8/17/2023: Sabiha Gökçen Intl

Istanbul, Turkey

Getting into Istanbul was a trek. Our plan landed around 6:30 PM and we honestly thought this would be enough time to get back to our AirBnb, grab dinner, and settle down. Issue #1, there are two airports in Istanbul and one of them is significantly less convenient than the other. We happened to arrive in Sabiha Gökcen Intl, the less convenient airport. We had no idea what journey would await us.

We get in this huge ass line for passport control and start (albeit late) doing our due diligence. We quickly realized that after going through customs we would still be another hour+ away from city center. Kudos to cheap airfare? We wait in this customs line for 45 min - 1 hr until we get to the front and our passports don’t do the trick! We needed a visa to get into the country, yikes... Definitely our fault, but also the only time this has happened to us in the last 60+ days of traveling. So what of it? They probably mentioned something on the plane. We definitely could have googled it before. However, we can absolutely confirm that there was no signage indicating we needed a visa en route to the passport and customs check.

So they make us get out of this big ol’ line and go pay for a travel visa in CASH, $30 each! God forbid we didn’t have any old timers’ money on us. Can you fax cash yet or do you still have to post mail it?

The whole thing had put us in a mood. For starters, the security agent that originally checked our passports belittled us and put us on edge. We get back in the priority line for passport and customs control feeling awkward. After about 20 minutes, priority access sends us back. Even though we had waited in both lines AND paid for the visa in cash AND the visa guys told us to go in the priority line - apparently you have to pay another $25 each to stand there, which we hadn’t.

Extremely flustered and willing to make a ruckus, we get back in the hour long passport and customs line barely making fuss. We played some online rummy 500 to pass the time. Each of us had an absolutely dominating game against the other.

It’s hard to be hungry while you’re flustered but we managed to choke down a meal before catching the 10:30 PM bus towards city center. We arrived at our beautiful apartment before midnight and quickly put it all behind us.

~ J