Day 1: historical Istanbul, Türkiye

I finally got in bed around 3am and was wide awake.  I had no firm plans while in Istanbul so since I was wide awake, I checked the weather.  The weather looks rainy every day but today.  So I booked a walking tour for 1pm.  That is less than 10 hours and I'm running on empty.  I have had Istanbul on my travel list for decades so I am excited but also cautious since it is a very different culture than I am used to.  The tour I picked stopped at the main places I wanted to visit . . . which was good because it was crowded and we skipped the line to enter!

Basilica Cistern

Blue Mosque . . . my first ever visit to a mosque.  It was packed with tourist.  It was free to enter.

Hagia Sophia . . . massive and not as crowded probably because had to pay to enter.

I was very tired but it was so nice to be outside and really helped with my jetlag!  The tour was just okay. It got me inside the three places I wanted to visit but other than that wasn’t great.  They give you an earpiece to hear guide talking and it was awful; didn't fit and kept falling off and couldn't hear guide. The guide just sort of took off and had to keep up.  Our group started small with only 6 people and then he picked up about 20 more so it was not ideal.  It was getting dark and my comfort level was not high so I headed back to the hotel.  As I walked around I noticed cats were everywhere!

And this is where my day sort of hit a rough spot.  I walked up to a taxi driver to get a ride back to my hotel.  I noticed there was no meter so I asked about the price.  First mistake was getting in before I noticed no meter.  He said oh traffic is so heavy it will be 102€, and I said absolutely not.  At this point, I knew I had made a huge mistake.  I was tracking our movements on my phone and knew if we went one way the traffic was not bad; I was not nice and a bit rude but knew I had to speak up!  I started taking photos of his taxi number with threats of reporting him . . . not that he cared.  I knew I just needed to get out of this situation so it was settled on 45€, which was still a ridiculous amount of money.  I was starting to get a bad vibe and feel uncomfortable.  As we were about a block from the hotel he asked for my card to pay.  I said no at hotel.  He pulled over across the street from my hotel and would not drop me off in my hotel driveway.  I was really starting to feel uncomfortable and that maybe my safety was at risk.  My life is worth more than 45€ so, I  handed over my card to pay.  He was a total ass and ended up charging me $60!  So I checked the block of being scammed by a taxi in Istanbul on my first full day.    

The moral of the story is if you ever visit Istanbul do not ever walk up and get a cab.  Do NOT do it . . . book your cab on Uber.  I was talking to the bellboy at the hotel and telling him about my experience when he told me you can book a taxi on Uber . . . in fact when you book on Uber you can only get a taxi.  They give you a price range of the trip and the driver can not charge more than what the app says.  So lesson learned . . . but on my first day and I have a feeling this will haunt me for days!  

As with any higher end hotel, the food is expensive so I headed to the club lounge for free drinks and snacks!