Bosphorus Cruise

Most of today was occupied with a cruise of the Bosphorus, from the Ferry Terminal at Kabatas up to Emergin.

First thing I have to mention is that I am really enjoying the approach of just turning up and jumping on things in this city. No online ticketing, no perpetual fishing for your email address or facebook details by sellers, no apps for this or apps for that. Just turn up, pay your cash and enjoy whatever it is you want to do. Even the transit card is like that... its just a card you put cash on, almost anywhere. No need to log on, sign up or any other such bullshit. It just does one thing, and one thing well, which is get you on just about any form of transit in Istanbul with no hassles at all.

My hotel's very able and helpful visitor relations manager must be getting tired of me turning up and asking how I book this or that, when the reply is always the same; just turn up or, if you want to be sure, just make a phonecall. Why the heck have we lost sight of this? One thing I've noticed is how complex I assume things have to be... if there isn't a complex booking option that requires all of my personal information, I get anxious. A silly learned response.

I've said a couple of times that I've had trouble getting around Istanbul. I should clarify. Especially after spending a week of getting around very easily indeed. Walking around this place is hard. It's busy, chaotic and not very friendly to pedestrians. But the transit is really very good. I've been on buses, trains, trams, ferries and even a funicular, and all have been very easy to use. So, when I say Istanbul is hard going, I mean on foot... and in this instance I am really comparing it to Rome, which is unfair. Rome is the most walkable city I've ever been to.

So, back to the ferry. It was a very pleasant and simple affair. It stopped in half a dozen places, where you had the option of getting off or staying on. If you jumped off, all you had to do is wait for the next ferry on the route and jump back on... by waving your plain old paper ticket that was bought with cash handed to a real human being back at the terminal. Simplicity itself.

Myself, I only decided to disembark at one place to have lunch, which was all the great value I've come to expect here. 

The real star attraction of the day was the strait itself. I'm not much of a sea dog, and I'm not used to a lot of large ships maneuvering in a really small body of water, so I found the constant movement of vessels of all shapes and sizes to be fascinating. More than anything else, seeing Bosphorus from the Bosphorus brought home what a vital waterway this is. From the ferries, to huge freighters and even a Russian destroyer being followed by a Turkish sub... it was all there, just as it has been for thousands of years.

Old and New

The small...

Sentinals

The large

The little suburb I had lunch in... down another leafy lane tucked in the shadow of that turret.

An evolving city

Russian destroyer

A Turkish sub trailing the Russian destroyer. At least, I think it's Turkish... I stand to be corrected (Trent?)

The Bogazici Bridge. I had originally intended to walk it, to say that I had walked from Europe to Asia. But really, who'd bother after you've sailed under it?

The growth and development in this city seems to be pretty rapid.