yeah Istanbul

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Yeh Istanbul!!!

The eagerly anticipated. The plane taxying to a halt, the airport, all usual, all bafflingly and similarly indistinguishable. Why does every airport in every part fo the world have to or try to look exactly the same? Why should the airport in Istanbul not be distinguishable from the one in Dubai or in Frankfurt or in Bangalore in a few months?

Everything as Kemal had told us. Uneventful passport controls, ATM's near the gate. Absolutely no need to carry currency, and as Kemal said, the exchange rate is actually quite sad. The nearest phone booth is with the post office - walk resolutely ignoring calls to take taxis, rented cabs, Havas buses. Well, the Havas Bus gets you to the city for 9 YTL, and the City bus (green colour) from the same stop (just outside the exit gate of the airport) for 2.80 YTL. The bus driver did charge us 3 YTL each, though :-(!

But the amazing thing was how friendly people were. The cold of the air was just a small dampener (the temperatures were around 7 degrees) compared to the warm smiles which greeted us everywhere. People went out of their way to give us directions, shared their food with us, Sanaa brought smiles in every corner. And at the Taksim bus stop, there was Kemal. Just as I thought he would be. Just as I thought it would be. My faith in people and their latent ability for inordinate kindness towards other human beings never fail me.

I was told about the Akbil before, both by Kemal and others, so the first thing we did was to get Akbils for me and Anu. 6 YTL + 4 YTL of charge. The concept is that firstly with an Akbil, you get charged 1.20 YTL instead of 1.30 YTL for every trip. And consecutive trips within 2 hrs of the first trip get charged only as 60 YK. Vaild through bus, trams, metro, ferry - everything.

Kemal's place is at the heart of the city. Between Taksim and Beyoglu. Main streets are all commercial eblow and apartments above, side streets can be mostly residential apartment blocks. The mixed use seemed quite prevalent and interesting in terms of a built environment mix. And who would not want to live above a bakery or a supermarket? Kemal's is a small tidy apartment 4 floors above, so lugging the luggage and Sanaa up was quite a task. The tinyness of European urban living quarters and their amazing space management. The entire apartment would fit into my living dining. Now I know why they all think I am rich ;-)!

Hagia Sophia the next day morning. The cold is making an impact on Sanaa - she is just not used to it, and the jacket makes her movements quite difficult. Seeing the Sophia was a revalation, for us as well as her. The trick is to make things interesting..so we were trying that, making little stories. Ok, do know where you would want to eat in Sultanahmet. We got ripped and got a very interesting show of the Testi Kebap in the bargain. The food was aboslutely nothing great. But the cold, a tired Sanaa and all of us quite hungry made us take a hasty decision - go into a restaurant which was so obviously 'for the tourists' written all over it.

Oh by the way, we are finding the travel quite easy with the Akbil, once you navigate the fact that almost noone speaks english. But as I said, the Turks can set the mark for being child friendly and just basically friendly.

Some very interesting talks with Kemal about Turkey. The country posed between a very rich 8000 years (yes, I am not kidding - just spent the whole day at the archeological museum), a very distinct asian heart, a wishful look towards the west and the europe as a passport to the riches that everyone today seems to dream of, a liberal social set up in conflict with fundamentalist factions of the Islamic faction and their voice in the political scene. Kemal tells me about his religious heritage - the Alawites, who are not recognised as muslims by the religious factions. This is a group which fractured from the mainstream Islam right after the death of the Prophet, based on succession issues. The Alawites think that Ali, his cousin was the true successor of the Prophet, which the rest of the factions don't agree with, and the story goes that Ali was murdered by the other factions in the Mosque. Thus the Alawites don't go to the Mosque. They also seem to have a far more liberal fun view of life, men and women don't lead as distinct a social life as they do in other islamic societies. Well, that makes them not much of a muslim, does it now? Atleast in the minds of the Islamic political arms here! So a whole section, something like 25% of the population goes around without having true religious freedom. Kemal also tells us that the heavily burkhaed women is a new phenomenon on Istanbul streets. Previously women may be wearing scarves, but with their hair showing, that was how it was. The Burkha as a concept to me is a very abhorrent thing...not because of the idea of the chador at all, but more because of its enforecement factor. I seriously doubt that I would end up visiting the countries that require all women to cover their head. Just something about the whole other people telliing me how to dress in a formal and a legal manner goes completely against my grain. But today as I stood shivering on the pavement with my ears freezing, I did envy the women who would so naturally be clad against the elements, just by their regular clothes. And so if you look at it in the context of the place that Islam originated, the 'abaya' of the arabic women and the 'dishtha' of the men, are just the same dress with different colours. And when you look at men and women in a cold country like Turkey, it is no wonder that dresses would evolve which would cover your head. It is when it is taken from its context, and given implications beyond its requirement that it starts making no sense.

Istanbul is cold at this time of the year. Cold winds blow, and slight drizzles are often. They are even talking about snow over the weekend. The trees are mostly completely bare, waiting for spring. And the insides of the houses are warm, quite warm. It is obvious that the Turks like the warmth. Blazing fireplaces, cranked up heat. The buses are usuallly so warm that you have to start stripping the moment you enter. And people are out in the streets. Trams are full, buses are full, the squares, the pavements. People having a sandwich, laughter, greetings being called out. The moment you get off of at Eminonu, the smell of frying fish (which turns my stomache) hits your nose. The Golden Horn rips open the European side of Istanbul, and the crevice is a sight of unfolding thousands of years of history. To build their metro, the Istanbullus had to dig up several thousand years of past, all of which crowd the corridors of the archeological museum today. You need a day to go through that museum. And a blotting paper mind. But the depth of turkish historical heritage is unbelievable. Today I laid my hands on granite stones 4000 years old.

Yesterday's Testi Kebap experience made us very wary of trying out food at Sultanahmet. So we actually did a trek back all the way to Taksim, after a long stretch at the museum, with Sanaa totaly tired out (she knocked off in the middle of it - was grouchy and tired, though she did enjoy the stupid trojan horse in which she could climb up. We had the Simit - a turkish bread made like a ring and with Sesame seeds on the top of it. And roasted bhutta - oh yeah!! Then all the way to Taksim and at Bursa Kebap we had the Iskander, the Lahmacun and the Icli kebap. Total cost 12 YTL. And completely worth it.

Miliket cooked Bulgur Pilaf and Semolina Halva for us for dinner. Yum!!

Some costs:
from Kemal's place to Sultanahmet with Akbil - 1.8 YTL for the two of us.
Entry into Hagia Sophia, Basilica Cistern (a 6th Century Water tank system with crazy upside down Medusa head column bases - Sanaa was very impressed and ceremoniously bid goodbye to them): 10 YTL each, Archeological Museum - 5 YTL and well worth it. Food: Corn - 2YTL (I think that was the tourist price), Simit - 50 YK, lunch - 12 YTL.

Tomorrow we got to the toy shop.

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