By jadoerge
Semester Break Adventures Part 3: Istanbul
So after our travels in Budapest and Bucharest, Morgan and I were finally on our way to our first real “destination,” that we had planned on: Istanbul. Although I could easily go on about our time in the city where East meets West, I will try to keep this as short as possible while still including the funniest and most culturally relevant tidbits.
After our relatively uneventful overnight train from Budapest to Bucharest, we certainly weren’t expecting what we were getting into during our 18-hour marathon train ride from Bucharest to Istanbul. While the train was a bit older, it was still nicely equipped and we had no real complaints about the train itself, per se. However, after a few hours on the train, things began to get interesting. First, at the border leaving Romania, we had to have our passports checked, during which, our passports were actually taken from us by a few officers and taken to a building about 50 yards from the train, which was terrifying all in itself. Interestingly, this happened at the other two border crossings as well before reaching the Turkish border. After thirty minutes, we finally were on our way again (passports in hand) and were trying to kill time with movies and books waiting the 1am arrival at the Turkish border, since we knew that we had to get out at some point during the ride. Once the late hour finally arrived, we all had to get off the train and go to a customs office which amounted to an office the size of a dorm room with two very exhausted customs officers who then proceeded to tell us that before we got stamps, we had to buy a visa at the visa office which was just down the road. The visa office, mind you, was about the size of a small closet with a flickering light and an older man who demanded 15 Euro per Visa. Unfortunately, we hadn’t used Euros since we left Germany and only had a few extra bills on us that amounted to 25 Euros. (None of this was clarified by anyone either on board or at the train station in Bucharest) After a few minutes of minor heart attacks and considering which bench we would sleep on for the night, one of the nice conductors on our train offered to lend us and a couple of American girls the necessary Euros as long as we paid him back with Lira once we were in Turkey. After we finally got our Visa, we were able to get a little shut eye before passing through the gorgeous old city walls of Istanbul around 8am.
Having paid the conductor and taken a taxi to our host’s apartment, Morgan and I were ready to hit the town, despite our groggy nature. Our first day in Istanbul proved to be day one of simply learning how to function in Turkish society, having spent nearly all of our lives in American and Western European environments. After walking downtown and accidentally stumbling into the Grand Bazaar, we decided to grab some lunch, but unfortunately were lured into a small outdoor café for some Döner Kebab where we proceeded to pay nearly 30 USD for two kebab sandwiches and two cups of tea (usually around 8-10 USD max). We quickly learned our lesson. Despite this rough start, we tried to keep positive and acclimated ourselves with the city and its people so that we could better enjoy ourselves with the other 3 days that we had allotted to spend there.
Over the next two days, we had some other experiences with swindlers, to be expected, but we were also often had great experiences with the more outgoing and inviting personalities of the Turks in Istanbul. After a couple of days learning how to avoid the tourist traps in the city and beginning to appreciate the various cultural differences, we truly began to enjoy ourselves in Istanbul. We certainly ran the gambit with food experiences, including a hot spiced milk drink on the streets, a Turkish variation of pizza, small donut-hole-like pastries, and enough black and apple tea to sink a ship! It was also a pleasure to be living in a more residential area of the city’s outskirts, so that we could see how many Turks in Istanbul live their lives day-to-day and we also appreciated comparing the more rural bazaars to the packed and bustling Grand, Egyptian, and Spice Bazaars.
All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Istanbul despite the “learning curve” which we found took us a couple of days to overcome. Having been through Budapest and Bucharest before hand certainly helped to ease us into a changing mindset and culture. Given the chance, I would love to continue that trip East and be able to observe the steady changes in culture that one is granted a window into when travelling by train and making multiple stops.
Well, I suppose I’ll cut myself off there for now. Stay tuned next week to hear about our adventures exploring both modern and ancient cultures throughout Italy! As the Turks say, güle, güle!