The moment I noticed, the blood drained from my face.
The guy earlier, on the second tap, didn't charge my card but charged his own. In other words, I was scammed.
That day began with waking up at 4:30 in the morning.
Five days in Yerevan, and then departure
I packed my bags, checked out, and took a taxi to Armenia's airport. I only stayed in Yerevan for five days, but it was a really interesting and wonderful country.
Everyone had good posture; it seemed the most fashionably refined of the former Soviet countries, and many people appeared to be proud of their country.
I checked in at the airport without trouble and treated myself to one last Armenian meal in the lounge.
Today is finally the day I'm going to Istanbul.
Travel is interesting because I haven't looked anything up.
I haven't researched anything yet and don't know anything. That's precisely why travel is interesting.
I arrived safely in Istanbul from Yerevan after about a 2 hour 30 minute flight. After passport control, I collected my luggage.
I first tried to connect to Wi‑Fi, but it asked for a phone number so I couldn't use it. I tried to buy a physical SIM, but it was absurdly expensive — about 4,500 yen for a week. With Turkey's ongoing inflation, I figured that's probably why. Reluctantly, I decided not to buy a SIM and make do on my own.
I was planning to take the train, so while walking that way I found a café with Wi‑Fi. They told me to buy something, so I bought a single pastry. They gave me the Wi‑Fi info and I connected successfully. After that I was able to buy an eSIM on Airalo without any problems.
The Istanbul Card trap
I decided to take the metro to get to the city center. The metro requires an Istanbul Card, and I didn't know where to buy one. There were two machines: one for a one‑day pass, and the other a regular machine with a long line. So I stood in that line too.
Istanbul was insanely crowded, and everyone seemed fully absorbed in their own lives. That meant I did not stand out and felt no sense of incongruity being there. It felt comfortable.
There was a casually dressed guy at the place where you buy cards, so I thought he'd show me. I actually bought a card and tried to top it up. Wondering how much I needed, the guy tried to load the highest amount without asking. When I asked, 'Does it cost that much?' he said, 'No, you'll need more to get there,' and made me buy another 500 lira and tap my credit card. I was so sleepy that I didn't care and went along with it.
Later, after getting on the metro and arriving at Sultanahmet, I realized: the guy had, on the second tap, charged his own card instead of mine. In other words, I had been scammed.
This was truly awful. But it was a good lesson. You should never trust people. This time I was scammed out of only about 1,500 yen, so it was an OK experience.
Ceva, who opened up in Russian
Then I arrived at the hostel. The receptionist was a Russian named Ceva, who was also Uyghur. She was very friendly and apparently lives in Moscow, Russia now, and she told me a lot about her life.
When she learned I could speak Russian she was very surprised and instantly became friendly. Before I knew it we had been talking for about two hours. I realized again that I like the Russian mentality.
When I mentioned I wanted to cut my hair and get a perm, she went out of her way to call her friend the hairdresser. She asked if it's possible to perm hair starting from this hairstyle, and I thought her initiative was insanely impressive.
Istanbul, way too expensive
In the end I couldn't find a hair salon. Well, I figured there's nothing to be done. I cheered up and set out to sightsee in Istanbul.
The streets of Istanbul after the rain.
I had lunch at Burger King, but what surprised me was how expensive it was. Croissants cost as much as 8 euros — unbelievably high. I arrived by train in the Kadıköy area, which is apparently frequented by local university students, but restaurant prices were still crazily high and I didn't feel like going into any of them. It felt like it might even be more expensive than London.
I went into a bookstore and enjoyed looking at some Turkish books for a little while.
I could hardly tell what was written.
A large mosque towered above, and it was very beautiful.
A cloudless blue sky.
Crossing the sea with the seagulls
I took a ferry to the other shore, and seagulls flew alongside the boat, making me think of Laputa.
Just like Laputa.
The ferry dock was crowded and I didn't know which boat to take, but a nearby man kindly told me. Even in the middle of a tourist spot there are people who kindly help — that's the Turkish people.
On the nearby bridge many people were fishing, apparently catching something. With so many rods it seemed the fish would be used to it and not come easily, but what they were doing was very fascinating.
The cloudless view was simply truly beautiful. Several mosques were visible, and that sight was also very beautiful.
After arriving at the other shore, I watched the sunset.
There were huge numbers of people and unbelievably many tourists, yet the scenery was very beautiful and romantic.
My first Iskender
For dinner I went into a restaurant in the Sultanahmet area and ate Iskender for the first time in my life.
As for the taste, it was incredibly delicious. Beef was placed on bread and butter was poured over it — an exquisite, perfect flavor. It was unbelievably fragrant and had a very deep taste.
The price was about 2,400 yen and extremely expensive, but it was right in the middle of a Turkish tourist area, so I accepted it as unavoidable.
Interestingly, in Istanbul there are a lot of cafés and restaurants without prices displayed, and they can be unbelievably expensive. So I felt again how important it is to always ask about the price first. Iskender has definitely become one of my favorite dishes. It's truly delicious — very fragrant and with a very deep flavor.
And then I walked through Sultanahmet at night and returned to the hostel.
