ISTANBUL – PART TWO

July 2015

Our first four sleeps in the hostel had come to an end and we were ready to move to our Airbnb apartment on the other-side of town. We’d picked a private apartment with a small kitchen and cosy lounge room, somewhere to cook meals and enjoy a quiet six nights of refugee from the hectic city streets.

We packed our bags and set off to find the train station, map in my hand we wandered alleyways and dodged street sellers. The train was many, many levels underground and surprisingly pleasant. Modern, air-conditioned and not congested. It felt like the transport system that the city had forgotten existed. In 10 minutes it carted us across the ocean bridge and onto the unexplored side of Karakoy. From there we met out airbnb host in a big hotel lobby a few minutes walk from the apartment. She advised us we’d never find the apartment on our own, and while she guided us through the streets and into our first look at local life in Istanbul, I’m glad we trusted her judgement. Up hills and down steps we walked deeper into the labyrinth of apartment buildings. It’s the first time I’ve panicked about not memorising our route. I have an almost photographic memory of directions, I only need to walk a path once and it’s forever etched into my mind but these streets of Istanbul definitely tested my skills.

Our apartment looked just like all the others, tall, coloured and very scraggly. We climbed four flights of stairs on a wobbly staircase until we reached the very top floor. It honestly wasn’t much like the pictures.Years forgotten, with thick dust on the shelves, a very DIY kitchen and the bed in the second bedroom was broken on the floor. Our sheets had a few cigarette holes and the shower was right on top of the toilet. But it had a roof over our heads, working wifi and great airflow being on the top floor with lots of windows. It might be one of our least favourite homes we’ve stayed in, but it suited our expectations and most definitely our budget.

First night settling in and exploring our new surroundings. We took a stroll through the suburban streets and I was a little taken aback by the worn buildings and rubble on the road. Entire apartment buildings were crumbling to the ground, I peered into a window and saw dirt floor and a single naked globe hanging over a mattress.  Children were running around chasing each other with fake toy guns, it was definitely unlike anywhere I had walked through before.

Continuing on we found ourselves at Istaklal Street, one of the most famous and popular streets of Istanbul. It’s lined with familiar shops like H&M and Topshop, but also many restaurants and cafes. Food stalls are busy selling bread rolls and hot cobs of corn. It was so busy we could barely make our way down a few blocks, so we snuck into surrounding streets looking for dinner. I really liked the vibe on the eastern side of Istaklal street, with cute cafes, antique shops and hidden gems. We found the familiar bain-marie food on offer in a little restaurant that turned out to be the most delicious yet. Again we were the only tourists but were given such a warm welcome. We settled in with our warm dishes (chickpeas in deliciously oily tomato sauce!) and watched the local Turkish news while eating our dinner.

When we stay in Airbnb apartments we find ourselves quickly settling into local life where we cook our own meals and spend days hanging out in our neighbourhood. We didn’t have much luck finding a supermarket… after a long walk one afternoon we found ourselves in a bit of an unsavoury area full of unfriendly stares. We made it to a small deli with tiny selection of pasta, beans and rice. Where on earth do you buy fresh vegetables in this city?

Well around the corner from our apartment it turns out! At a fruit and vegetable shop. Growing up in Australia and being spoilt with supermarket choices, I forgot entirely about traditional fruit and vegetable shops. Well, we were greeted by fresh, beautifully ripe abundance veggies and fruit. We stocked up on dinner supplies, mostly just vegetables to cook in a tomato sauce with our recently purchased rice. It came to a grand total of $2.

I couldn’t even bring myself to enter this shop because I would want to buy literally everything… just look at how adorable that dress with the pompoms is… And the red striped shirt… and the floral rug! Don’t even get me started, the quality of wares in Istanbul is amazing.

And stumbling upon vegan restaurants where I could try a doner kebab and there was a resident kitty sharing my seat with me!

Afternoon at Beyoğlu. A cute seaside suburb where they are famous for their baked potatoes with all the fixings. This little corner of Istanbul is a really wonderful place to explore that is a little bit off the beaten path. I was desperate to see their afternoon craft market which didn’t disappoint. On the edge of the water are cute little stalls selling everything from handmade jewellery, to used books and pretty clothes. I have such a fond memory of exploring this area before sunset one evening, and if you’re unsure of what area to stay in while you visit Istanbul, I think Beyoğlu would be perfect! It’s a bit further out than the usual tourist hotspots but thats why it’s so peaceful.

If only we’d known about grab taxi/Uber… for we feared about being ripped off by hailing a local taxi and we couldn’t work out the bus system… so we walked for two hours just to get there! I highly recommend taking a cab 😉

Markets of Istanbul:

Anyone who knows me (or reads my blog) understands I am obsessed with markets… and Istanbul has some of the best in the world (although Berlin still has my favourites). Aside from the famous Grand Bazaar and Spice Market (see my previous Istanbul part one post) each neighbourhood holds a different market weekly that specialises in different kinds of products and produce. As I already mentioned, the handmade craft market in Beyoğlu is super fun! Aside from these three mentioned we also stopped by two others during our ten days in the city.

Firstly we stumbled across a cute shopping street that had a market wares vibe hidden next to the Blue Mosque. For having such a central location in the heart of the tourist district, it was almost deserted of shoppers. I found myself much less hassled when roaming this street and stopping to photograph textures and patterns. It’s definitely worth a look, even just to quietly browse and decide what items you might like to keep an eye out for during your time in the city.

And finally one of my favourites, totally off the beaten track and where I almost no tourists. The Sali Pazari market is the gem of Istanbul if you’re looking for vintage pieces, knock-off clothing (zara, h&m, topshop, maybe it’s real, I can’t tell), bags, jewellery, shoes or even fresh produce. It’s gigantic and it’s not for the faint of heart. It was so hard to find, that we made a previous journey there and got completely lost and never found it. I gave up on the idea of seeing the market until one of our last days in the city when Martin said we should give it another crack. Armed with better directions and more determination, this time we found it. We caught the ferry back over to the Kadikoy side, and walked the 50 minutes inland to get to the market. It was hot, we were melting from sweat, but the market it’s self was thankfully shaded by hundreds of big sails. This is a market I’ll never forget. I didn’t buy much (after all we’re only travelling with backpacks), but one day I’ll come back with two big suitcases and just go crazy.

It’s important to have your wits about you when visiting Istanbul. 90% of the time we felt safe, even when walking down quiet streets at night I didn’t feel any more frightened than if I were in the same position in Melbourne. But we didn’t take the Smart Traveller warnings too seriously which did put us in a uncomfortable situation one evening when making our way back from dinner at dusk. It is advised to always avoid political protests (or any protests for that matter) in Istanbul as they can quickly spiral out of control. That afternoon I saw the crowd of people chanting on Istaklal street and assumed it was a crowd of sporting fans from our distance. I was very naive, and later in the evening on our way home we witnessed just how intense a protest can become when the Turkish police become involved. Armoured water canon trucks and tear gas from the police side and fireworks fired at street level from the protesters. If you see any gathering of people in a public space in Istanbul, move away from the area immediately. Luckily this protest dispersed quickly. It was caused by a horrible event that had occurred earlier in the week on the boarder of Syria and the people were extremely unhappy with how the Turkish government were handling the situation. Such intense feelings result in much more intense protests than those I am familiar with in Australia. It was eye opening, and it lead me to be much more aware on our future travels throughout Europe. Istanbul is an incredible city, but it can still be dangerous and tourists shouldn’t go into this journey being naive like I was.

We were a little shaken from the protest experience, but we didn’t let it stop us from spending our final days out seeing as much as we could before it was our time to leave. We visited more markets, savoured the deliciously oily dinners and I bought a few pretty vintage pieces. We ate our homemade rose jam that was a gift from Macedonian Martin’s family and packed our bags on our final day before catching the shuttle to the airport.

Istanbul taught me alot, it’s a world away from anywhere I’ve seen before and thats why it’s so rewarding. It might push you, especially if you see it from the budget approach like we did, but if you do dive straight in, you’ll be rewarded with a new outlook on life. A new understanding of a different culture, and of the colourful, chaotic madness of an eastern European city. I can promise if you’re ready, Istanbul will captivate you.