theatre of the absurd: Istanbul, part I - prelude and a sneak peek of the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque

The incomparable Ayia Sofia

EDIT: Just for context, I have added this story here again.

The bus to Istanbul from Plovdiv was a six hour ride without toilets. We made a stop at a small Bulgarian bus station, and as they did the driver and conductor got off to have a smoke. I went to the toilet, but because I don't have change, I pay with a 10 lev bill, which is basically 5 euros. The woman at the toilet till only gives me back 4 lev, which is about 3.5 euros short. I argue with her but she doesn't speak English. I give in to the fact that I've probably been scammed, and run back to my bus to see the doors closing and the bus leaving. I wave frantically and the driver finally opens the door with a smile. I get on, only for someone to come after me saying that there was a problem with the toilet woman and I can't leave. I start panicking and make a scene, and ask if anyone here speaks English. A normal looking guy in his twenties, who's also a passenger, comes up to me and says that there's a problem with the toilet woman and says I need to get off the bus to sort it out. He assures me that the bus won't leave without me. I ask him if he can come with me,and he says of course and puts his arm around me and goes down with me. Another Bulgarian man, this time a middle aged Slavic guy, also follows us off. He goes up to the toilet woman and angrily takes my missing change from her, rebukes her in Bulgarian, and gives it back to me with a smile. The young man hugs me and says everything was just a mistake. The conductor comes to ask me if everything is okay.

--

After the incredibly unpleasant incident with the toilet woman in Bulgaria (ugh why must they do this), my nerves were pretty frazzled, and this was not made any better by the bus being stopped because of the visa problem. At this point a lot of the people had gotten off the bus, and at first I took advantage of the free WiFi from the nearby gas station, but after I'd gotten my internet fix, I frowned and turned around to the young man who had been so nice to me during the toilet incident.

"Do you know why we've stopped for so long?" I asked him.

"It's a problem with the.." he stopped and frowned, and took out his iPhone (it was really jarring to see an iPhone here, eastern Europe isn't exactly a place where you see loads of Apple products..) and looked up the word he wanted, "the visa. The bus doesn't have the correct visa sticker and they're being fined now, so they're trying to ..." he paused to look up the word in on his Google Translate again, "negotiate the terms."

"Didn't realise you could do that," I said. He gave me a small smile. "It's Eastern Europe here," he said. "Everything is negotiable."

I went back to my seat, and tried to use the charger allocated to my seat, but it was broken. I tried asking the middle aged woman sitting behind me if I could use the charger in her seat instead, but she was extremely unhelpful and, when I gestured at her charger, shook her head vigorously and pointed at my own. "But it's broken," I snarled at her. My patience was wearing very thin at this point and I was sick to the back teeth of how incredibly rude some of the middle aged people (usually women, unfortunately - so much for feminism and looking out for other women) this part of the world could be.

"You can use mine," the guy called from behind, who had been following our exchange with a slightly furrowed brow.

"That would be really helpful, thanks," I said, going over and plugging in my phone.

"It's a rough day for you, isn't it?" he said. I laughed dryly. "Tell me about it."

We talked a bit more, and it transpired that he was from Turkey, Ankara, but was studying in Plovdiv, and he was going to Istanbul to catch a flight back home. He was my age, and a Leo, and was in his last year of medical school. He was also very good looking.

The first hour rolled into the second, and he went down to ask why it was taking so long. He also walked me to the restroom, and when I was done I walked around the supermarket a little and bought some stuff to eat. I didn't have enough money with me, but the cashier girl said it was okay and let me buy anyway. This kind of thing does happen from time to time in Eastern Europe, and it always brightens up my day a little bit when people extend small kindnesses to you whilst you're on the road.

At long last we got going, and we managed to arrive in Istanbul about two hours later than the original schedule. The Turkish guy had unfortunately missed his flight, but there wasn't really anything he could do about it except shrug and move on, which was what he did. I asked him if he could stay for a little while longer whilst I sorted out my travel tickets and currency. Turkey isn't really the sort of city a you want to be on your own, if you're a young solo woman. He agreed immediately, and took care of all of my transactions, and was just marvellously helpful overall. He walked me to my platform and wished me good luck on my travels, and I stepped onto the metro and went off to my hostel.

Istanbul transport is bewildering and a little overwhelming, even for someone as travel-hardened as me, and I was beyond relieved when I finally managed to arrive in the Sultanahmet, the neighbourhood of the famous Hagia Sophia (or Ayia Sofia as they call it) and the Blue Mosque, which was where my hostel was located. It was dusk by then, and the calls to evening prayer rang through the neighbourhood. I stopped by to take some pictures and to take in the fact that I was finally standing there, in the heart of Constantinople.

After I checked in and had dinner I went out to walk around the Old Town. Istanbul was surprisingly chilly, and I had to get out my other jacket, but it was nice, walking briskly around with the cold April wind blowing on my face.

More to come.