Delightful Istanbul
Istanbul was a delight. What an unexpected surprise!
This country that spans two continents was never on my bucket list. I remember that on an exchange program many moons ago, I shared a room in a backpacker’s in Berlin with a girl from Istanbul. She told that if I ever went to Istanbul, that I should look her up.
Ye right, who wants to go to Istanbul? I can’t help to think that the joke is on me after recently having had the opportunity to visit this city. Not once but twice! And now I want to go back again!
Touristanbul
So how did I get to this city and how did I let it get under my skin? I was planning a solo trip to Italy. Checked for flights on different dates and times and departure and arrival cities. Every week or so I would check back to see if new flights opened up or if prices changed. One lucky day I came across a cheap flight with all my ‘checks’ in mind from Turkish Air.
I am a bit fascinated by planes and airports and started reading through their website and came upon a link for Touristanbul. I was curious and thought that the link would give me some tourist info and tips.
To my delight (see what I did here ? 😉) I found out that Touristanbul is the free tour service that is provided by Turkish Air for people on long layovers. I was so excited about adding an extra country to my vacation that I booked the longest layovers that I could find. (Tours differ depending on how long your layover is).
Reassurances
I booked my flights months in advance, and I did not give it more thought until someday someone mentioned terrorist attacks in Turkey. I did the google thing and found that there had indeed been a bombing at the airport. Great. Just my luck. This find prompted a bigger search related to safety.
What I found was very reassuring. First, they have excellent security at the airport. No-one can enter without being searched and sent through a scanner. Not even if you are dropping someone off or picking them up. I found out that the terrorist never got past the first door and therefore the rest of the airport was safe.
Travel forums also had nothing bad to say about the city. People were actually flabbergasted by the bad rep that Western Countries have given them. And I can attest to that. There is almost nothing to worry about. I have to say ‘almost’ because saying ‘nothing’ would be a lie. Just as saying ‘there is nothing to worry about’ in any other place in the world will also be a lie. Stuff happens. But not while I was there.
Visa
So after being rattled a bit and then coming un-rattled again, I was ready and raring to go again to this place that I never before thought about visiting. And by the way, getting a Visa could not be easier. You apply online. Just type in your info and Ta -Da! You have a visa (which is free if you are a South African. Bonus!! Wish more counties will give us the benefit of the doubt and let us enter without all the drama).
This is a very long-winded intro and I have not gotten around to the good stuff.
