Istanbul Trip, April 2007 - Kumkapi

Kumkapi is an ancient quarter of Istanbul. And if you are visiting the city for the first time, you are sure to be told to visit one of the fish restaurants in the area.

We decided early on that we didn't want to eat there, but we still wanted to visit the fish market in the area. So, on our last night in Istanbul, we went for a walk after dinner.

The fish market is actually not that big, and it wasn't busy at all, because it was already late at night. However, the stalls are much posher than we expected as all the fish was laid out on marble. I guess the city gets pretty hot in summer and hence these outdoor markets will need it.

Some of the stalls were already cleaning up, as you can see in the following picture:

The person with the trolley is selling nuts to the fish vendors. He offered us some nuts for free but we were already quite full.

We went around and took photos of the fish. Then this person took out one of the weirdest fish in the pile and showed it to me. Then he invited SP to take photos of the fish. It was quite funny.

We also spoke to an Armenian who owns a vegetable stalls in the fish market. Apparently, he does business with a lot of the local restaurants and business is good. He earns more than SP and myself and he is living in Istanbul, which is much cheaper to live in! He owns a villa in the Armenian quarter and life is good. He said he will shout us fish if we wait until he finishes up. It was a kind offer but we have already had a big meal before hand! Anyway, we hanged around a little and had a good chat with him.

On the way back, we walked past the Kumkapi restaurants area. As expected, it was full of tourists. There were also more police patrolling the area. The food looks pretty good though.