Middle East

Constantinople

This article is from Angie Whitehead. Check her website at http://www.srilankaundiscovered.co.uk

Constantinople – Colombo  (via Yemen,Ethiopia,UAE)  December 2007/ January 2008

Turkey (exchange rate  1 US$ =1 NTL ;1 GBP=2 NTL ;  1 Euro =1.5 NTL  NewTurkishLira)

I flew to Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport with British Airways from London’s Heathrow Airport on a very wet and cold  Saturday in early December.  I was puzzled by the check-in system but found a member of staff  to explain it to me.  Bags were ‘dropped’ at a check-in for the whole world (!) and guess what mine miraculously turned up at Istanbul!

 Leaving at 4 pm, with an uneventful flight, I arrived at 10 pm, to be met somewhat late by a van sent by Mavinur GuestHouse in Sultanahmet, downtown Istanbul near the Blue Mosque.  The room was small and noisy (overlooked the road ), with private leaky bathroom, TV (Turkish channels only) and (thankfully) heating.  The 28 Euros I paid (yes the price was quoted in Euros) included breakfast on the roof top terrace with a fine view of the Bosphorus river in the company of some girls from Bosnia.  The owner was pleasant and helpful and made me a pancake when I said I didn’t like hard boiled eggs (the breakfast dish along with salad, rolls, jam and coffee). 

A cold night had now changed into a coolish day, but with hazy sunshine and a few degrees warmer than the 8 deg in  England.  Sultanahmet is the old quarter of Istanbul, where all the main sites are found as well as budget hotels (I checked out the prices of a few more and found them similar to Mavinur Guesthouse and no better standard, so Istanbul is an expensive destination).  I walked along the river Bosphorus, past lots of men fishing and lots of cats living among the rocks (as were some of the men I think).  I came to Gulhane Park, full of falling leaves, courting couples and more cats.  But at least there were some women on the scene as up to now I had seen mainly men (it is a Muslim country).  Passing such splendid buildings as Topkapi Palace and Aya Sofia I crossed some tram lines (a smart and modern tram was coming up) to a café where I bought a very expensive coca cola for 3 NTL. 

A helpful tourist office gave me a free map and told me where to find an ATM; the staff thought I was Spanish as did everyone else I met; guess they must have a lot of Spanish tourists.  There are lots of mosques all over and I finally located the Blue Mosque, a very impressive building inside and out.  Here I got touted to a carpet shop but escaped with a free apple tea and no carpet.  Dusk was falling at 6 pm so I hurried back to my hotel (golden rule for women travelers – don’t hang about after dark) to prepare for the night flight to Sharjah.  The hotel van drove me at a very high price  to Sabiha Gohcen Airport, quite far out from the centre of Istanbul.  It is a very unimpressive airport with crowds milling about and no proper announcements.  I soon discovered my Air Arabia flight was delayed for 3 hours because of fog in UAE, but in fact it was delayed the whole night and we took off at 6 am the following day, after a freezing night on a hard metal seat.  Still, some people had no seats, only the floor to sit on. 

Arrived at Sharjah I just had enough time for my connecting flight to Sana in Yemen (also delayed because of the fog…) and took my place in the departure lounge with a crowd of what to me looked like tribesmen, one or two women robed in black, 3 Dutch people (father, mother and son) and 1 Chinese woman.  I forgot the horrors of the night because Sana, Yemen, here I come….

Comment :  December was not the best time of year to visit Istanbul as it was cool, windy, no leaves on the trees and dark around 6 pm like in the tropics!  The overall impression is of a westernized city with overtones of Islam, evident in the lack of women on the streets and the staffing of shops and cafes with men; all those I came across were pleasant and not pushy or patronizing .