A TURKISH DELIGHT - THE PRELUDE – 9 NOVEMBER 2021

Ever since reading an abridged version of “Murder on the Orient Express” by Agatha Christie as a young boy I had been fascinated by Istanbul. Christie’s description of the Tokatliyan Hotel, where the famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot stayed, and its opulence is inimitable. The one on the banks of the Bosporus is still sought after and has been the setting for many famous novels, movies and shows. The fascination to tour Istanbul was further kindled by the 1974 screen version of the Christie classic that included an array of stars such as Sean Connery, Lauren Bacall, Vanessa Redgrave, Ingrid Bergman, Antony Perkins, John Gielgud, etc. A few lessons in the World History pre-university classes on the Ottoman Empire and its eminence served as a catalyst to jot down Turkey as a ‘must travel to’ country in my ‘Dreams List’. Despite being to 47 countries and relentless globetrotting since 2014, Turkey never happened. In fact, the road route I had initially planned in 2013 to London from Cochin was through Pakistan, Iran and Turkey. That never happened due to obvious reasons and I had to re-route via Nepal and China.

The global pandemic spiked all my plans of international travel. The July 2020 African PutFoot Rally was cancelled and so was the plan to drive in the Middle East. Except for two long drives in India (Rajasthan/Gujarat in December 2020 and Spiti Valley in July 2021) and a business visit to Dubai in February 2021 the previous 22 months were ‘dry’ and the ‘Dreams List’ remained unattended to. In July of 2021 I came across the heartening news that Turkey had opened its borders to vaccinated foreign travellers. I did not bother to check anything else and I took the Turkish Visa on line. It was the easiest visa I have obtained. If one has a valid US Visa one can obtain the on line Turkish visa in less than five minutes by paying a visa fee of $44. The visa validity is 6 months. Thank God, because after obtaining the visa I came to know of the quarantine requirements! Mercifully, I hadn’t yet booked airline tickets.

I waited a couple of months for quarantine restriction to be lifted and then it was cat and mouse with the airlines. I booked initially with Etihad at a decent rate of Rs. 57,500 for the round trip between Chennai and Istanbul. They kept cancelling flights for the dates I wanted to travel and finally I jettisoned Etihad and switched to Qatar Airways. Had I not done the booking through Rajiv Shah, my friend and proprietor of Network Tours and Travels, I would have not only been frustrated but may have even lost a lot of money. Hence, in these uncertain times I would recommend the intermediation of a reliable travel agent, for they can swing the best deals, date changes and even airport changes, as it happened with me. Istanbul has two premier airports, the Istanbul Airport (IST) and Sabiha Gokcen Airport (SAW), separated by over 75 kms. While IST is in the European side of Turkey, the latter is in the Asian side of the country. Initially Qatar Airways issued tickets to and from SAW. Later they changed it to IST for the dates I wanted. However, the finalised airline itinerary said that I would fly into SAW and fly out of IST. On the positive side, that was the way to experience both the international airports in Istanbul. 

While the flight tickets were being taken care of I finalised the itinerary. The round trip would be 20 days with six days halt in Istanbul. During the stay in Turkey I would be hiring a car in Istanbul and driving to a few important tourist destinations of the country. I had chosen the low season in Turkey for tourism. Small cars were available for less than $450 for 15 days, with zero deductibles and all else taken care of. Of course, fuel, tolls and fines would be extra. Once the itinerary was done, I booked hotels through booking.com through which I get 10-15% discount on the basic rate, as I have been patronising the site quite a bit over the past many years, starting with the 2014 drive to London. 19 nights in Turkey was estimated to cost me roughly $650 with breakfast and free cancellation till 48 hours of occupation.

”On the meeting point of two worlds, the ornament of Turkish homeland, the treasure of Turkish history, the city cherished by the Turkish nation, İstanbul, has its place in the hearts of all citizens” is what Mustafa Kemal Ataturk said of Turkey. The maker of modern Turkey turned the “Sick Man of Europe”, the sobriquet by which Turkey was known during the waning years of the Ottoman Empire, into a secular, industrialising country in 15 years of his rule till his death in 1938. The overarching importance he gave to education, public health and women empowerment has transformed the once Sick Man of Europe into an industrial powerhouse, which is the 11th largest economy in the world today on Purchasing Power Parity terms.

I read through a lot of material on the Internet and chose places to visit and attractions to savour. Of course, a 19 day trip is neither enough to travel to places I should nor was I going to see all there is to see in that magnificent country. I had read reports of travellers returning to Turkey many times over, some even yearly. That is the attraction of the country. You get drawn in by the cuisine, the culture, its history and most importantly, the hospitality of its people. I hoped to make this trip memorable, for what the future beholds no one knows. So, enjoy the here and now.