A City of Contrasts - Extremes of Wealth and Poverty (Istanbul)

Member Name: petehall

Product:	Istanbul
Date:	03/04/02 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fascinating sights, a wealth of culture

Disadvantages: Rampant inflation

Beggars hold out their hands in desparation as they sit outside the Topkapi Palace. Inside there are millions of pounds worth of emeralds, rubies and diamonds. An 84 carat diamond set in a gold mount and surrounded by 79 brilliants (these are what they call the relatively small stones that are worth little more than our average house) is displayed in a glass cabinet and the entire place is bursting with almost unseemly wealth. Meanwhile, the people scratch for a living. You walk across the Galata Bridge and a child approaches with his entire stock of cigarettes (two packets) hoping to sell you one for a few pence profit. If he doesn't sell them quickly the rate of inflation will render them worth less than he paid for them. Have you seen the exchange rate? You get around a million lira to the pound, it was 30 when I first visited in 1979. Another child, or maybe an adult, offers to sell you a couple of raw fish displayed on a tea plate whilst others sit at the side of the road begging. If you see a car less than 30 years old its probably a tourist, and most of the others are taxis. I saw a motoring shop with some bald tyres in the window and a price tag on them - the canvas had not completely worn through yet so they were obviously considered to be roadworthy (compared to some of the taxis they were).

This is certainly a city of extremes, and not just those of wealth and poverty. The area around the Topkapi Palace and the Blue Mosque is tired and run down, whilst the area around Taksim Square is more modern and contains most of the tourist hotels. The trafic here is unbelievable - don't expect them to stop at pedestrian lights, they won't even stop for policemen. Then there's the contrast between the European and Asian sides of the city, forever separated by the Bosphorus. I went for a week at Christmas but was surprised to see frozen puddles in the park as I took my morning stroll. It gets very hot here in summer so I guess autumn or sprin
g would be good times to visit. We did most of our exploring on foot, but I must admit there were one or two occasions when we didn't feel too safe, especially down the back streets of the old town. Yes, I'd go again, but only for a couple of days at most.

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