The slow crawl home: Istanbul: Tear gas and Ramadan.

I didn’t anticipate that my first night in Istanbul would give me an opportunity to experience tear gas first hand. Monday evening the protests started up again in Taxism Square after the park reopened for the afternoon and than quickly closed again.

The crowd of police was enough to make you feel slightly concerned. Their number surprised me particularly when the protest looked peaceful. Speaking to locals it seems they just want it to stop now. They have the park back and that is what they wanted in the beginning. It does seem like opinions are still very much divided.

Istiklal is a pedestrian only street crowded with people and tourists going about their day. It’s also the main hub for police to fire their water cannons and tear gas. Whether your part of the protesting or not, it doesn’t seem like the police care about who gets it. Elderly, children and myself all had red burning eyes. Milk is the only way to ease the pain.

I haven’t felt unsettled, as foreigners aren’t targets. But I have moved down to Sultanahmet, the old town of Istanbul and home to the Blue mosque and the dazzling Hagia Sophia.

Yesterday was the first day of Ramadan so the streets were quiet. A local market set up next to the Blue mosque offered every kind of treat that one would want to tuck into. Plastic dining tables lined the streets outside the mosque all ready for the locals to feast after midnight. Drinking Boza a local drink (made from millet, water, sugar and yoghurt topped with cinnamon) it was an interesting time to wander the quieter streets compared to Taxism.

It seems like Istanbul so far is far less conservative than expected. I guess it is a touristy area, but in Sultanahmet you can buy alcohol in stores lining the streets next to the main mosques. Woman aren’t as covered up. But as a Western woman you still get haggled. But this time I’m not given a price in camels.

Gobble Gobble x