culture collide istanbul

In October 2017 I had a work trip to Rome planned, and when it came time to book flights the cheapest (although a bit out of the way) option from Los Angeles to Rome was to connect through Istanbul on Turkish Airlines. In recent years Istanbul had become one of my favorite places to visit, so I arranged my flights on the way home to spend 24 hours in Istanbul. There was no way I could connect through this city without stopping for a quick visit.

I flew to Rome, excited for my quick Istanbul excursion on the way home. As I was traveling a diplomatic spat erupted between the US and Turkey which caused Turkey to completely bar Americans from entering Turkey. Well shit. I quickly had to try and asses the situation and get as much information as I could so I didn’t get myself in a situation where I’m turned away at a border with no options. After calling the airline and the American consulate and researching as much as I could online, everyone seemed to think this current disagreement wouldn’t last long and the Turks would probably soon retract the restrictions, but nobody knew when that would happen. And as it stood, the order was firm, no Americans could enter Turkey, period. I even went as far as to try and change my return ticket, to skip my planned Istanbul layover and fly straight home since it seemed my 24 hours in Istanbul would be relegated to the Istanbul airport. It was super expensive to change, so I was exploring all of my options. When my work trip in Rome was finished and it was time to head to the Rome airport to fly to Istanbul I still had no idea what was going to happen. I was refreshing the US Embassy in Turkey website non stop to see if there were any update. There weren’t, I was going to have to spend 24 hours in the airport. So much for a quick little Istanbul photo adventure.

When I got to the Turkish Airlines desk in Rome I explained my predicament to the nice airline agent. I could tell her and her coworkers had been dealing with similar situations the last few days with the current travel ban in place. They (and I!) were just unfortunate bystanders in a Diplomatic pissing match. She pulled me to the side and whispered in my ear “Mr. Hendrix, you won’t find this information on any website, or in any newspaper, but I am hearing from my colleagues in Istanbul that the border guards have been allowing Americans that are arriving from non-US destinations to enter Turkey with no hassle” She explained to me the story of a Russian basketball team with some American players that was allowed to enter (basketball is super popular in Turkey) since they flew from a non-US airport. She suggested that I go for it. At this point I didn’t have any options, I was flying to Istanbul regardless, the question was were they going to let me enter the country or if I was going to cozy up in the corner of an airport lounge for a day or so. I walked up to the immigration counter, nervous not for my safety or freedom, just really wanting to spend the next 24 hours exploring one of my favorite cities and not exploring another airport. The guard blankly questioned where I was coming from and to see my boarding pass and I showed him my boarding pass from Rome to Istanbul and he stamped my passport, and I was free to enter Turkey. The headlines of the newspaper proclaimed that no Americans were allowed to enter Turkey and here I was walking through immigration with barely a question asked.

I have always been intrigued by Istanbul, even before I first visited. I always found it super interesting that half the city is in Europe and half in Asia. There’s middle eastern influence, but you aren’t in the middle east. There is Russian influence but you aren’t that close to Russia. It’s a melting pot of cultures and a crossroads of humanity that I was always interested in. It was a capital of Christianity, then the Islamic Ottoman Capital, and then the largest city in a new secular Republic. With the recent chaos in nearby Syria, Turkey has become a bastion of foreign diplomats, spies, opposition groups, NGO’s and refugee organizations which only adds to the mystery of this city.

One of my favorite views in Istanbul is from the Galata tower. This 650 year old tower stands precariously at the top of a hill in the Galata district at the end of an amazing maze of narrow alleys of little shops and restaurants. From the tower the view is the towering minarets, and the ferries going back and forth between the different districts. I tried to memorize the view, to remember the streets and alleys that looked interesting in every direction.

A Turkish skateboarder, who’s name I was familiar with but I don’t think I have met in person messaged me on social media, inquiring why I was in his city and asking if I needed anything and if we could meet up. I told him where I was and soon after was sitting in a cool open air Turkish restaurant explaining how I ended up in this part of the world. I love that skateboarding is an instant community no matter where I am in the world, regardless of language or religion.

The morning I was flying home I woke up well before sunrise to walk around Istanbul as it woke. I have always felt that the best way to see and feel a city is at sunrise. In Istanbul, the guys are already fishing off the Galata Bridge, the shopkeepers are sleepily opening their doors and preparing their shops, and the morning prayer rings out from the mosques. I was walking down a narrow alley when I found an amazing set of beautiful multi colored stairs. I took a few photos that I was really happy with, but I really wanted a photo of someone walking up or down the stairs. The problem was, it’s 5am and barely anyone is on the streets. I was posted up across the street with the stairs perfectly framed when someone finally walked up the stairs I was staking out. One shot, luckily got the photo. It made the week of stress wondering if I was going to get into Turkey worth it.