Istanbul

I arrived at Istanbul in the evening. As I was waiting for my bag a Turkish man came up to me and asked if I was alone. I told him I was and he warned me not to trust anybody and to be very careful. With this ominous warning, I continued towards the metro. A girl my age and her brother, that moved to Turkey five years ago from Syria, helped me figure out how to load my metro card. They said they were going the same way and sat with me on the metro. The girl was so shocked that I was traveling alone. She walked me all the way to my hostel just to make sure I was safe. I wasn’t sure how to feel; all of these precautions and warnings made me nervous that I was in danger, but I had also never experienced people going so out of their way to help me.

After I made myself comfortable at Istiklal hostel, I discovered how great a place it is! I sat on the balcony and a Georgian gentleman that worked there brought me Turkish tea. Another man that worked downstairs shared his food with us. People were so kind; it really blew me away.

The next day while walking around the old city area of Istanbul, I was surprised again and again as people showed me incredible kindness. Being a young lady walking around in Istanbul was somewhat tiring. Men stood outside of restaurants trying to rope in clients. As I walked by, these men would start up a conversation. Countless men asked me to sit down for a glass of free tea. They were so friendly that I was shocked by the hospitality of this country. By the end of the day my jaw was tight from the caffeine after having so many cups of free tea.

Later on I went to the Grand Bazaar to do some shopping. That place is huge! It was impossible to follow any concerted direction in such a labyrinth. I took precautions such as wearing a money belt under my pants and keeping my drawstring bag in the front of me. With these precautions everything was fine. I walked around trying on shorts, smelling perfumes, admiring gold and silver Turkish coffee pots. I was offered some free samples of Turkish Delight which made all of my Narnia dreams come true. The chocolate Turkish Delight was so delicious that I bought an entire roll and enjoyed it for the next few days.

Turkey has a large Muslim population and in order to be respectful towards their religion I had planned to dress conservatively. However, I showed up and saw Turkish women in belly shirts and tight mini-skirts. The city is so diverse; indeed there is a Muslim population, but there are also lots of young adults wearing modern clothing like we do in The States. Before long I was wearing my regular summer shorts, and good thing because Turkey was so hot!

My Turkey experience was a lot different than most of my other travels. For one, a male friend of mine arrived at the end of my second day in Istanbul, so after that I wasn’t traveling alone. Derek had just finished a semester in school and we had a summer planned of volunteer work on organic farms. Once you are traveling with a boy, your ability to judge how safe any given situation would be as a female solo travelers pretty much goes out the window. During my Africa travels, guys and girls traveling together often told me how safe they felt having the other person with them. Obviously, men aren’t going to come up and hassle a lady if a man is right there. Instead, men often try to bro-out with the boy and somehow make money off of them that way.

 

During the next day in Istanbul we went to Hagia Sophia, the blue mosque. We experienced Turkish coffee and to my surprise men also offered Derek free Turkish tea. We walked through ​Gülhane Park​ and then did a loop around the Marmara Sea.

 

 

We took the metro ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul, which was so cool! For the price of one metro ride you get a romantic cruise across the channel of Istanbul. Once on the Asian side, we had more tea from a lady that served it out of a thermos at a park. We ascended a hill and found a stunning view of the sea and bridges. That evening we were tuckered out from a day of exploring and lots of walking.

The next day we caught a flight to Dalaman with Pegasus, a very cheap domestic airline. If you book in advance with this airline, you can get a flight across the country for around $30. We arrived in Dalaman and then took a bus to Fethiye, which is where we started our first organic farming Workaway.

Two months later we came back to Istanbul for our outbound international flights. We were much wiser the second time around. We knew a bit of Turkish and had friends with whom to meet up and go out. The happening neighborhood of Istanbul is Taksim with lots of fun bars for young adults. We stayed at a new hostel called Neverland in the New Town of Istanbul. Our previous hostel was in the touristy area and was a lovely first impression of Istanbul. This second hostel was in a more local area and had a great vibe. The walls were painted in funky ways. They played drum ‘n’ bass music in the lobby.

From Istanbul we left Turkey, the adventure coming full circle. It is commonly said that Istanbul is where East meets West; for Derek and I, it was the beginning and the ending of a wonderful summer adventure in the Mediterranean.