Turkey, Part 1: The Arrival... Airports...My Home For The Week In Istanbul

 

Beautiful view off of the terrace at the Polat apartment flat, where I am staying with my lovely Turkish family (of my English student, Ece...pronounced Ajay)



One: The Voyage --

First of all, I heartily recommend Gulf Air. I had never even heard of them before I scheduled this flight via Skyscanner.  The first leg-- Mumbai to Behrain-- was about 3 and a half hours on a mostly empty plane. Being that the flight departed at 6:30--hence, a 2:15 wake up for a 3:30 arrival at the Mumbai airport-- I was ecstatic to be able to claim 3 seats as my own. So did many others...we stretched out and lapsed into a heavenly bit of sleep. 

Arriving in Behrain (where the heck is THAT? you may be asking, as I did..and had to look it up), I was most impressed by the cleanliness, modernity and amenities of the lovely airport (reminiscent of the time I had a layover in the Dubai airport). But... no time to linger, as the connecting flight happened shortly thereafter. Here is what I found about Behrain:  
"The Kingdom of Bahrain is a Middle East island country situated in the Persian Gulf between Saudi Arabia and Qatar, with Iran lying 124 nautical miles to the north. Bahrain is made up of an archipelago of 33 islands which are mostly desert."

The second leg of the trip was about 4 hours, and while fully packed with people, was also pleasant. I watched a silly but fun movie with George Clooney and Julia Roberts, called "A ticket to Paradise", and the time went by quickly. 

 
Below: The lovely airport of Behrain




I highly recommend flying the friendly skies of Gulf Air! 




Two: The Arrival--

The plane's descent into Turkey, under very stormy skies... 



After arriving in Istanbul, things got considerably trickier. After getting my bag and inching my way along in the customs line, I was dismayed to learn I DID need a visa for this country, which the airline agent back in India definitively told me I did NOT need. (Of course this wasn't the first time I was misinformed by airline staff, and probably won't be the last!) I had to march myself on over to the visa office, pay $30 in cash (because, annoyingly enough, the official there would NOT accept my credit card! Heck of a good thing I HAD that cash on me!), then get back in line and go through customs again, with my pretty little $30 stamp ready for display in my passport. 
Next obstacle: getting money. The money exchange kiosks were all gouging the tourists; the ATM machines no better, charging ten percent for the withdrawal of Turkish lyra! An outrage, but what to do?! These banks have you by the balls, know it, and take advantage accordingly. 
Afterward, I needed to call the lovely people I had come to Istanbul to visit (Ece, my English student of 3 years, and her family), but couldn't use Whatsapp because in order to use the airport wifi, I needed to have a working phone on which to receive the OTP. So...off I went to the phone store, Turkcell. There, I was shocked to learn I couldn't buy a weekly plan (as I could in Mexico) but only by the month...and the minimum was about $50!! I could literally pay for an entire year's worth of GOOD cellular service in India for this same amount!!! Unreal. Who can explain this?? I don't begin to understand it, but unfortunately one is so handicapped without a working phone, especially in a foreign country, there is really no choice. So pay it I did, and get this: this whopping amount didn't even include SMS or talk time! ONLY data, ONLY 12 gigs for the month. To compare: I paid approximately 700 rupees in India for 82 days, which included 2 gigs of data PER day, or what would amount to 60 gigs per month. 700 rupees is about $9... or slightly more than $3 per month! So actually, I would only be paying $36 for a whole YEAR in India, as opposed to $50 for the ONE WEEK I will be in Turkey!!! Something is VERRRY wrong with this picture, wouldn't you agree???

The next whopping expenditure was the taxi to get me to Katikoy, where I would be staying with my family on the Asian side of Istanbul. Granted, unbeknownst to me, there was probably a funkier taxi that would have been less... but I wouldn't have had a clue how to procure one, and the man at the kiosk who snatched me up was so friendly and funny, I could not resist his salesmanship.  His nickname was Bozo--true story!!-- and for the most money I have EVER spent on a taxi for a trip ANYWHERE ($65!!!), I was whisked away in what amounted to a small limousine! Seriously! It was beautiful and extremely luxurious, with two sets of seats facing each other (would have been quite the bargain for a party of six... but this is one of the serious drawbacks of being a lone traveler.), with leather seats and all. We hit VERY bad traffic, being the end of Ramadan and a holiday weekend...thankfully, the seats were SO comfy that I stretched out across 3 of them (airplane deja vu!) and slept off and on. It was rainy and stormy... adding to my sleepiness... 

My luxurious taxi interior: see what a comfy bed I was able to make out of the 3 lovely seats?! NO MORE horrid Indian buses for this traveler!!!  (Of course I won't be traveling in this kind of luxury on a normal basis, either, but sure was a nice treat!!!) 

Two hours later, we arrived at my destination. I was greeted quite warmly by my student, Ece, her mother, Nagihan, brother Jon, father Bareesh, and the grandparents. Quite the party! Their large flat in a very nice apartment complex has a magnificent view of--and across-- the Sea of Marmara. (The body of water that separates the Asian side of Istanbul/Turkey from the European side.)  This lovely flat is positively palacial, especially when compared to the dumpy places I have stayed at most recently in India (with the exception of the Mumbai ashram, of course, and my friends' flat in Pune). I truly feel like a pauper in a king's court here! But of course I am extremely grateful for landing here in this heavenly abode, and being the lucky recipient of the wonderful Turkish hospitality. 

Ece, with mother Nagihan and father Bareesh 


The beautiful but exceedingly unfriendly cat, Whiskey! 


The gorgeous living room of this palacial home


The beautiful meal Nagihan prepared for our dinner: zuchinni patties, artichoke hearts, dolma, beans, and the famous liquor, Raki, with the lovely taste of anise (the equivalent of Pastis in France)

At the end of the rainstorm that was happening when I arrived, the rain gave way to this glorious sunset overlooking the Sea of Marmara, off of their balcony












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