I had felt Istanbul when Orhan Pamuk wonderfully described
his memories of the city. I had imagined it every time I looked at a map. I was
nervous for the first time in years of my travels; I was skipping heart beats
like I was to meet my love after a long period of separation. It was obvious
when I was trying hard to catch a glimpse of the city from the aisle seat,
lurking over two amused co-passengers. But I was scared – I was scared to be
all alone in a Muslim Land by myself – Me a woman in Istanbul!
The plane had affluent people – reeking of the Bourgeois from Regent street, London. I knew I was struggling to finish off the character painting of a Turkish native in my mind.
I landed at 10.30 p.m – a besotted traveller who went scouting around for a visa. 30 minutes, 3 trips between two offices and waiting on good looking blue eyed, blue uniformed men got me an entry to the land of my dream. It felt inefficient just like India in many ways. I did notice the tiles were mosaic - not marble!
My initial impressions: Well planned free-ways, criss-cross flyovers and a dedicated lane connecting the airport shuttle to the city (How western!). But as
I turned and looked on two sides of the main highway – the city looked dense, chaotic
and yet neat! Pointy domes amidst packed houses, dilapidated buildings, modern high rises and bold big old monuments. It rapidly flashed so many different perspectives; Modern-
showing all signs of progress but yet standing proud on its history – telling me and the world
‘ I have – all that a civilization can desire. I will embrace you and let you be one with me. But when we shall part – I promise to remain a mystery’
Taksim – the square that celebrates the creation of the
Republic of Turkey- was unbelievably busy at 1.00 a.m. I checked in and
ventured out and dropped all my apprehensions and fear as I found my way in a million faces.
Walking around a cobblestoned street – I glanced through ancient
buildings converted to pubs, I walked into to modern empires of fashion at the strangest shopping time! (Mango, UCB and most of the big brands). Street food, fancy food places, sweets,
hawkers neatly stacked along the edges of the street. One could imagine a sorcerer placing them in a non presumptuous bag, shaking them whisking away signs of social segmentation and then neatly arranging them to seem organized in the chaos with no order in mind. There were tourists, there
were natives, there were the rich and the poor just pacing up and down the street
– in groups, as couples or wanderers alone. The canopy of blue lights made me feel like it
was Christmas in Islam land. Finally when I turned into a side street which had no room to
walk – it was revelation time. This city was anything but conservative. In fact
it was Islamic Bohemia – young/old/foreigners/burkas/spaghetti straps all were
welcome as long as you promised to come eat, drink and be merry. I will carry the image of those side
streets, fruit stalls, Turkish delights, live music, chestnuts and maize for a very
long time.
In broad day light, the city unfolded differently. Like between the night and day I had peeled off a layer of its character. As I waded my way through the city to the blue mosque in a taxi, I
knew the window time with it was not enough. I had to soak in the city by walking, feeling the stone, sharing silences with its remains and indulging in conversation with denizens. When I stepped out of the taxi – it took
me 30 whole and complete minutes to get past a street. I wanted to make sure I decoded the glass work on the walls, I sipped on fresh unadulterated pomegranate juice and
I could watch old ruins and modern hoardings and click pictures like an obsessive tourist. Just as I reached
the end of the street and caught a glimpse of the Blue Mosque on one end and Hagia
Sophia on the other I knew I would never do justice in describing what I saw even if I attempted to. You can read a lot about the buildings or learn
from history books. But nothing can ever beat the experience of seeing it and
most importantly feeling it with a zillion other people. Language seems inadequate at times. Some say Turkish virtually has no verb for 'to have', 'to be', and English has nothing to match the Turkish 'have unto of', which is beautiful. Similarly I there is no language to describe fulfilment of the soul via an experience.
Istanbul to me was a
land of mosques, history and people – living very ordinary lives in an extra
ordinary city. My unpardonable imagination had me expecting everyone to be a character from medieval
times and was sorely disappointed to learn that
they work in an office, drive a ford and spend the evening partying just like other free and liberal human
beings; Somehow they are not knights of the past! Without imagination, I do declare that the Turks are the most progressive, sharp people, who are comfortable being who they are- bringing ancient liberalization into modern times. I did not feel like a stranger
in mosques. On the contrary, I felt embraced and shared prayers with them. Everyone was warm,
it was busy and packed; yet no two bodies touched in the rush or nothing seemed out of
order. It just felt comfortable, easy and natural to fit in and get around the
city. I would run into a mosque every few feet, I would suddenly walk down steep narrow alleys which would emerge into broad
roads. Then you could spot a sports bazaar, a plumbing bazaar or electrical
bazaar selling modern everyday equipment in ancient buildings just as easily as you could run into say
the Spice bazaar or traditional markets reminding me what this culture was
capable of. Women wearing burkas would come out of mosques and suddenly pull
out cigarettes and surprise me. Especially this one woman whose husband was actually taking care of the kids while she smoked! Taking off your
foot wear, popping it into a plastic bag and carrying it on you while you
entered a mosque seemed like a bizarre but yet convenient common practice.
The city seemed inhabited by 4 civilizations – humans, tourists, cats
and birds! My prediction is that the birds will take over:-)
Life on that Sunday seemed to center around being out for
everyone! Walking on Galata Bridge I could see two sides of the city, a beautiful
river and beautiful landscapes of the city. Fishing rods and birds waiting to
savour on the catch seemed so trite. Despite intense traffic on the bridge and
having a pavement full of people walking inch by inch, everyone seemed busy and
yet not in any particular hurry. They seemed to be completely comfortable
wading along, watching the sunset, eating, clicking pictures. It felt like a superior power was manoeuvring
large segments of the crowd around the city.
I could write a long story and yet never finish. I know my mind is overflowing with images of the city, the people and my experience. As I left the city I had a few fleeting thoughts.
I saw the rains, I saw the sun, I saw the chilly night and was hit by a lightning bolt. I saw a Sunday, a Monday, a Tuesday and wondered what the rest of the week would look like in Turkish times. I walked, I rested, I stopped, ran and sat for hours watching the old (400,000 years) and the new. I know this was not enough and just as you had promised – Dear Istanbul, you still remain a mystery!
Some travel tips:
- Carry good foot gear as you will need to do a lot of walking.
- Walking will entail steep climbs and narrow alleys.
- Carry an umbrella as it is by the sea and humid. It can rain any time. If you forget one, you can buy one as vendors sell it across the city. If you are lucky, your hotel might actually give you a spare one.
- On a cold night, street side eating is commonplace and the restaurants go that extra mile to keep you warm by offering shawls.
- Stay near Taksim, you will not regret it.
- Do not drink tap water, buy water bottles which typically cost 1 Lira and are available at all across the city in abundance.
- The visa on arrival cash counter only takes Euro or Dollar as the currency. So be prepared. It costs about 15 Euro for someone with an Indian Passport. You can get a visa on arrival if you have a valid UK/US/Schengen Visa.
- Be prepared for massive traffic jams especially when travelling over bridges. You can be stuck for hours. Just walk where you can.
- Do not intend to diet as you will miss out on the amazing food this city has to offer.
- Quench your thirst with fresh fruit juices. Typically priced between 2Lira and 3 Liras per glass.
- If alone stay off extremely narrow and inner roads which like in any city can get unsafe.
- Be all set to club, enjoy the night life and skip sleep.
- Get an extra suitcase if you wish to shop. Bargain hard especially in local bazaars. Spice bazaar is your best bet for reasonably priced things. Taksim and the airport seemed expensive.
- Don’t be fooled into believing all Turkish desserts are made of honey :-)
- Everyone tries to sell you everything – restaurants/food/spices. So learn to just be polite and walk away.
