When I found out my pandemic adventure was going to include spending twenty hours in Istanbul airport, between flights, I was obviously not happy (for various reasons). I guess one of the reasons was that I didn’t imagine a very welcoming space, but rather something (at best) functional. Another reason was that spending money would be inevitable and it wouldn’t be cheap.
Thankfully, I wasn’t right on all accounts. Yes, things cost a bit more than I imagined they would outside the airport, but the airport itself was more like a mall than anything else.
But, before I looked around airport and figured out how I’d be spending all that time, I needed to get online ASAP. While there was some limited free Wi-Fi access, it wasn’t enough, so I just paid the €8 for unlimited access for 24-hours. The most urgent matter was that I needed to book/confirm my place in a government quarantine site in Taiwan.
There weren’t any major challenges during my time in the airport, but my biggest frustration was related to the supposedly free hotel accommodation.
Apparently, because I had a layover of more than 12 hours, I was eligible to get a free room in the airport hotel. However, since I had a South African passport, I was not eligible to leave the airport (which would be necessary to enter the hotel). While that was annoying, the frustration only lasted a few minutes, because I focused on the fact that, despite the limited options when it came to flying out of South Africa last month, I managed to get a ticket and it was cheaper than the ticket on the Qatar Flight that got cancelled. So, I was just grateful to be on my way.
As I said, the airport resembled a mall, so there was lots to eat and drink, as well as opportunities for shopping. So, after something cold to drink I decided to relax in one of the (free) lounge areas (basically just an arrangement of chairs, sofas etc) for a while, but then remembered reading something about Sleep Pods being installed at the airport. I asked around, found them and paid for 4 hours in one – the price varied throughout the day, but it cost €6 per hour when I was there, plus an extra €2 for a pillow and blanket. It was definitely worth it – I got some sleep, without people milling about around me and (as is unfortunately somewhat typical for someone who’s lived in South Africa) I didn’t have to worry about my luggage “walking off”.
After that, I had a burger meal from Popeye’s (first time I tried their food), browsed the shelves of the duty-free stores, had some Turkish coffee, had another bite to eat with a local beer on the side and stopped at a clothing store to get one or two things (including a neck pillow).
All in all, it was a mostly uneventful day, which was welcomed after the chaos of my last day in South Africa… and there would be more chaos to follow (I just didn’t know it yet).
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