Thoughts on leaving the Caucasus
I’m leaving today for Istanbul by Pegasus Airlines, on a cheap ticket bought many months ago. For a change, I’m flying into the new second airport on the Asian side rather than the original Ataturk airport on the European side.
Now that I’ve had a taste of both Georgia and Armenia, I can’t help making a few comparisons. These have been the subject of discussion with other travellers and there are some differences in opinion but it appeared that:
- Georgians seem a bit more gruff and disinterested when on the job. There were few people sleeping at desks and also grumpy drivers.
- Georgians are more European looking on the whole even though their appearance range from white to very Iranian/Turkish. People tend to be a larger built too.
- Tbilisi has a big city feel with plenty of character. Yerevan now seems rather plain with some delightful pockets near the Opera House.
- Georgia is a lot more touristed than Armenia. It does appear though that Georgia has lots of tourism from the neighbours including Russia. Armenia on the other hand has closed borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey.
- Georgians seem to speak more Russian when I tune in to people’s conversations. Even amongst themselves.
Georgia and Armenia have some things in common though:
- Gas pipelines are above ground. They kink up and down as it goes down the street to allow headroom for intersections and driveways!
- The people have a mutual distrust of each other.
- In both countries, Cyrillic signage is being phased out together with the Russian language in favour of English.
One thing that stood out with Georgia is the issuing of a kinda tax invoice for nearly every purchase, often right down to a bottle of water or a cash fare on a minibus. These are little barcoded printouts from a machine like credit card terminal. I’ve asked, and there are big consequences for not issuing them. Some street vendors that don’t issue them instead write the transaction in a book.
No wonder Georgia is one of the most transparent countries in the region. It does feel like a more up-and-coming country more than Armenia, which is more laid back and friendly.
Moving on to Istanbul
The flight from Batumi to Istanbul’s second airport took under 2 hours. It was uneventful but rather jerky with acceleration, deceleration, climbs and descends; not sure if it was the plane or the pilot or weather. I’ve flown often enough to realise it isn’t the normal pleasurable inflight experience.
The city’s second airport, Sabiha Gokcen, is awfully far from town and not well served by public transport. I had prebooked a shuttle on the internet which costs EUR15 (but EUR10 in reverse). I was met by a kid with a placard while his Dad waited at another exit for other customers. The ride took 1 hour to Taksim Square and a further 30 minutes within the city to get to my hotel in Sirkeci, near Sultanahmet.
I noticed during the ride that Turkish car plates don’t carry their national flag as with the other countries’ (or an EU flag with the EU countries). I find this quite strange as the Turks are quite proud of their flag. I wonder if they’re leaving the space blank in the hope of being able to put an EU flag on in the near future!
Walking around town to drop off my laundry and to grab a bite, a couple of things struck me:
- There are lots of Arab tourists here. Some 21 years ago, it was mainly Europeans. I guess it is the explosion of budget airlines like Pegasus, flydubai and Air Arabia that’s making travel more affordable for all.
- For an internationally touristed city, there isn’t much signage in English. Many signs for public transport and services are only in Turkish. And not many people speak English; I seem to not recall this from my first visit in 1992.
I tried getting an Istanbul Kart (rechargeable contactless public transport card). I couldn’t get one at my local station as the machine had run out of them. So I paid a cash fare using a jeton (token) to get to the hammam. I walked back past various stations, trying a total of five, and had no luck. Finally, I found a food kiosk that sold one! What a performance!