![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/6942741119_c59ee765d9_z.jpg\" "\\"6942741119_c59ee765d9_z\\"")
<\/p>\nby Alex Berger<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I swallowed hard with an expression that was no doubt a mixture of delight and annoyance as I\u00a0suppressed\u00a0that small lump clawing its way up into my throat as the airplane descended the final few thousand feet before bouncing down onto the runway. The view out the window was unusual. \u00a0What I had initially thought to be part of the city\u2019s sprawl clarified into a veritable armada of dozens of merchant vessels all anchored in line, waiting their turn to traverse the Bosphorus.<\/p>\n
Before long the thick rubber tires of the Turkish Airways\u00a0flight were rumbling along the tarmac soon to be replaced by the high pitched squeak\u00a0of my shoes on the polished marble tiles of Ataturk International Airport. \u00a0Laden with my front and back packs \u2013 in total weighing just under 15kg \u2013 I wound my way through the airport\u2019s serpentine complex of tunnels, halls, and checkpoints in search of the metro. \u00a0It was relatively late. My flight landed just after 9:30PM. Darkness had long since fallen.\u00a0 I was experiencing that familiar feeling of slight anxiety over finding my way to my hostel, at night, through one of the world\u2019s largest cities. \u00a0As usual, I hadn\u2019t bothered to pick up a guide book or a map. \u00a0I softly chided myself and wondered \u2013 as I often do \u2013 if it had been a mistake. \u00a0No time to dwell, I eventually found a metro map and paused just long enough to trace my route and take a photo on my phone.\u00a0 With a map to reference it was time to take the escalator down and into the nearly abandoned metro station.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know what to expect. \u00a0In a conversation earlier on the flight I\u2019d learned that contrary to the 8-13 million person population I had expected via Wikipedia, the locals all placed the actual figure closer to 19\/20 Million. \u00a0Nearly double the size. \u00a0Guides, tweets, and other travelers had warned me that locals were friendly, but could also be obnoxiously pushy sales people and were prone to running scams. \u00a0I had a mental image of the\u00a0Hollywood\u00a0versions of the markets in Morocco or Mumbai, filled with in-your-face sales people, large throngs of humanity and more pick-pockets than tourists. \u00a0 \u00a0I was on my guard. \u00a0Shoulders rolled forward. Thumbs stuck in my front pockets. \u00a0I didn\u2019t expect trouble, but I was also\u00a0dead set\u00a0on making sure I didn\u2019t find any.<\/p>\n
As I waited for the train on the largely deserted platform, I repeatedly checked the map trying to figure out which side would take me in the right direction. \u00a0Most metro systems are similar, but there are always subtle differences that take a while to figure out. \u00a0Is it a zone system or does it work on a per-line ticket basis? \u00a0Does the train stop at midnight or run 24 hours? \u00a0How are the signs laid out? \u00a0Do they announce stops on the train or do you have to watch each station carefully? \u00a0As I worked to figure out each of these key pieces of information, I eventually approached a lone man standing near me and asked to confirm that I was in the right spot, for the right line, in the correct direction.<\/p>\n
Luckily he spoke English and was eager to strike up a conversation while we waited, answering my questions and gesturing that we should sit down. \u00a0The seats were in one of the darker parts of the station, towards the end of the metro line\u2019s tracks. He chatted away cheerfully and asked me questions about my visit. He seemed\u00a0friendly\u00a0and open. \u00a0I wasn\u2019t. \u00a0I was cautious and guarded, though still striving to be friendly. \u00a0But, I followed him the 10 steps or so to the benches and then stood making sure I had an easy route out and away if I needed it. I didn\u2019t. \u00a0As we chatted more and I got a better read on him, I grew more comfortable and eventually sat down \u2013 still paying close attention to my surroundings.<\/p>\n
Eventually the metro arrived and we boarded. He asked me again where I was going and I gave him the general station and route suggested to me by the hostel. \u00a0He asked what hostel. \u00a0I told him I didn\u2019t remember. \u00a0My notes said to transfer a few stations in. \u00a0He suggested taking the metro with him to the end of the line, then walking about 150 meters to the tram and mentioned it would cut about 20 minutes off my trip. \u00a0I glanced at the metro map. \u00a0Both seemed to make sense. \u00a0He had been helpful and friendly so far \u2013 so I agreed.<\/p>\n
We chatted about travel, women, and a taste of politics. All the while I stared out the windows taking in a late night view of Istanbul\u2019s strange mishmash of modern, semi-modern, and ancient architecture. \u00a0While my concern over being robbed or mugged had subsided he seemed a bit too friendly and too helpful. \u00a0In retrospect, I have to say my perception and reality had been poisoned by the stories I had heard\u00a0before my trip that biased my expectations. \u00a0 My new concern was that he\u2019d approach me for money or a tip in exchange for helping me get where I was going. An annoying routine I\u2019ve run into all over the globe. \u00a0So, with this concern in mind, as we reached the end of the metro line, and he offered to show me along to the tram station\/my hostel if I needed help I resisted saying I was fine and could find it\/didn\u2019t want to be an inconvenience.<\/p>\n
He insisted on walking me to the tram station at the very\u00a0least, told me we were in his neighborhood and asked if I wanted to get any food or a beer. I thank him and told him I\u2019d eaten and needed to check into my hostel as soon as possible, as it was already nearly 11:30PM. \u00a0As we walked through the snow he gave me his number and told me to give him a call if I had any issues or wanted to connect for a tour around the city.<\/p>\n
As we came up on the street tram he explained how it worked. \u00a0I expected that this was when he\u2019d hit me up for some sort of tip, as he asked me one more time if I was\u00a0comfortable\u00a0finding my way the last leg to the hostel. \u00a0I nodded and thanked him graciously for all his help and the delightful conversation, and then fumbled in my pocket for one of the tram tokens I\u2019d purchased at the airport. Before I could find it, and to my complete shock and surprise, he pulled out his metro pass and swiped it for me, and motioned for me to enter.\u00a0 I was stunned. \u00a0Not only had I not been hassled and hit up for money, my first encounter with a local was friendly, engaging, and helpful in every way. I was grinning from ear to ear.<\/p>\n
This wonderful experience confirmed once again why it is important to always travel with an open mind\u2026to be\u00a0friendly\u00a0to the people you meet and evaluate\u00a0each situation on its own merits. For my part, I\u2019ll strive to pay his kindness forward and return the favor as I see other travelers struggling or in need of a helping hand. \u00a0 Remember, you always hear horror stores about a destination, its people, or the experiences you might expect to encounter but, the reality is often vastly different. \u00a0For many of us, the nature of our experiences is based on a self-fulfilling prophesy. \u00a0Choose to give people the opportunity to surprise you, and quite often they will in wonderful ways.<\/p>\n
The remainder of my trip to my hostel was uneventful. \u00a0I arrived a bit after midnight with a smile on my face and with my perception of what to expect from the Turks completely re-set and re-framed. Despite the snow falling outside, my mood was as bright as a summer day. \u00a0Istanbul and adventure called\u2026but first, I needed a good night\u2019s rest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Alex Berger I swallowed hard with an expression that was no doubt a mixture of delight and annoyance as I\u00a0suppressed\u00a0that small lump clawing its way up into my throat as the airplane descended the final few thousand feet before bouncing down onto the runway. The view out the window was unusual. \u00a0What I had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":52241,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1094],"tags":[102],"class_list":["post-52240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tourism","tag-istanbul"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}