イスタンブール空港からエディルネに地下鉄とバスで移動（トルコ出張1）

　会社からトルコの支店を回ってくるよう命じられ、滞在中のこうや君です。世間を騒がす例のものが勃発して以来、モスクワとの空路は西欧とのものを中心に大半が途絶えてしまったのですが、中東やトルコとはまだ結ばれていますので、トルコ行き自体は面倒ではありません。ただし今回の出張は地方も回るので言語的なところで不安があります。しかも部下（「小僧君」。日本人）を一人連れて行けとのこと。

イスタンブール空港に到着後。長い通路を入国審査に向かいます。トルコ人とトルコ人以外（international）で別の入り口があります。

レートはともかく手数料無料なので、場合によってはご利用下さい。

市内までの地下鉄を探します。まあ案内板（青色）をよく見ていれば、何とかなるかと。「metro」（赤地に白文字のU）を追いかけて下さい。

「U」は左折

続いて右折

動く歩道で駅に向かいます。

ここから駅に入ります。

エスカレーターを三回位乗り換えて下るのですが、乗り継ぐエスカレーターは背後に回るとあります。気づかずに、エスカレーターを下りてまっすぐ進むと後悔します。写真の箇所も、直進せず右から裏に回って下さい。

改札まで進んだら、イスタンブールカードの自販機がありますので、200TL（トルコリラ）くらい入れておくとでラクかと。使い方のわからない外国人がたまっていて、ロシア人家族に話しかけられましたがこちらも最初はよくわからず。結局、壊れていたみたいで、別のマシンで発券に至りました。

改札はロシアと同じ回転式バーを通過するタイプ（が多い）。

町中までの高速メトロ車内。ここの路線は市内と高速で結ぶのがお仕事なので、吹っ飛ばします。それでも30分位見ておいた方がよいかと。

なお、ロシアの地下鉄と異なり、乗り換えは毎回一旦外に出なければなりません。通し乗りは出来ません。ただ、イスタンブールカードを使えば割引にはなります。とは言え、一々ゲートを通るのがめんどくさい。

三回（4路線）乗り換えて、バスターミナル（オトガル）に到着。ターミナルは市内に幾つかありますが、ここが一番大きい。ここからのバスチケットは集中販売方式でなく、各チケット小屋（オフィス）で購入。

とは言え、ネットで買えば小屋に行かずにすみます。

小僧君が疲れたとか、暑いとかうるさいので、バスの出発時間までカフェに入る。コンヤとか言ったかな、薄い生地のピザみたいなもの。そういえば、ここのカフェもそうですが、本当にロシア語がよく耳に入ってきます。相当数のロシア人がこの地にいると思われます。

ちなみにオトガルのトイレは1TL。イスタンブールカードでも支払えます。

13時だったか、バスは最初の支店のあるエディルネに出発。話に聞いていましたが、出発後、飲み物とミニケーキが配られました。また、あとで添乗員が香水みたいなものを皆さんの手に振りかけに来ます。ビチャビチャになりました。

3時間ほどでエディルネのバスターミナル（オトガル）に到着。建物の中を通り反対側の市バス乗り場に向かいます。チケット小屋でチケを買ってバスに乗車。遠回りの路線＆車内大混雑で小僧君はぐったり。

一時間位かかって旧市街到着。早速支店に向かいます。しかしうちの会社はこんなところに支店があるんですねえ。

仕事を終えて市内散策。バザールを発見したので練り歩き。小僧君は靴や鞄が安くて大興奮。

修復中ですが、世界遺産のセリミエ・ジャーミー。明日の出発前に覗いてこよう。

ーーーーー

Koya-kun is on a business trip to Turkey, having been ordered by his company to visit their branch office there. Since the outbreak of the recent incident that has been making headlines, most flights to and from Moscow have been suspended, but flights to and from Turkey and the Middle East are still operating, so traveling to Turkey itself is not too troublesome. However, this business trip involves visiting some regional areas, so I'm a little worried about the language. What's more, I've been told to take one of my junior staff members (a Japanese national) with me.

After arriving at Istanbul Airport, we head down the long corridor to immigration. There are separate entrances for Turks and non-Turks (international).

The rate is free of charge, so please use it if necessary.

Look for the subway to the city center. If you look carefully at the information boards (blue), you should be able to find it. Follow the “metro” (red background with white letter U).

The “U” is a left turn

followed by a right turn

Take the moving walkway to the station.

Enter the station from here.

You will have to change escalators three times on the way down, but the escalators you need to change to are located behind you. If you don't notice this and just keep going straight down the escalator, you will regret it. At the point in the photo, please go around to the back on the right, rather than going straight ahead.

Once you get to the ticket gate, there will be a machine for Istanbul Cards, so it would be easier if you put in about 200TL (Turkish Lira). There were a lot of foreigners who didn't know how to use it, and I was spoken to by a Russian family, but I didn't understand at first either. In the end, it seemed to be broken, and I ended up getting my ticket from a different machine.

The ticket gate is the same type as in Russia (there are many of them), where you pass through a revolving bar.

Inside a high-speed metro train to the city center. The job of these lines is to connect the city center with the suburbs, so they go at full speed. Even so, it's probably best to allow about 30 minutes.

Also, unlike the Russian subway, you have to get off and on every time you change lines. You can't ride through. However, if you use the Istanbul Card, you can get a discount. Even so, it's a pain to go through the gates every time.

After changing buses three times (on four different lines), we arrived at the bus terminal (otogar). There are several bus terminals in the city, but this is the biggest one. Bus tickets from here are not sold in a central location, but rather at individual ticket booths (offices).

However, if you buy tickets online, you can avoid going to the ticket booths.

The boy was complaining about being tired and hot, so we went into a cafe until the bus was about to leave. I think it was called Konya, and it was like a thin pizza. By the way, as in this cafe, you can really hear a lot of Russian being spoken. It seems that there are quite a few Russians here.

Incidentally, the toilet in Otogar costs 1TL. You can also pay with an Istanbul Card.

At 1pm, the bus left for Edirne, where the first branch is located. As I had heard, drinks and mini-cakes were served after departure. Later, the tour guide came to spray something like perfume on everyone's hands. I got all wet.

After about three hours, we arrived at the Edirne bus terminal (otogar). We walked through the building and headed to the city bus stop on the other side. We bought tickets at the ticket booth and got on the bus. The route was a long way round and the bus was very crowded, so the young boy was exhausted.

It took about an hour to get to the old town. We headed straight for the branch office. But our company has a branch office here?

After finishing work, we went for a walk around the city. We found a bazaar, so we went for a stroll. The young boy was very excited by the cheap shoes and bags.

Selimiye Camii, a World Heritage Site, is currently being restored. We'll take a look at it before we leave tomorrow.