"Bumper to bumper
January 6, 2007
Europe > Turkey > Istanbul
It's funny -- before arriving in Turkey, I used to think traffic in and around NYC was bad. Not anymore, because it seems like a drive down an empty highway compared to Istanbul, where traffic is absolutely insane. The worst part it's completely unpredictable: for reasons I haven't yet figured out, rush-hour is a lot more loosely defined (almost to the point where there isn't one), meaning you're almost as likely to get stuck in traffic on a Sunday at 11 AM as you are on a Thursday at 5:30 PM. To drive in Istanbul you have to have the patience of a saint, the resignation of a death-row inmate, a hefty masochistic streak, a flair for driving on sidewalks, or some combination of the above. Yet amazingly, I haven't seen that many accidents -- maybe because no one's going fast enough to be unable to avoid them."
More:bumper to bumper - Istanbul - Turkey - Travel Blog
