istanbul notes

the air is humid. the smell is a mix of urine, food, cigarettes, and chlorine. streets are potholed and uneven, yet cars drive like they’re on a race track, and motorcycles tear through the traffic. everywhere you look there are people. everywhere. and cats. on every block.

despite the smell and chaos, there is a rare homely feeling everywhere you go. people smiling, chatting loudly. food everywhere. and every day, loud prayer calls blast over the city, as if announcing a world war.

initially the city was very odd to me. going from organized stockholm streets that are quiet by 9pm to utter chaos was overwhelming. but you get used to it.

below are some notes i took of things that surprised me:

1. everyone smokes. i knew people here smoked, but not this religiously?! it seems almost a hobby. anywhere you go you’ll smell cigarettes. coffee? not without a cigarette! picnic? not without a cigarette! socialize? not without a cigarette! [insert human activity]? not without a cigarette!1

2. there are stunning waters and seas around, but no one swims??

3. beautiful walkways by the water, and unlike the water itself, people actually used them.

4. people were wholesome and friendly. (i feel like everyone who travelled anywhere says this about where they went. it seems less about the place and more about human nature.) the only rude person i met was this one fat dude in the ferry station who pointed me to the wrong boat, then got mad when i told him he’s wrong.

5. the toilets… the “normal” toilets (that look like those in the western world) have this bonus feature of having a little nozzle sticking out of them (see left image below). then there’s a handle on the side that you turn, which makes water blast out of the nozzle into your ass. as if that wasn’t enough, if there’s no “normal” toilet, there’s usually one of these scary things you crouch over (right image below.)

1. streets are generally clean. but walking down any street you wouldn’t be surprised suddenly smelling poop for a block or two.

2. the traffic the traffic the traffic. people genuinely drove like they’re in F1. cool to see but idk how they manage it. in sweden, driving is the fun part. you get your license so you can roam freely and blast music. here it looked like pure survival. how is that FUN?!

3. there are cats on every block. sometimes dogs too. if you love cats, you’ll be in heaven here.

4. on the food. local places were fire. but in contrast to sweden, chain restaurants were ass. also, i found it very hard to find a salad or healthy food, which was surprising.

5. in total i saw 2, max 3, genuinely ripped people who looked like they hit the gym regularly. this was fucking wild to me. i would’ve guessed that due to the weather they’d workout MORE and be healthier, but apparently not. (probably related to the lack of salads and smoking habits..)

6. every day at 4pm or whatever there are loud prayer calls. very unexpected at first cause i had no idea this was a thing lol.2

7. no shirtless people, despite the heat. i guess it’s a modesty thing? different unspoken rules than back home maybe.3

8. people seemed oddly relaxed. in stockholm, people have this persistent hum of pressure to become someone, get the best job, out-achieve everyone. i didn’t really notice this here. (i realize there could be some selection bias here, and people just not talking as openly about their problems in turkey as elsewhere.)

   i’m not sure if it’s a blessing or a curse to be obsessively driven. but it was strange to see a city without it.4

all in all, it’s a city worth visiting, but probably not for long if you’re introverted. i wish i could bring some of the cats with me.