Istanbul On Your Own

 Janet mentioned that we won the lottery for the view at Istanbul. We parked next to the Galata Bridge overlooking the inlet of the Bosphorus that becomes the Golden Horn. Across the water, our balcony faced Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. On the water, ferries chugged backwards and forwards on their way to play chicken with the tankers on the main channel to the Black Sea. In daytime this view is superb. At dusk, as the sky streaks pink and the floodlights on the Mosques and the lights on the ferries are switched on, the view becomes truly magical. One advantage of Islam is that they have more things to light up, and countless domes and minarets glow against the darkening sky.

Before arriving at Istanbul, P&O were thoughtful enough to send us a notice telling us to avoid civil unrest and terrorism on shore. Then, when we told a waiter that we were going out for a walk, he solemnly told us to be careful. In view of these warnings and, before I had noticed the armed guard at the bottom of our gangway, we decided to stick to touristy things and walk over to the square in front of Hagia Sophia to weigh up the open topped buses.

The centre of Istanbul is what travel writers call vibrant and everyone else would call teeming. Trying to avoid the crush, we took a short cut, using the alleys at the back of the Spice Bazaar, and then discovered what a real crush looked like. A couple of changes in direction, mainly for self preservation, and we were hopelessly lost. Janet eventually got us out by keeping the sun to her back and walking until we crossed the tram tracks – clever.

At Hagia Sophia we decided to leave the bus until the following day and walk back through a park we'd discovered. The long broad walkway was full of local families out for a Sunday stroll and there was a rich variety of cultures on display, projected mainly by the clothes of the women. Some in black from head to toe looked like de-beaked penguins. With all shades in between, those at the other end of the scale looked like they were heading for a night out in Newcastle. All of this is supposed to be OK in the modern secular Turkish state but I do wonder how long it will be before someone starts trouble because they don't like a particular God's fashion sense.

The traffic in Istanbul is horrendous. Normal rules of the road are, at best, viewed as suggestions and you can stop anywhere you like as long as you don't mind the sound of multiple horns. Walking isn't any safer. Pavements narrow to less that 2ft or sometimes disappear altogether forcing you to cross streams of fast flowing traffic. Safe crossing points are few and far between but we did find a solution. Young Turkish men run out of patience when they have waited more than 15 seconds and simply jump out into the road and stop the traffic. If you wait for the squeal of brakes you can then cross safely whilst everyone is gesturing at each other.

On previous trips to Istanbul we've done most of the main tourist attractions so the bus was a good way to get an overview of the City. We only passed two accidents but we saw numerous near misses. The bus was either stuck in traffic or rattling along at above the speed limit if indeed there is any such thing. To be fair, the bus company is starting to consider health and safety and those who had working earphones were warned on several occasions to sit down because we were passing under a low bridge. One one occasion they even played the announcement before we drove under the bridge.

Our route took us over the Bosphorus bridge which is a bit like the Golden Gate Bridge only rustier. It is approached by a high level motorway over a very dense housing area which was a long way down from the top deck. Janet closed her eyes and thought of England. I kept mine open but did wonder if we were properly insured or if a tourist bus ride in Istanbul might be considered an extreme sport.

Dave