Beneath her Skin-An alternative guide to Istanbul

Well, as a start, you haven't seen Istanbul if you haven't been to Taksim. The covered bazaar, the bosphorus, the mosques, the museums, they're all wonderful sites to see. But Taksim is where the city's heart beats. It's like the Champs Elysees of Paris, or the Times Square of New York. The region between the Taksim Square and Tunnel, with Istiklal Caddesi (a car-banned avenue) starting at the former and ending at the latter, is the jewel center of interest in Istanbul. You can find anything here: Trendy shops, local cuisine servers, theaters, hundreds-years-old apartments, pubs, businessmen, prostitutes, couples in romance, homeless kids-anything you can dream of. If Istanbul is a woman, Taksim is her face.

Quick Tips:

1. Keep your money in a safe place, and don't expose a large amount of it outdoors. Istanbul isn't a specially dangerous place, but wealth is low and you really don't need to provoke the 'street people'.

2. Open your eyes! Istanbul is most probably quite different than any other city you've seen. Strange sights are common, and you don't want to miss any of it. Check out abandoned-looking historic buildings, the friendly people who are always willing to interact with foreigners, the amazing souvenirs, and the lively 'underground' life at Taksim.

3. And a final quick tip: Do bargain whenever you buy something that hasn't a price tag on it. And you can still bargain for things with price tags, excluding obvious things like newspapers, cigarettes, beer, maps, etc.

Best Way To Get Around:

Public transport is very cheap in Istanbul, but the buses are almost always crowded (and I mean crowded!) and somewhat dangerous for foreigners; pickpocketing or sexual abuse are not uncommon. If you are not on a tight budget, taxis are the most comfortable way of transport though make sure the driver turns on the fare-meter when you get on and it reads 'gunduz' at day and not 'gece', which is the night fare, and more expensive. 'Dolmus', which are usually vans, are a good solution if you're not that rich. They work on the most used routes and are considerably cheaper than taxis, though more expensive than buses. Walking for moderate distances is strongly advised: Breathe the city! And two last remarks:

1. Don't rent a car! The traffic is extremely chaotic, especially for a European or North American.

2. Use the maritime boats when crossing the Bosphorus! You'll most probably get stuck in jams if you take a wheeled form of transport. And the breeze of the Bosphorus is a must to be experienced.

It's a small restaurant with a friendly atmosphere. You can chat with the cooks, who are also the waiters, and they'll gladly share their recipes with you. The prices are absolutely affordable, and the menu consists of classic Turkish dishes like pilav(rice), dolma(various vegetables stuffed with minced beef and rice), cacik(yoghurt,cucumber,garlic), and many more authentic dishes. Some of them I hadn't tasted myself before :) So it's the ideal place to meet the Turkish cuisine. There are only several tables at the restaurant, but you may join a table if there are enough empty seats for you. Or you may wait until someone gets up, and chat with the cooks meantime. Warning, it's considered rude to sit or relax here after your meal is finished, due to the limited number of tables. If you want specific directions to the restaurant, contact me, because it's perfectly hidden among the backstreets of Taksim.

Saray is where you can taste the famous desserts of the Turkish (and Ottoman) cuisine. They serve other traditional meals like doner, pilav, kofte, etc, but their specialty is desserts. There are about, I think, 30-50 kinds of dishes available as dessert. They price around $2-$5, but I put the per person info above higher because I'm sure you'll want to taste as much as you can. Maybe better go there with a group of several people. That way you can all order different dishes and have a taste from each other's plates.

A few must-taste-its from me:
Baklava, Kadayif, Tavuk Gogsu with ice cream on it, Kazandibi, Ayva Tatlisi, Asure.

This bar is located in a historic building at one of the side entrances to Cicek Pasaji. The name Gizli Bahce means 'Secret Garden', and the bar really has a balcony/terrace that's furnished like a garden corner. The inside rooms are decorated with second hand, big, comfortable armchairs. The music is alternative, indie, drum-n-bass, and the likes of Portishead, Placebo, Garbage, etc. It's one of the favourite relaxing spots of local 'no-future' type youth. But it's perfectly safe, I've never seen a single fight or anything like that here in the last 3 years.

Cinaralti means 'Beneath the Plane Tree'. They really have a few plane trees in the good sized garden at the back of the bar. The garden part, crowded with perhaps slightly numerous tables, is the favourite side of the bar when the weather is good. However, romantic couples who desire to be left alone tend to prefer to indoors entrance lounge. Music is rock, pop rock, and other classic sounds like Bob Marley, or Doors, or Depeche Mode, etc. A couple years ago the bar was a home to unemployed or weakly employed youngsters. But nowadays the average customer has higher limits, middle age guys with suits and briefcases are not uncommon anymore. Still, Cinaralti serves both groups.

Well, here's one ragged hole of a bar. It's not really a hole (I'm just cracking literature); it has three floors actually. But they're all quite small, and not many places to sit. Many people prefer to drink standing here anyway. The place used to be very, very crowded, with all kinds of losers, including drug dealers. But continuous police attacks cropped the dirty bits more or less. There are occasional fights, and the tables aren't always clean. But I like this place, and if you like such places, this is for you. It's not a really dangerous place, just try not to get too drunk, and keeping your passport with you (in a safe place, of course) might be a good idea in case police might come and hold an ID check. After all, it's recommended for adventurers. By the way, the name Calinti means 'Stolen'.

A spot from the Asian side of Istanbul. Akmar Pasaji is a two floor covered shopping arcade with numerous small shops. The main interest here is punk/rock/metal music related items. There are lots of rare CD's, live performance videos, badges, t-shirts, posters, old long play records, etc. The shops are all run by guys of the same ideology anyway, so it's quite a friendly environment. There are two small cafe/bars in the arcade, and people just come here and hang around. It's kind of like a meeting point. There are also a lot of jewelry shops, mainly silverware, like rings, earrings, badgepins-whatever you can think of-and the prices are very moderate. Other things sold here include exotic material like incense sticks, lucky charms, a few antique booksellers on the upper floor, musical instruments, etc. There are even some tattooists! Pay a visit if you happen to find yourself in Kadikoy.

Nargile.. That's a very old tradition, coming from the Ottoman period, and probably passed over to them from its Arabic addicts.
It's tobacco like you've never smoked it before. Nargile is like a big vase, with a hose attached to it. There's distilled water in the vase part. On top of it, secured in an air-tight attachment is a roll of tobacco.
The traditional tobacco is called 'standard tombeki', but there are a variety of tobaccos available nowadays, like apple, mint, cappucino, etc.
Glowing pieces of coal are placed on the tobacco roll, which is covered usually with aluminum foil. You then attach a mouthpiece to the hose bit. Yeah, right, then you inhale. The smoke from the tobacco passes thru the water, leaving it's tar and bitter taste in it. The smoke that comes into your lungs is much cleaner than cigarette.
No paper burning, for one thing! The smoke, especially of the flavoured ones, isn't very thick..or sharp. I don't know how to describe it exactly. And it does last a long time, for about an hour. Usually tea, or Turkish coffee is drink while smoking. The effect isn't very shocking if you are a cigarette smoker, but the taste is quite different, and it doesn't feel as much of a burden as cigarette.
Imagine smoking cigarettes for an hour or so! You'd drop dead, suffocated. With nargile, it's no big deal. Even non-smokers can give it a try. I'm told it causes slight ooziness, but definitely not sickening.
In the old days, people used to mix opium with the standard tobacco, and smoke it in 'underground' cafes. I think De Quincey tells such a scene in 'Confessions of an English Opium Eater'.
Water is widely consumed along with nargile, in addition to the caffeine or tea. But eating anything is considered amateurish.
And finally, where can you find a nargile?
Well, there are nargile cafes in touristic places, such as the Sultanahmet region where there are lots of mosques and museums and such sights. But when I go nargile smoking I smoking the cafes at Tophane. It's near Taksim, for one thing. And the nargiles are more authentic than the ones meant for tourists.
I'd recommend Tophane if anyone wanted to give it a try. You can enjoy yours, and watch a few of those old, gray-haired addicts that still suck to their nargiles.
It's a lifestyle, after all, and a most hedonistic one :)