Exploring another era

THERE are places one loves before ever seeing them. Istanbul, an ancient metropolis astride two continents, is a good example, conjuring up romance and mystery, a marriage of east and west, both exotic and familiar to western eyes.

So I was already half in love with Istanbul as our minibus lurched across chaotic lanes of traffic from Ataturk International airport. Gleaming high-rise office complexes, crumbling ancient walls, threadbare neighbourhoods clinging precariously to hillsides, and a multitude of minarets looking like finely pointed giant pencils looming in the distance, flashed past.

There are surprises around every corner. One minute you may be window shopping next to stylish young women in micro skirts and 10-inch heels, the next downcast shrouded females in black burqas are hurrying past. The Istanbul ‘Luas’-style public transport crammed with commuters is but a street removed from the hamals (porters) hired to carry enormous loads on wooden pack frames trudging through narrow, cobbled lanes as they have done for centuries.