Freelance in Turkey
It so happened that in cozy St. Petersburg I was not particularly bothered by anything, and my soul wanted a change of atmosphere and new discoveries. Wikipedia with a list of countries and their visa regimes, airbnb and aviasales, went into action. The task was to find a country with a non-Slavic culture, warmer weather conditions than in central Russia and a cost of living that would not exceed my usual in St. Petersburg.
Thus, the choice fell on Turkey. The argument is simple - why not? I am not too serious and meticulous person in terms of a thorough study of my future habitat, so part of my choice was from the bald.
I ran an airbnb run in search of shelter. There are quite convenient and simple filters to search. In my case these were:
- Istanbul;
- a separate room in the apartment;
- up to 25 thousand rubles per month rent;
- location as close as possible to the city center.
Let me explain these criteria. I am an extremely social person, in contrast to the prevailing stereotype of introvert programmers, therefore, I don’t mind sharing a roof over my head with my neighbors and living in a busy area.
')
The main thing you should look at when choosing housing on airbnb is the number of reviews about the owner. The fact is that it seems unreal to screw reviews, since the tenant and landlord can leave feedback to each other on the site only after the rental period has expired.
I quickly got a nice room for a modest 19 thousand rubles a month, about two of which will go into the pocket of the above site. No need to sign any paper, the site assumes all responsibility. Naturally, it is suspicious, but a survey of often traveling colleagues around the world led to a unanimous one, which is worth using.
Honestly - this is not an advertising post, it just seems to me that this information will be useful.
After making the rent payment, I waited for the answer of the landlord, who decides whether to inspire me or not. Therefore, it is important to fill out your profile, so that the owner could make an opinion about you.
I was very lucky. The owner was a forty year old, extremely pleasant man. As it turned out, earlier he was also a freelancer and was engaged in graphic design. Then he decided to retire and bought himself a house, the apartment of which he now rents to foreigners. The house is one of the old copies of Turkish architecture, consisting of four floors. On each floor there is an apartment consisting of four rooms, a bathroom, a living room and a kitchen. 1-2 people can live in each room. Two - in the case of close bodily relations, for the bed in each room is one. Ali (the name of the homeowner) was surprisingly caring and a great person. He conducted a tour of the house, gave a guide with maps of the city, a set of bath accessories, a password from wi-fi. On the fridge glued an A4 sheet with a simple list of house rules. Everything is intelligible and understandable. You can pull him on any issue, he is always happy to help. The water in Istanbul, according to Ali, is of terrible quality, so it can only wash and take a shower. For all the rest, delivery of cooler bucklings is made. Ali himself occupies the entire fourth floor, but his presence, in principle, is not noticeable. As neighbors, I got two Germans and two Germans. Economics students. The guys are not very talkative, they study a lot, they are rarely at home. Girls arrange hen parties on weekends with beer and karaoke.
I will give a couple of photos of the apartment for a general presentation.
Bathroom and common kitchen.
Common room
My room with a balcony
Then I will try to present the presentation in the order of collision with the details.
Somehow I missed this moment, but let it be here. For citizens of the Russian Federation, a visa is not required for stays up to 60 days at a time. Within six months in Turkey can not be more than 90 days without a visa. So the option of a one-day trip abroad for a three-month stay prochanet.
The local operator TURKCELL offers conditional unlimits with whistles like Beeline and Megafon. Prices about 35-70 lire per month. The speed is cut after 4 gigs of traffic. I didn’t become wise and stopped at the option “out of the box”, which was supplied with the rental housing. Speedtest gives just such a picture:
The owner is afraid that this is the best Internet in the city. We are content with what is. Voice and video calls, surfing without problems. Watching video is adequate only on YouTube. Directly for working moments - enough.
By the way, at Ataturk airport there was no free wifi. There were a lot of closed points and two open points that, when trying to connect, requested the bank card details. There are a lot of points in the city. Open not met.
For a month of stay here in the subway did not go down. I prefer walking and taxis. The cost of a token on the subway is 4 lira. Since bus routes are unknown to me, I will not tell you anything about them. Classes of buses, by the way, vary. For the most part these are squalid loaves of the type of our liazes. But in the more "wealthy" were noticed and Mercedes. There are double-decker buses, very similar to London. The traffic is very heavy. A lot of traffic jams. More than two lanes in one direction, I have not seen. Is that on the bridges 4 lanes in one direction. As for the taxi, Ali strongly advised not to catch private traders. They can "take me out of town and never return." Only yellow default cars. Work on a taximeter. Built into the rear view glass. Very interesting solution.
What is remarkable, I'm going on the tariff number 1. When landing in a taxi counter starts with three and a half lire. Dripping at a rate of about 1 lira per minute. Maybe a little slower. If you sit in a taxi at the airport, the counter begins to drip from scratch, but at the tariff number 2, which is about two and a half times more expensive than the first. So from Ataturk Airport to the central region of Beyoglu, I got over 60 lire.
According to various sources, it is reported that this is a historic district of the city. There are really a lot of interesting "old" pieces like dilapidated walls, mosques and other attractions. In general, there is something to see. I was lucky to live on Istiklal tourist street. Judging by the posts on tourist sites, the street has a rather bright history with the participation of other countries, thanks to which it has become a tourist street with many shops. True, most of these posts are extremely pompous written and correspond little to reality.
Well, first of all, the street is extremely crowded. It stretches from Taksim Square to the music district. Throughout the street, a huge variety of shops with clothes, restaurants, books, perfumery, vintage cafes, souvenir and shaurmyachny. It was also noticed three Starbucks, two burgers, two McDonald's. There are no grocery stores on the street.
I found one mini market on Taksim Square and another one on the music street. These are small self-service shops with carts and two cash desks at the exit. Near the very street Istiklal, of course, a huge number of adjacent lanes. Here you can find shops with essential products: bread, water, juices, soda, cookies, convenience foods. Prices for all quite high. But the deeper into the lane, the cheaper it goes without saying. Bread is unchanged. One lira. Everywhere. Meat - beef and chicken. Beef is expensive and disgusting. Vegetables are cheap. Sausage expensive and inedible. Tastier and cheaper to eat in small restaurants.
Urn is very small. One urn for every 500 meters. Throwing a bull on the ground or savoring a hunk on the asphalt for a Turk is the norm. You can smoke everywhere. Many policemen who go constantly with a cigarette in his mouth. In service - rubber truncheons and MP5 pukalki in characters higher leveled. Sometimes I noticed something like AKSU. In addition, consulates of several countries are located on the street. I remembered Russian and Croatian. At the entrance to the Russian Gypsies constantly hang out, but sometimes small groups of Russians.
Every 50 meters you can buy a fresh bun, baked mussels and chestnuts. The price is cheap.
In Taksim Square, in principle, there is nothing. There are mainly located 4+ star hotels. In the alleys of Istiklal many hostels, coffee shops and simple residential apartments. On the porch of each institution they drink sweet tea from one hundred cups of coffee. I saw a lot of booths on the street with an electric burner for brewing such teas.
Musical street is also an interesting place. There are dozens of stores with musical instruments, a number of electronics stores, a couple of tattoo parlors, many tourists and non-formals.
Often I see this knight. It seems nothing advertises. But dancing and fotkat with tourists. Funny type. All rollstand shops are decorated with graffiti. If you walk down the street early in the morning before the stores open, then it looks like a harlem.
A pack of cigarettes - 7 lire. Not very cheap. I bought a hookah for 65 lire. Tobacco - 5 lire. Coals 5 lire. He began to smoke less cigarettes.
And now a little bit of irony regarding our beloved homeland. The Russian consulate is the only building with barbed wire on the fence.
At nightfall, Istiklal is gaining momentum. In every second lane a nightclub is found. The places are very small. 150 squares from strength. Plays Turkish house or live music in restaurants. I consider myself a music lover, I have nothing against nightclubs, but I did not like it. Prices for beer grow 5-6 times at night. I did not see any other alcohol at all. Neither day nor night.
In the business districts with skyscrapers (yes, there are several such) I haven’t been drifted yet, but on the whole the city doesn’t look very rich. Almost all the streets are tilted. Very narrow roads and streets. Many banks, even sber found. On the streets a lot of beggars and Gopnik. But the latter are quite harmless. Would I like to stay here for a long time? Definitely not. But as a temporary change of scenery is a very good place. I miss Russian cuisine and pork. Any questions will be answered in the comments.
Thus, the choice fell on Turkey. The argument is simple - why not? I am not too serious and meticulous person in terms of a thorough study of my future habitat, so part of my choice was from the bald.
I ran an airbnb run in search of shelter. There are quite convenient and simple filters to search. In my case these were:
- Istanbul;
- a separate room in the apartment;
- up to 25 thousand rubles per month rent;
- location as close as possible to the city center.
Let me explain these criteria. I am an extremely social person, in contrast to the prevailing stereotype of introvert programmers, therefore, I don’t mind sharing a roof over my head with my neighbors and living in a busy area.
')
The main thing you should look at when choosing housing on airbnb is the number of reviews about the owner. The fact is that it seems unreal to screw reviews, since the tenant and landlord can leave feedback to each other on the site only after the rental period has expired.
I quickly got a nice room for a modest 19 thousand rubles a month, about two of which will go into the pocket of the above site. No need to sign any paper, the site assumes all responsibility. Naturally, it is suspicious, but a survey of often traveling colleagues around the world led to a unanimous one, which is worth using.
Honestly - this is not an advertising post, it just seems to me that this information will be useful.
After making the rent payment, I waited for the answer of the landlord, who decides whether to inspire me or not. Therefore, it is important to fill out your profile, so that the owner could make an opinion about you.
I was very lucky. The owner was a forty year old, extremely pleasant man. As it turned out, earlier he was also a freelancer and was engaged in graphic design. Then he decided to retire and bought himself a house, the apartment of which he now rents to foreigners. The house is one of the old copies of Turkish architecture, consisting of four floors. On each floor there is an apartment consisting of four rooms, a bathroom, a living room and a kitchen. 1-2 people can live in each room. Two - in the case of close bodily relations, for the bed in each room is one. Ali (the name of the homeowner) was surprisingly caring and a great person. He conducted a tour of the house, gave a guide with maps of the city, a set of bath accessories, a password from wi-fi. On the fridge glued an A4 sheet with a simple list of house rules. Everything is intelligible and understandable. You can pull him on any issue, he is always happy to help. The water in Istanbul, according to Ali, is of terrible quality, so it can only wash and take a shower. For all the rest, delivery of cooler bucklings is made. Ali himself occupies the entire fourth floor, but his presence, in principle, is not noticeable. As neighbors, I got two Germans and two Germans. Economics students. The guys are not very talkative, they study a lot, they are rarely at home. Girls arrange hen parties on weekends with beer and karaoke.
I will give a couple of photos of the apartment for a general presentation.
Bathroom and common kitchen.
Common room
My room with a balcony
Then I will try to present the presentation in the order of collision with the details.
Visa regime
Somehow I missed this moment, but let it be here. For citizens of the Russian Federation, a visa is not required for stays up to 60 days at a time. Within six months in Turkey can not be more than 90 days without a visa. So the option of a one-day trip abroad for a three-month stay prochanet.
the Internet
The local operator TURKCELL offers conditional unlimits with whistles like Beeline and Megafon. Prices about 35-70 lire per month. The speed is cut after 4 gigs of traffic. I didn’t become wise and stopped at the option “out of the box”, which was supplied with the rental housing. Speedtest gives just such a picture:
The owner is afraid that this is the best Internet in the city. We are content with what is. Voice and video calls, surfing without problems. Watching video is adequate only on YouTube. Directly for working moments - enough.
By the way, at Ataturk airport there was no free wifi. There were a lot of closed points and two open points that, when trying to connect, requested the bank card details. There are a lot of points in the city. Open not met.
Public transport
For a month of stay here in the subway did not go down. I prefer walking and taxis. The cost of a token on the subway is 4 lira. Since bus routes are unknown to me, I will not tell you anything about them. Classes of buses, by the way, vary. For the most part these are squalid loaves of the type of our liazes. But in the more "wealthy" were noticed and Mercedes. There are double-decker buses, very similar to London. The traffic is very heavy. A lot of traffic jams. More than two lanes in one direction, I have not seen. Is that on the bridges 4 lanes in one direction. As for the taxi, Ali strongly advised not to catch private traders. They can "take me out of town and never return." Only yellow default cars. Work on a taximeter. Built into the rear view glass. Very interesting solution.
What is remarkable, I'm going on the tariff number 1. When landing in a taxi counter starts with three and a half lire. Dripping at a rate of about 1 lira per minute. Maybe a little slower. If you sit in a taxi at the airport, the counter begins to drip from scratch, but at the tariff number 2, which is about two and a half times more expensive than the first. So from Ataturk Airport to the central region of Beyoglu, I got over 60 lire.
Beyoglu (BeyoÄźlu)
According to various sources, it is reported that this is a historic district of the city. There are really a lot of interesting "old" pieces like dilapidated walls, mosques and other attractions. In general, there is something to see. I was lucky to live on Istiklal tourist street. Judging by the posts on tourist sites, the street has a rather bright history with the participation of other countries, thanks to which it has become a tourist street with many shops. True, most of these posts are extremely pompous written and correspond little to reality.
Well, first of all, the street is extremely crowded. It stretches from Taksim Square to the music district. Throughout the street, a huge variety of shops with clothes, restaurants, books, perfumery, vintage cafes, souvenir and shaurmyachny. It was also noticed three Starbucks, two burgers, two McDonald's. There are no grocery stores on the street.
I found one mini market on Taksim Square and another one on the music street. These are small self-service shops with carts and two cash desks at the exit. Near the very street Istiklal, of course, a huge number of adjacent lanes. Here you can find shops with essential products: bread, water, juices, soda, cookies, convenience foods. Prices for all quite high. But the deeper into the lane, the cheaper it goes without saying. Bread is unchanged. One lira. Everywhere. Meat - beef and chicken. Beef is expensive and disgusting. Vegetables are cheap. Sausage expensive and inedible. Tastier and cheaper to eat in small restaurants.
Urn is very small. One urn for every 500 meters. Throwing a bull on the ground or savoring a hunk on the asphalt for a Turk is the norm. You can smoke everywhere. Many policemen who go constantly with a cigarette in his mouth. In service - rubber truncheons and MP5 pukalki in characters higher leveled. Sometimes I noticed something like AKSU. In addition, consulates of several countries are located on the street. I remembered Russian and Croatian. At the entrance to the Russian Gypsies constantly hang out, but sometimes small groups of Russians.
Every 50 meters you can buy a fresh bun, baked mussels and chestnuts. The price is cheap.
In Taksim Square, in principle, there is nothing. There are mainly located 4+ star hotels. In the alleys of Istiklal many hostels, coffee shops and simple residential apartments. On the porch of each institution they drink sweet tea from one hundred cups of coffee. I saw a lot of booths on the street with an electric burner for brewing such teas.
Musical street is also an interesting place. There are dozens of stores with musical instruments, a number of electronics stores, a couple of tattoo parlors, many tourists and non-formals.
Often I see this knight. It seems nothing advertises. But dancing and fotkat with tourists. Funny type. All rollstand shops are decorated with graffiti. If you walk down the street early in the morning before the stores open, then it looks like a harlem.
A pack of cigarettes - 7 lire. Not very cheap. I bought a hookah for 65 lire. Tobacco - 5 lire. Coals 5 lire. He began to smoke less cigarettes.
And now a little bit of irony regarding our beloved homeland. The Russian consulate is the only building with barbed wire on the fence.
At nightfall, Istiklal is gaining momentum. In every second lane a nightclub is found. The places are very small. 150 squares from strength. Plays Turkish house or live music in restaurants. I consider myself a music lover, I have nothing against nightclubs, but I did not like it. Prices for beer grow 5-6 times at night. I did not see any other alcohol at all. Neither day nor night.
In the business districts with skyscrapers (yes, there are several such) I haven’t been drifted yet, but on the whole the city doesn’t look very rich. Almost all the streets are tilted. Very narrow roads and streets. Many banks, even sber found. On the streets a lot of beggars and Gopnik. But the latter are quite harmless. Would I like to stay here for a long time? Definitely not. But as a temporary change of scenery is a very good place. I miss Russian cuisine and pork. Any questions will be answered in the comments.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/243905/
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