantly taken for a fool twice a day like clockwork.
Most of the issue is that I don’t come from a haggling culture. My entire life, whenever a shopkeeper told me a price I’ve just paid it. I’m used to the clerk calculating the additional tips and taxes, so I just shrug and hand over whatever money they ask for. I understand haggling in theory, but I didn’t expect to do it for food. That and my generally being a pushover meant that the most resistance shopkeepers got out of me was a bit of surprised spluttering before I meekly handed over wads of cash.
It wore me down fast. Exploring restaurants and finding new foods is usually a big part of my travel experience, but a few days in Istanbul sucked all the fun out of it. I felt like my options were to go to an obvious touristy restaurant and get overcharged up front, or go to a smaller place and get overcharged at the end. I’d originally been worried about pickpockets when I arrived in Istanbul – it turned out the locals found it much more efficient to have me hand them all my cash myself. I may actually have saved money if I’d just chucked my wallet at the first sketchy-looking group of people I saw in the street.
Anyway.
Like I said, Istanbul was a learning experience, if not the most pleasant one. The city really is incredible, and I only saw a fraction of everything there was to see there. I’d consider going back – although I’d feel a lot more comfortable if it was with someone who knew what they were doing.
But it’s time to move on. I’m writing this from the Istanbul Airport (which I also have rants about, but let’s not get into that) with my flight to Athens about to board any minute. I don’t know if Greece will be any easier to navigate than Turkey, but I’m sure it’ll be just as amazing to explore.
Harmon Moon 