The Istanbul Story

During the training period of a prestigious course for which members are nominated after careful scrutiny, they are sent abroad to explore wider issues of common concern and visit industrial, administrative and financial establishments of the host countries .  Spouses are permitted to accompany .Groups are formed and allotted countries to visit.

From Dubai we were scheduled to go to London. We’d decided to fly the Turkish Airlines – Türk Hava Yollari - and the flight wasn’t a very memorable one .The only reason we chose the airline was because it was giving us a stopover at Istanbul .The same airline would take us to Heathrow. We’d woken up in the wee hours of the morning in Dubai and were tired and sleepy and hungry upon landing at the Mustafa Kemal Atatürk airport in Istanbul. The travel agent hadn’t specified the ‘food preference’ while booking the tickets, so the ‘vegetarians’ couldn’t do anything but chew on buttered rolls.

 
  The Yellow Taksis

Istanbul has a lovely Middle Eastern and European charm - the Golden Horn, a narrow inlet of water dividing the European side from the Asian, the minarets seen in the skyline, the canary yellow taksi (reminding us of Kolkata’s taxis), the lovely blonde women .We were told that women resort to using hair colour to lighten their dark hair as it reinforces their European origins as opposed to their Asian one. Most Turkish men are content with their natural hair colour. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk based the Turkish civil code on the Swiss civil code, which was the most progressive at that time and promoted the emancipation of women. Turkey, unlike Iran, has a very rich democratic life. There are very few Indians there, mostly Pakistanis.

 
The Blue Mosque - Sultan Ahmet Mosque

As we reached the Grand Hallic hotel, we found that a reception tea had been organized in the lounge –juices, cakes, pastries and what not! What really pleased me was that tea was called ‘chai’!  I was to learn later that the Turkish language and Hindustani have many words of Urdu origin that were common. One of our ‘vegetarian’ friends (who was really hungry by this time), asked the steward for vegetarian (eggless, I presume) biscuits much to the stewards consternation!! What ensued was hilarious! Our friends ‘bina anda ke’ and ‘no egg biscuit’ and the steward’s gesticulating hands and Turkish sentences added to the confusion. Both the steward and our friend were linguistically challenged and unable to carry out a conversation. Two bars of chocolates resolved the issue!

The Defence Attaché in Turkey had specially flown over from Ankara to show us around. We were grateful for his presence because not only did he speak fluent Turkish but also guided us on what all to see and in this way we could see a lot more in such a short time. The manager of the hotel was kind enough to allow us the use of internet facilities free of charge. Once we learnt to navigate the Turkish script, it was easy going. What we didn’t realise was that our mail (typed in English) had gone in the Turkish script !! Turkish is written using the Latin alphabet minus the q, w and x (instead, these characters are replaced with k, v and ks). It also includes these five letters: Ç, Ğ, İ, Ö and Ü.

 
   The Kapali Çarşi 

At the Kapali Çarşi or Covered Bazaar, we learnt that Euros, Pounds and the Turkish Lira were the currencies used and almost all shops had chalk-written notices on the current rate of exchange. On seeing us, the shopkeepers shouted out,

“Hind ? Hind ?”  
“Amitabh Bachan !”      “ Salman Khan!”

We saw the most exquisite lace work and prohibitively expensive too. The Grand Bazaar, as it is also known, is quite like our Red Fort market in Delhi.We tasted hazel nuts( a major export)and soft and chewy lokum  (Turkish delight). We bought some Turkish evil eye bracelets and curios like miniatures of Ottoman and Turkish soldiers, and whirling dervishes.We walked a lot  and ,on seeing something picturesque, stopped to take pictures.  Like the ones below!!!

 

   Pretty girls at a Simit and Pizza Cafe

 

  Are these real ?

 

 

The best way to see the mansions and summer palaces was to cruise down the Bosphorus. The Bosphorus strait separates Asia and Europe while connecting the Marmara Sea and the Black sea.

 
View of a Mansion


The Police Escort

We had a leisurely time and could recoup our flagging energy. We saw a police boat trailing us and on making enquiry we were told that it was our escort!!!

 
A Maykhana on Istiqlal Caddesi

From the hotel that evening, we walked towards theTaksim Square and then up to Istiqlal Caddesi, which had cafes, pubs and meyhanes (maykhanas?) or taverns. No vehicles, except for trams are allowed here, for it’s a predominantly pedestrian street. Hundreds of people were walking up and down, enjoying the beauty of the evening. Plenty of Efes bira (beer) and raqi (an  anise-flavoured alcoholic drink) flowed. There was no head-covering in sight. Musicians entertained the crowds at the open-air taverns. It seemed that no one was in a hurry to go anywhere. The air was thick with cigarette smoke. Later some of us excused ourselves to ‘powder our noses’ and found, upon our return, that our husbands had been propositioned! ! It seemed that at night, in the fashionable alleys leading off Istiqlal Street, pimps, touts and prostitutes invited lone men to the meyhanes .We pub hopped and generally had a good time. The day’s activities and bira began to catch up with us – it was past midnight- we’d been up since 4.a.m. It was time to sleep.

 
Topkapi Palace

The next day we visited the underground cistern or Yerebatan Sarnici where, it is said, that certain scenes of the James Bond movie – From Russia With Love – were filmed. Then we went to see the Hagia Sophia which was used as a church for 916 years and then as a Mosque for 481 years and finally opened to visitors as a museum! The Topkapi Palace is in close proximity to the Blue Mosque or Sultan Ahmet Mosque. The mosque is the only one in Istanbul with 6 minarets. The Süleymaniye Mosque faces the Golden Horn. We spotted ring-shaped breads covered with sesame seeds being sold on the streets and on enquiring were told that Simit,as it is called, is on the top rank among the simple pleasures in Turkish food. 

 
Hagia Sophia


TheYerebatan Sarnici or underground cistern 

The Defence Attaché told us that a visit to Turkey was not complete if one did not visit one of its famous night clubs. He was kind enough to organise an evening to an exclusive night club in Istanbul - Orient House - on Tiyatro Caddesi No. 27 in the Beyazit area. He said that it offered all the authenticity and glamour of traditional entertainment of the Ottoman Sultans. There were many other places where one could enjoy an evening of belly dancing ….some were sleazy, some had transvestites but Orient House was one were most dignitaries were taken. It is a sophisticated choice for an unforgettable entertainment in Istanbul......

Whirling Dervish , Orient House

Orient House is located in the heart of the Old City in Istanbul, right next to the Grand Bazaar, and only 5 minutes away from Topkapi Palace. We dressed for an evening of undiluted fun. As we assembled in the lounge ,waitingfor the others, we were surprised to see our Afghani friend without his wife. When he was asked why she wasn’t accompanying him to the night club, he motioned with his forefinger across his neck – implying that she’d probably slaughter him for going to a ‘haram’ place!! So she’d best be left out and not told!

 
Folk Dance , Orient House

We were greeted by a traditionally dressed butler. We were given the best seats (maybe due to some prior liaison work by our aforementioned countryman!). Other nationalities at the club included Koreans, Japanese, Brazilians, Americans, Israelis, Venezuelians etc.The order for drinks and cocktails was taken (on the house, but up to a certain limit) and hor -d -oeuvres consisting of salads,cold cuts and cheese were placed before us. The band started playing a Turkish tune and we witnessed a most amazing cultural programme. It began with the mystic whirling dervishes, then the folk dancing followed by the Ottoman Janissary Band performance– their flowing red capes and drum beats were impressive indeed.

During dinner, with bated breath we waited for the belly dancers to perform …and we were not disappointed! Not one, but three of them performed. Towards the end of her performance, the extremely beautiful, curvaceous and creamy skinned dancer named Onahan (a university student), swayed across to our group leader and lavished all her attention on him. She placed a walking stick on his head and asked him to jiggle!!! He being a relatively senior person, tried to get out of it, but in vain - the more he resisted, the more she persevered! All nationalities cheered him on and only after he gave a feeble jiggle did she let him be .The embarrassed look on his face said it all !

 
Belly Dancing , Orient House

It was the turn of the ladies now. An absolute charmer of an M.C. drew a mixed group of ladies (thankfully we’d finished our dinner) onto the dance floor and taught us the basics of belly dancing. Then he insisted that we perform solo in the centre of the stage. At the end of it all, we were awarded certificates! What a befitting finale to our last evening in Istanbul.

My certificate !!!
I used mspaint to morph my blog name !