Ela Nostos

Preface

Before I share some of the travel tips for this incredible city, I need to give context to why this particular place is one I never considered visiting:
Growing up in a Cypriot household, boycotting Turkey was a natural (and expected) act of protest; a minor rebellion considering the lives lost and ruined with the invasion of ’74. My family are from the occupied North, and lost loved ones and land, amongst other things, tragically.
My genuine interest in the topic grew in university, leading me to write my thesis on the political influences of the ‘intervention’, further specializing in the economics of war and its drivers. Hence, I’ve read extensively on the topic, and still chose to continue my politically motivated boycott.
However, life has its plot twists: my work gave me the opportunity to travel into market, ironically, the first destination of choice was Istanbul, Turkey. I didn’t have much of a choice, and ultimately needed to reassess if harming my career and growth would be worth declining the opportunity (it was not).
So for the first time in my life, I found myself looking up travel information and sites to see in the ‘forbidden’ city.
It was unlike any place I have been to before, and felt insanely foreign – both in language and look. It truly is an insanely dynamic and vibrant city (all while remaining insanely clean too? Not a very common element for a metropolis). So while I may upset some ‘allies’ by seemingly ‘promoting’ travel to the region, I would argue that this may help someone in a similar position to me – to better prepare them from a logistical perspective, at least. So here are tips and travel tricks based on October ‘23:

Geography

One city, two continents: located between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, the city is divided by the Bosphorus strait into a European and an Asian side.

Travel Visa

As a South African, you can apply for an E-Visa (normally immediate) and enter on your SA Passport.

Accommodation

I mean, this is largely depending on your reasons for visiting and budget. But something to consider is that Istanbul has insane traffic. For us, it would take up to an hour to drive downtown from our hotel. If you opt to stay further out, try organize a train ticket to avoid the road congestion.

Trains

Before visiting, I read that Istanbul has impeccable public transport and means of getting around. I’m sure it does, but here are some pointers I would’ve wanted to know too: There is a metro, and it came recommended because of its quicker travel time and cheaper cost. BUT the ticket machines don’t accept card, and we couldn’t find any staff to assist with a card transaction, so we couldn’t use the trains. In our case, an uber also worked out cheaper than buyer x4 train tickets. So if you’re traveling solo: bring cash.

Uber / Taxi

You can use your uber app to hail a taxi. It’s pretty likely that the driver will ask you to cancel the trip to rather pay cash. When this wasn’t possible for us, the gent either asked us to cancel the trip and find an alternative driver, or requested a large tip (to make up for the fees). Apart from this, I somehow felt safer taking a taxi in Istanbul than I tend to feel in SA, and it was relatively affordable.

Language

Kind of wild for me – normally I pride myself in understanding other languages, or get the jist of what someone might be saying. I also thought that, since I speak greek and understand the Cypriot dialect, I would have some advantage in understanding Turkish – what a humbling assumption. Not only could I not understand the text when reading, locals and I were not on the same page when speaking. My advice would be to (at least) learn some key respectful terms, like please and thank you, and then download the language to your google translate app (can be used without data). Majority of the locals would speak into Translate, and it would type up the english – and we would communicate back in the same way.
Here are some of the basic words:
yes : evet
no : hayir

thank you : teşekkürler

please : lütfen

Payment

Transactions: Cash is king. Apparently merchants are charged 22% on every card transaction, affecting margins greatly. Unlike in some mediterranean countries, where cash can be used as a bargaining point, cash is the expectation in Istanbul. Paying with card was close to impossible for many purchases.

Currency: The ZAR is stronger than the Turkish Lira, so it makes purchases more affordable (on average).

Tips: Although 10% gratuity seemed to be the norm, management would avoid adding the 10% onto the card transaction, so try carry cash for tips (at least).

Connectivity

E-sims didn’t seem to work well in Istanbul – I opted for a Vodacom Sim. If you do too, the airport charges a premium on the same deals as those offered by the Galata Tower, even though you normally need to show your passport to qualify. tip: download the city map onto your google maps, and the language for google translate – no data needed to navigate and communicate.

Dress code

I was told that 90% of the local population are Sunni Muslim – I packed (what I assumed would be) appropriate clothing, and brought multiple scarfs for when visiting some sacred places.

Things to do

If you have a few days in Istanbul, here are some of the things the city is known for:
* Rooftop, for sunset: while walking through the Galata tower area, we found this random entrance to a rooftop bar. By sheer luck, I think we found Galata Konak Cafe – a gem that has insane views of towers and city.
* Hamam, turkish bath: this was a work trip, so I didnt really have time for this but it was on my list. The reason being that many of the hamams have different times for female clients, and for male clients – the latter being after 16:00. But my male colleagues who had a chance to go absolutely loved it, and recommended this spot: Kılıç Ali Paşa Hamam
* Mosques: the most famous is the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia
* Markets: even if just to walk through, the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Route are cool to see
* Boat tour: you can tour the Bosphorus or along the Marmara Sea to the Prince’s Islands. In my opinion, I think the former is a much better way to explore in a limited time.
* Palaces: I didn’t know this but there are multiple palaces in the city, and they are incredibly beautiful to see.

Mosques

If you’re wanting to visit some of the mosques, be aware of prayer times and plan accordingly: in our case, we only had one free afternoon to visit the Asia Sophia, which happened to be a Friday. This just means that there is a backlog in the queue, and the visit was short because of the next prayer time. In terms of dress code, be sure to respect the local customs and be covered appropriately. In some cases, there might be muumuus offered, or you might need to purchase a (disposable) cover.

Markets and shopping

Very touristy, but cool to see the marketings (you might get proposals as you walk through, bless). The most famous are the Grand Bazaar and the Spice (Egyptian) Market. Our taxi driver said that haggling is a must and the way to phrase it is “I will buy this for X amount” and negotiate from there. Otherwise, if you ask “how much is this?” the merchant will inflate the price drastically to prepare for negotiating. To be honest, I didn’t have much time to shop to know the ‘market value’ for most items. To note: Istanbul is famous for its high fashion knock-offs. There is such a thing as high and low quality knock offs, and are priced accordingly.

Tourist traps

I had read about the ‘brush-dropping’ trick, but had a lady on our plane back complain that she got scammed. Basically, a gent will walk, drop his shoe shining brush – many tourists will run after him to give it to the man, and as a ‘thanks’ he’ll start cleaning your shoes, and then ask for a payment after.

Foods to try

* Turkish Coffee (read below)
* Halva Ice Cream – not the flavour, it is a semolina and sesame paste that is layered onto of ice cream, you also get a pistachio variant (a a premium)
* Pastries: baklava, loukoumi (turkish delights, try pistachio flavour), cheese pies etc.
* Döner kebab (similar to gyro/shwarma)
* Kumpir (stuffed potato below)

Coffee

Common misconception to be aware of: 
Turkish coffee is not like Arabic Coffee, it is basically the same as Greek/Cypriot coffee. Coffee is normally cooked on a stove/heat, and ready once brought to a ‘boil’, served with the coffee grounds in the cup. When ordering, pick if you want a single or double (size), and if you want with it black, ‘medium’ (equal coffee:sugar), or sweet.

‘Sin taxes’ and customs

Alcohol: The same way some countries are not allowed to advertise tobacco products, the promotion of alcohol is prohibited in Turkey. This doesn’t mean it’s hard to come across – most restaurants we found offered drinks, just at quick a high price.
Tobacco: Most locals smoke – the customs are not the same as SA, with designated / outdoor areas. God bless, a colleague had a fanny wobble when a lot of the local staff were smoking inside the convention center space.

Stray cats

If you’re a cat person, Istanbul will be heaven for you. The city is full of cats – and they all seemed well looked after and respected by the locals too (wholesome).