Crossing Continents

Taking public transport between two continents to catch a train...

It's not something you would do everyday, nor something you could even do in most cities in the world. But until the Marmaray Project is completed here in Istanbul, everyone casually takes the frequent, reliable and cheap ferry trip across the Bosphorus Strait in order to make the relatively modest step across the continents of Europe and Asia. On my way to Istanbul's Haydarpaşa Station, on the Asian side of the city, I used the city's efficient tranway service to get from my Hostel in Sultanamhet to Kardikoy (80p one way) and then bought another one way ticket (not interchangeable with the tramway) for another 80p.

I felt like I was the only one in the waiting room of the ferry terminal who seemed to have this 'buzz' of transcontinental excitement... But many Istanbul-ians live on the Asian side to save on extortionately high rent prices in the more central part of Istanbul and commute across the water every morning. Certainly beats a sweaty, cramped tube!

Once you get on the boat, you find a seat (outside somewhere on the side always gave you a great view) and it is a very relaxed atmosphere. Taking a boat at night is a very different experience to a trip during the day. Istanbul's skyline is punctuated by countless minarets, instead of the usual skyscrapers, but by night many of the bigger buildings are fantastically well lit up.The Bosphorus bridge has an ongoing light show which is great to watch, but I can imagine driving across this bridge could become very disorienting...!

Of course (like everywhere in Istanbul), there is a tea guy (not his actual title) who goes around and well, it does taste awesome so it's always great to have some of that. You can even get quick meals on the boat, which could make having breakfast early in the morning a much easier process when you have a 20 minute ferry ride to relax on...

 

Arriving at the train station (yes it is literally next to the sea!), some people immediately start running from the ferry to catch their respective commuter trains. For me at least, this was a great way to travel from the more tourist friendly European side across to Asia so that I could get on my night train to Ankara.

The station was the in the best we had seen so far and extremely clean. The people working there were also eager to help us get on the right train! It goes to show that sometimes crossing continents isn't such a big deal after all.