Easter holidays 1973

At the time this adventure happened, I was living in Paris, France (there are several Paris in the world, hence the need to specify the country), studying French and had decided to spend the Easter holiday in Iran, and going there, the most obvious intermediate point of interest to me was Istanbul, so I booked my flight Paris – Istanbul – Teheran and return.

In 1973 I was rather an inexperienced traveller and it did not occur to me that if you plan to stop in a city for several days, the best is to book a hotel room, so I had not done so. Upon arrival to Istanbul international airport, that at the time, over 45 years ago, it was just a big tin structure without all the modern refinements of waiting rooms, special pass control channels for different groups of passports and the like, it was just a place where you walked from the plain, there were three or four counters, tried to find the less crowded and queued to have your passport stamped, of course provided you had the corresponding visa. Thereafter you walked to recover your suitcase, go through customs control and finally board the bus that will eventually take you to Istanbul. On the bus I met some of my fellow passengers and since we had to wait a bit until the bus was full, we starting talking – the “we” being two Portuguese young women, a French young man, whose names I do not remember, some middle age Turkish passengers returning home and myself. Quite quickly the subject was accommodation in Istanbul. The Portuguese women had reserved a decent hotel – so they said – in the centre of the tourist area of the city, the French guy did not have any reservation but had been give some addresses in town, the Turkish guys were going home and I …. was left wondering what to do.

While in Paris I had had contact with a considerable number of Turkish young men that worked in the residence where I was staying. Most of them were correct, but I had always the feeling that they were trying to see through the clothes of the nice and pretty women around and that left me with a very uneasy feeling in Istanbul, when I realized I was alone and would need to look for accommodation on my own. I asked the Portuguese women if I could share their room, and they agreed provided of course, I paid the part of my extra bed, but once in the hotel, I realized the price went slightly beyond my budget so I continued the search with the French guy, who said he had been given a couple of addresses in the old town that he would explore and he did not object to my tagging along and take advantage of his savvy knowledge, so my problem was resolved, so I thought.

After the bus left the Portuguese ladies in their hotel, we continued and next stop was the old town, so we alighted from our chariot and pulling our suitcases walked looking for the address the French guy had been given. We walked through rather dark streets, not much regarding streetlights, it was late in the afternoon and natural sunshine was gone. We were surrounded of narrow, gray and shabby buildings. If the reader has seen the film Casablanca with Humphrey Bogart you can picture where I was, but without Boggy!!

We finally made it to the first address and went up a dark, damp, gray and uninviting stair to the first floor, where we found the “reception” of the establishment and asked if they had a double room. Of course they did, so up we go another flight of the same dark, damp, gray and uninviting stairs and add to that stinking, as we got closer to the communal toilet. Key in hand the receptionist opened a room with two beds, a lavabo and a corner that passed for the shower. The price was reasonable and within the limits of my budget, so I decided to take it. The French guy asked the receptionist if they had another room for him. “Of course, come with me” was the immediate answer and up they go again. In the meantime I had almost started opening my bag when they returned and the French guy explained to me that the room he was shown had 8 beds and when asked if he could have it on his own, the hotel guy explained that those beds were going to be used by late arrivals or his relatives, but he could get the bed at a cheap price.

In “my” room, speaking in French that we hoped would not be understood by the receptionist he explained to me that I had two alternatives: a) we stayed together in this double room, for one night only and the following morning we would go and look for the other address; or b) he would go now, alone and I would be left there, also alone. It was the first time in my life that I was facing such a dilemma, but it did not take me long to realize that it would be better/safer to share the room with the French guy than to be alone, “at the mercy of unknown and shady looking characters”, so I agreed and after making sure our bags were locked, we went out for a snack but soon realized that the area we were in was not the best to find a snack, so we returned to our luxurious accommodations and I decided I would not sleep, and be vigilant all night long, just in case. The following morning, after “not having slept”, I woke up and nothing had happened, my bags were still locked and I was still ok.

We packed and decided to leave as soon as possible, looking for the other hotel the French guy knew about. We made it there, the place was not much better but it was morning, so with natural light it looked much better. We got to the reception desk and asked them for a room – this time we decided we could share the room, save some money and also keep company as protection against any danger.  The man said, “yes, we have, please follow me” and there we go, he opened a room that for the few nanoseconds we were there, looked big and well lit. He approached the bed, pulled the sheets open and told the two men that were sleeping or the like “get out, these two need the room!” which we immediately denied, left the room, the hotel and our hopes to find a cheap and decent room in old Istanbul.

It was so early that very few cafes were opened, but a break and a Turkish coffee were urgently needed to consider our options. During the coffee we figured that the airlines had to put the crews in decent but not expensive hotels, so we went to the airline we had used in coming to Istanbul – PanAm that ceased to exist over 20 years ago! Once there we explained our problem and they gave us the name and address of the hotel they used for their crews and assured me it was a decent place.

So there we go, another pilgrimage walk to the hotel. We finally got there and what a change, at the reception they confirmed the availability of rooms and the prices were reasonable, although at this stage of the trip, I would have gladly paid more for a room that what I was ready to do the previous night. I immediately agreed on the price of a single room and when I submitted my passport for the compulsory registration, the clerk saw I was Mexican and was very happy as he had worked sometime in Mexico and was happy to see a Mexican “honouring” his establishment and I must confess, so was I. Meantime the French traveller decided he would still try his luck at the youth hostel, his last recommended address, before committing funds in a proper hotel. I did not go with him and we parted our ways.

I took a long shower and was getting ready to go out and discover daytime Istanbul when my phone rang – who could call me in Istanbul in the middle of the morning?? The reception desk informed me that a French gentleman was asking for me, could they give him my room number and allow him up. I said yes and was not too surprised to see Frenchy again, explaining that the youth hostel had not been much better than last night experiences, so he had decided to stay in my hotel, in his own room. We agreed that for the few days we were going to be together in Istanbul, during daytime each one would explore the town on his/her own and we would meet at the hotel for the “visit Istanbul by night but not alone” part of our experience.

For the three days I spent in Istanbul, that was the program, it worked very well as we both wanted our independence but we were not very reassured during the night to be alone exploring that magnificent but big and noisy city that sits in Europe and Asia, with a long and very interesting history that you can read in any good history book. I enjoyed it, despite or because the night looking for a cheap room in mysterious Istanbul.