I finally have the time to write about Istanbul. Not that I've been busy with any mission to save the world (protests seem contagious in Africa) but I spent the whole day yesterday writing and submitting three articles on different topics. I'm taking some online journalism classes that I'm not sure where that would lead me because I'm not looking to join the circle but I just find it interesting and I love the writing part. We all know that looking back on our lives, we'll regret the things we didn't do more than the ones we did.
Back to Istanbul. It was probably one of the few smooth trips that we had. The flights were prompt and the public transports were easy to navigate. The only flaw was getting roommates from hell. Well, Korea actually. I think that was their first time backpacking because how else can you explain people speaking loudly and going in and out at 3am in a hostel room? Lack of common sense would be my second guess. One time they didn't even flush the toilet, eeeewwww. Did they honestly think their waste would magically vanish in the morning??? But even that could not spoil our time in Istanbul. It was even our little paradise with the abundance of adorable cats and finger licking halal food.
The Muslims there practise things a bit differently compared to what we know of. I won't elaborate because religion is a delicate line (which I'll stay away until my online journalism classes educate me on how to write about sensitive issues, heh!). It was however, a very fascinating observation in addition to the majestic mosques and wonderful people. We took a boat from the Europe side of Istanbul to the Asia part and a Turkish middle-aged man started talking to us. We hit it off right away, talking about our countries and families. At the end of the 30 minutes trip, he gave us his name card just in case we got into any sort of trouble in the city.
On another occassion, hubs and I were walking down a busy road when we were approached by a plump Turkish young man looking so gloomy that we had to stop. He asked us to visit his carpet and kilim store. You don't have to be a seasoned traveller to know at once that the man was going to trap us into buying something so we said no. We kept giving excuses such as we were students and we did not bring any money while he insisted that he just wanted us to visit to bring him luck. I don't know how we couldn't resist his invitation like we did with so many other street sellers in the city. Perhaps it was his sad eyes, or maybe God decided to open our hearts at that moment. So we followed him to his store where he introduced us to his father, an old but jubilant old man. Tucked away in a quiet street, they have not had a customer in three months. We started to regret our decision to come in when they happily served us homemade apple tea and talked about their collections that they bought from their fellow poor villagers. They inquired about us once in a while but we logically assumed that it was just a trick to make a connection in a hope that we would eventually purchase something but we politely went with it. Then they noticed that I was interested in one of the handwoven kilim bags. When they asked me if I liked it, I wasn't sure what to say as I naturally thought that by saying yes, they would make me buy it. I said yes anyway. The next thing that came out of the father’s mouth was not something we were prepared for, “Well then that is my gift to you”. Surprised, we promptly handed them the money but they refused and the father even gave us a big bear hug when he saw our distressed faces, “You are like my children so think of me as your father. Any trouble in Istanbul, you can come here. This is your home too. Keep your money, the bag is my gift to you. Just bring me a gift from Malaysia when you come back”. I had tears in my eyes the moment he hugged me and said those words. So if you happen to go to Istanbul, perhaps you can visit them.
Turker Ayaz
Binbirdirek Mah.
Boyaci Ahmet Sk.
No: 20/A Cemberlitas
Istanbul, Turkey
I wrote about the people because you can easily read about the history and main attractions on the world wide web but not the real gem of the country.
Back to Istanbul. It was probably one of the few smooth trips that we had. The flights were prompt and the public transports were easy to navigate. The only flaw was getting roommates from hell. Well, Korea actually. I think that was their first time backpacking because how else can you explain people speaking loudly and going in and out at 3am in a hostel room? Lack of common sense would be my second guess. One time they didn't even flush the toilet, eeeewwww. Did they honestly think their waste would magically vanish in the morning??? But even that could not spoil our time in Istanbul. It was even our little paradise with the abundance of adorable cats and finger licking halal food.
The Muslims there practise things a bit differently compared to what we know of. I won't elaborate because religion is a delicate line (which I'll stay away until my online journalism classes educate me on how to write about sensitive issues, heh!). It was however, a very fascinating observation in addition to the majestic mosques and wonderful people. We took a boat from the Europe side of Istanbul to the Asia part and a Turkish middle-aged man started talking to us. We hit it off right away, talking about our countries and families. At the end of the 30 minutes trip, he gave us his name card just in case we got into any sort of trouble in the city.
On another occassion, hubs and I were walking down a busy road when we were approached by a plump Turkish young man looking so gloomy that we had to stop. He asked us to visit his carpet and kilim store. You don't have to be a seasoned traveller to know at once that the man was going to trap us into buying something so we said no. We kept giving excuses such as we were students and we did not bring any money while he insisted that he just wanted us to visit to bring him luck. I don't know how we couldn't resist his invitation like we did with so many other street sellers in the city. Perhaps it was his sad eyes, or maybe God decided to open our hearts at that moment. So we followed him to his store where he introduced us to his father, an old but jubilant old man. Tucked away in a quiet street, they have not had a customer in three months. We started to regret our decision to come in when they happily served us homemade apple tea and talked about their collections that they bought from their fellow poor villagers. They inquired about us once in a while but we logically assumed that it was just a trick to make a connection in a hope that we would eventually purchase something but we politely went with it. Then they noticed that I was interested in one of the handwoven kilim bags. When they asked me if I liked it, I wasn't sure what to say as I naturally thought that by saying yes, they would make me buy it. I said yes anyway. The next thing that came out of the father’s mouth was not something we were prepared for, “Well then that is my gift to you”. Surprised, we promptly handed them the money but they refused and the father even gave us a big bear hug when he saw our distressed faces, “You are like my children so think of me as your father. Any trouble in Istanbul, you can come here. This is your home too. Keep your money, the bag is my gift to you. Just bring me a gift from Malaysia when you come back”. I had tears in my eyes the moment he hugged me and said those words. So if you happen to go to Istanbul, perhaps you can visit them.
Turker Ayaz
Binbirdirek Mah.
Boyaci Ahmet Sk.
No: 20/A Cemberlitas
Istanbul, Turkey
I wrote about the people because you can easily read about the history and main attractions on the world wide web but not the real gem of the country.
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