“The Answer to the Great Question Of . . . Life, the Universe and Everything . . . [is] Forty-two.”
-Douglas Adams
Day 199, Friday August 9, 2019
Sites Covered in this Post
• Train to Istanbul
• Ferry Across the Bosphhorus
• Rainy Day in Galata
Lesson Learned: Taxis in Istanbul suck. They take you some place only if they feel like it. They are cheap, but are prone to leave the meter off. Negotiate the price, or insist they turn off the meter if cost is a big deal to you. It was not to us, because even the most expensive taxi ride we took was only $17. Sometimes, its more important to get where you want than how much it costs.
More than anywhere else we’ve traveled, 1) the cab drivers don’t know the city. 2) They are not that hungry to make a buck. 3) They think its easier to screw a tourist than it is to drive a long distance. 4) Most of them are Assholes. 5) Even if you do Google maps, show them your destination, and give them the street address they act like you are asking them to go to Athens (Turks hate the Greeks). They are either assholes, fucking idiots, or we are. Or maybe they have us right where they want us.
Hop Aboard the Istambul Express
The Ankara–Istanbul high-speed railway, is a 533 km (331 mi) long high-speed railway currently running between Ankara and Söğütlüçeşme railway station in the Kadıköy district of İstanbul. It’s supposed to get there in 4 hours and 15 minutes. We found that projection to be pretty close, even though it was raining the day of our journey.
Air travel can’t compete with rail service for short hops. No security checkpoints, carry on your luggage, lots of storage, leg room…..there is tons of leg room, power outlets, Wi-Fi, on-board entertainment (though my little pony was the best option on the console), meal service, club car, uncrowded bathrooms, friendly attendants, oh and the price.
Our tickets were 212 Turkish Lire which is about $37.10. For both of us. Now, we did get a discount for being over 60, but still the full fare tickets would have been about $50 for the two of us.
Now here’s the rub. First, it was raining, and the farthest north train staition (Söğütlüçeşme) is still on the Asian side of the Bosphorus and our hotel was in the Galata neighborhood on the European side. No big deal, right, catch a taxi. Supposedly, you can change trains, but nobody will help you with that.
Ankara, has tons of handy cabs, and when none are in sight they have call stations on almost every block to page one, which always shows up in about 60 seconds to 3 minutes. Not so in Istanbul. We had to figure out where the taxi stand was, and there is no signage, especially in English. When we found one, and got in a cab the language barrier was significant. Everywhere, even in Croatia or Egypt, the cab drivers wanted to be helpful, not so much in Istanbul. The cabby found another driver that had rudimentary understanding of Texan/Virginian and tried to translate our destination to the driver. He didn’t want to cross the Bosphorus.
Ferry Nice Way to Travel
Fortunately, we called our hotel and the owner was able to have a heated conversation (which is normal among men here) to convey the message. Turns out, the Bosphorus bridge turns into a parking lot when it rains and the taxi driver had no interest in hauling our tourist asses north, no matter how much we were willing to pay. Now remember I’m dragging three huge suitcases, and there no flat spaces in Istanbul, and they’ve not heard of the Americans with Disabilities Act, so ramps were as rare as monuments to Alexander the Great. What our hotel savior did do was convince the driver to take us to the ferry landing. From that point we could cross the strait and then catch a cab on the European side of the city.
What he didn’t tell us was, 1) where exactly the terminal was 2) what was our destination terminal (there were 3), and 3) how do we get tickets. We found the terminal, as we were getting soaked, we found the ticket machines, finally with an English version (the first two machines didn’t offer this), bought our tickets, and finally conveyed our dilemma to the gate guards that we were totally lost and didn’t know which landing we wanted. One, that spoke good English, finally told us which boat to board. It was a nice trip across the Bosphorus, even though our luggage was kicking my ass. Now that we’ve made this trip, I’d even recommend this method to get to the Golden Horn area.
Once on shore, it took a while to find another cabby that would agree to take us to our hotel. We hopped in and he promptly proceeded to drive across the Galata Bridge back across the straight to the Blue Mosque area and I thought we were so fucked.
Fortunately, he looped around to another bridge to take the closest road to our hotel. Total damage for the trip 60 Lire ($10.50) I was so pleased I gave him a massive tip of 20 Lire ($3.50). Honestly, people don’t expect much of a tip here. I gave one taxi driver a 10 Lire tip in Ankara and he insisted I take 5 Lire back. OK with me.
Our first thoughts about Istanbul? We love it! We found a nice hotel, so nice I put in a recommendation on Trip Advisor.
Istanbul: Galata
As I mentioned, we are staying in the Galata neighborhood of Istanbul. Nice, trendy, lots of cabs, lots of bars and cafés. This is a great place. We are about 4 blocks from the Galata Tower, which you can see all over the city. Our hotel, the Ansen Suites (http://ansen-suites.hotel-istanbul.net/en/) is a boutique hotel which I highly recommend to everyone. The rooms are big, there is AC, quiet, the bed comfortable, the staff attentive, a nice bar on the first floor, and breakfast is included in the rate (you can have breakfast in bed if you like). We loved it. Across the street is the Aheste Tapas Bar, around the corner is the Antiochia which is another tapas bar, but completely different from Aheste. We loved them both. I will also say the local Turkish white wine is lovely and we’ll have to find some when we return home next week.
Yep, that’s right. After 7 months on the road we are going home. Not that I want to, but our oldest daughter Nancy is having her first child, and Ellen said she’d divorce me if I didn’t take her home. Never argue with a divorce attorney when they threaten you with the D-word. Until then, we have lots we need to see in Istanbul.