Riding the urban waves Ferries give a unique view of the cities they serve. Jeremy Seal casts off in Istanbul Sunday Times, 14/4/2002
I watched Istanbul’s great landmarks recede from the ferry’s rounded stern deck - my belvedere over the Bosphorus. The domes and minarets of the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sofya basilica, the ramparts and turrets of Topkapi and Dolmabahce palaces showed through a cloud of gulls and terns swooping for tossed crumbs of simit, Turkey’s sesame-sprinkled bagel, in the unraveling wake. Waiters in worn vermillion jackets with black trimmings proffered tulip-shaped glasses of tea at 15p a time and freshly squeezed orange juice. A violinist with a boss eye, and notes quite as wonky, even serenaded us. All this, and Asia too, for 650,000 Turkish lira (35p).
Postcard skyline views, sea air and period cabin atmosphere at, in most cases, a fraction of the cost of a London tube ticket make city ferries modern travel’s outstanding bargain, and nowhere on earth does them quite like Istanbul. From the water, the views of this continent-straddling city impress not only visitors but even survive repetition as a routine commute, as a company secretary called Ayse explained on her ten-minute return crossing to the Asian side. ‘You never tire of it as a way of getting to work,’ she said. It was the evening rush hour, and an orchestral din of ships’ horns rose from the ferries, the Sevastapol-bound freighters, the tankers and police launches as they jostled for space with local fishing boats and scruffy waterborne jalopies, quite drowning out the competing muezzins.
Modern sea buses also ply many of the city’s water routes, but it is the ageing ferries which remain the quintessential Istanbul experience, their white livery finished off with masts and funnels in varying shades of mustard, plus dodgem-style bumpers in the form of fat black sandwiches of timber and metal, and the wooden destination boards that hang from their sides as if to advertise hymn numbers in churches. Inside, they retain an aged elegance with varnished banquettes, snack bars fronted by silver tea urns and neat buntings of crisp bags, and even framed copies of Turkey’s great independence march plus the usual Ataturk portrait hanging in the stairwells.
Istanbul’s ferries ply regular routes across the Bosphorus, serve the villages of the upper Bosphorus during rush hour (a daily sightseeing ferry, a round trip of five hours, also runs on the same route), and also run regularly to the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara. Another highly recommended service, though less frequent and in sea buses, potters up the Golden Horn, the wide creek which spears into European Istanbul, subdividing the city into its two western quarters.
The city’s ferry hub is at either end of the new Galata Bridge, where the Golden Horn meets the Bosphorus. I took a ferry from Karakoy on the northern side, home of fish markets and brothels, across the Bosphorus to Haydarpasa station. Asia Minor’s magnificent waterside train terminal was built in 1908, in a style known as German Classical (sort of Rheinland schloss and Loire chateau come an architectural acropolis). I disembarked at the adjacent ferry terminal, an Ottoman-style pavilion with ornately tiled walls , and walked into the station for the thrill of a departures board, even an electronic digital one, showing arrivals from Kars in Eastern Turkey, and even Tehran, Iran. I lunched in the station restaurant, a period piece featuring statuary of lions, decorative floral wall panels and many metres of plastic grapevine, where a man in a bow tie served me rice and stuffed peppers.
I devoted the afternoon to the ferry service along the Golden Horn, where a gilded imperial past does constant battle with an industrial, occasionally malodorous, present; the docks at Kasimpasa can resemble Southampton Water in the wrong weather. But once I’d eventually tracked down the five-mile waterway’s ferry station to a bankside carpark behind a derelict mosque just west of Galata Bridge, the past began scoring points at will. A peeling white clapboard kiosk with a tiled roof, overhanging eaves
and sapling cypresses in pots gave onto a rotting wooden quayfront hemmed in by old tyres, with only the electronic turnstiles reminding me that I was not in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire.
The open-decked sea bus zig-zagged westwards along the Golden Horn in the bright spring sunshine past cormorant-crowded buoys, dropping naval cadets at Kasimpasa and a bustle of matrons at Fener where St Stephen’s Church, produced entirely from iron in Vienna and kit-shipped down the Danube, was constructed in the mid-nineteenth century. The ferry pavilions were all identical except in their degree of decrepitude; the one at Balat, its façade tilting alarmingly skywards and slated for imminent repair, had been temporarily abandoned. Just before Ayvansary, we passed the old Galata Bridge, towed here in the early 1990s from its much-loved position at the heart of the city, before passing the imperial fez factory, long since reborn as a conference centre.
The last stop was at Eyup, within sight of the head of the Horn, where I strolled through this holy village to the mosque and shrine of Mohammed’s standard bearer. Signs outside the shrine commanded (in English) that visitors remove their shoes and (in Turkish) that they turn off their mobile phones. Inside, a green-canopied sarcophagus could be glimpsed beneath an extravagant chandelier. Woman had gathered before it, henna’d hands outstretched. In the sprawling hillside cemetery which rises behind the mosque, masons were building marble graves with chisels and angle-grinders. I stopped for a view of the Golden Horn before turning back. I ignored Eyup’s touting taxis and retraced my steps back to the ferry terminal.
FACT BOX:
Jeremy Seal was a guest of Turkish Airlines (020 7766 9300) and Kirker Holidays (020 7231 3333;www.kirkerholidays.com). He stayed at The Four Seasons Hotel, Sultanahmet (00 90 213 638 8200; www.fourseasons.com). Three nights B&B based on two sharing including flights and transfers from £925 per person through Kirker. He also stayed at the Empress Zoe Hotel, Sultanahmet (00 90 212 518 2504; www.emzoe.com; from £50 per double B&B)
CITY FERRIES; 9 OF THE BEST.
The Staten Island Ferry, New York
The 5-mile journey between Staten Island and Whitehall Terminal, Lower Manhattan was long regarded by foot passengers as New York’s best bargain at 50 cents return; well, they went one better in 1997 and made it free. The views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Manhattan skyline always stirred the soul but have had an added poignancy since September 11th. Staten Island’s attractions include Historic Richmond Town, featuring buildings from early New York and Snug Harbor Cultural Center, as well as a produce market on Saturdays. The island’s St George Terminal, long a hangout for winos, is now undergoing an impressive refurbishment due for completion in 2004, with observation decks and a 40-foot glass wall to replace the harbourside wall in the waiting room. Departures on the 24-hour service run at least every half hour, and the crossing takes 25 minutes. www.siferry.com.
Star Ferry, Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s iconic green and white double-decker ferries have been crossing Victoria Harbour between mainland Tsim Tsa Tsui and Central District on Hong Kong Island since 1898. With landmark buildings including the Bank of China, the neon-lit Central Plaza and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, not to mention a maritime melee including everything from junks to container ships, Hong Kong’s is a waterside cityscape to rival Manhattan – the seven-minute crossing is especially spectacular at night. Services run at least every 10 minutes between 6.30am and 11.30pm, carrying around 100,000 passengers daily. Don’t stint on your class of ticket; at HK$2.20 single (20p), the views from the upper deck only cost 4p more than lower-deck tickets. The Star Ferry also runs a service between Tsim Tsa Tsui and the island’s Wan Chai district.
Niteroi Ferry, Rio de Janeiro
You can cross Guanabara Bay to the city of Niteroi by 9-mile bridge, by high-speed hydrofoil or air-con catamaran, but you’d be missing the point. Take your time, save some money and savour the fabulous views of harbour and mountains by taking an old barca (ferry) from Praca 15 de Novembro. The 24-hour service, with departures at least every 15 minutes during the day, takes 20 minutes and costs 1 real (32p) each way. Cariocas – citizens of Rio – tend to dismiss the old capital across the water, but Niteroi has its fans, not least of Oscar Niemeyer’s flying-saucer-shaped Museum of Contemporary Art and the period-piece Rio Cricket Club, though you should be on the lookout for pickpockets at the terminal, and are advised to avoid the crossing after dark.
Manly Ferry, Sydney
Operating since the 1850s, the Manly Ferry is a part of Sydney’s social history. The green and cream ferries run every half-hour from Pier 3, Circular Quay, between 6am and 7pm, taking 30 minutes to reach Manly Wharf (with fasters JetCats operating till midnight). Views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge are awesome, and there are onboard snack bars. You may also see dolphins, penguins and humpback whales; there were even sightings of a rare southern white whale off Dobroyd Head in 1999. At Manly, Australia’s original resort, there are beaches, restaurants and shops as well as an aquarium at Oceanworld and a funfair. Tickets are A$10.60 (£4.00) return.
Mersey Ferry, Liverpool
Europe’s oldest ferry service plies a triangular route between Pier Head, Liverpool and Seacombe and Woodside, on the Wirral. Whether they have been inspired by Gerry & the Pacemakers’ hit or are simply getting to work, 600,000 people ferry cross the Mersey every year, enjoying views of the city’s Victorian landmarks including the Liver Building and the Cunard Building as well as the Anglican Cathedral into the bargain. Commuter services run during rush hour on weekdays – every half hour between 7.45am and 9.15am and between 4.15pm and 7.15pm (£1.90 adult return, free coffee). For more on the ferry’s 850-year history, try the 50-minute heritage cruise, with commentary, departing Pier Head every hour from 10am to 4pm weekdays and 10am to 6pm weekends (£3.75 adult return). www.merseyferries.co.uk
Alameda-Oakland Ferry, San Francisco
San Francisco was a prime ferry city, with 170 daily services, until the Bay Bridge was built in 1936. The East Bay ferry service was discontinued in 1950 only to be resumed in 1990 as road traffic began choking the bridges. Weekday services depart between 6.30am and 8.15pm every half-hour during rush hour, less regularly at other times, from Fishermen’s Wharf (and also, in some cases, from the old Ferry Building), offering fine views of Alcatraz Island and the Bay Bridge. Ferries call at Alameda Island – home of the award-winning Rosenblum Winery – and Oakland, where Jack London grew up in the 1880s and where his museum now stands. One-way adult fare US$5 (£3.60). www.eastbayferry.com
Barreiro and Cacilhas ferries, Lisbon
A number of ferry services cross the wide River Tagus at Lisbon, giving excellent views of the 25th April Bridge and of Christo-Rei, the city’s Rio-style statue of Christ. If you arrive by train from the Algarve, you’ll conclude your journey to Lisbon in style with a ferry crossing that’s included in the ticket price. Trains terminate at Barreiro, on the south side of the river, where passengers for the capital take the ferry across to the quay at Fluvial Station, next to the Praca do Comercio. Another popular route from Fluvial Station is the 25-minute crossing to Cacilhas where the main street majors in popular fish restaurants. Departures every 30 minutes for Cacilhas from 6.10am to 9.45pm, costing 1 euro (64p) each way.
Creek abras (motorboat ferries), Dubai.
The abras, or aged wooded al fresco waterbuses of Dubai, only take a couple of minutes puttering across the city’s ‘creek’. For that short time, however, they take their passengers past dark-wooded dhows beneath soaring skyscrapers, evoking an Arabian romance which can otherwise seem faint in this booming emirate. Abras depart from either end of the old souq on the creek’s southern side, making for various drop-off points within a few hundred metres on the Deira bank. Abras run from dawn until around midnight, leaving when they are full (every few minutes). Pay onboard; 50 fils (10p) one way.
Devonport ferry, Auckland.
Traffic congestion across Auckland’s Harbour Bridge has in recent years revived the ferry service to Devonport, a popular Victorian suburb on the city’s North Shore. The 15-minute ferry ride across this impressive natural harbour takes in views of the Harbour Bridge, beaches to the east and Devonport’s striking volcanic hills. Services leave from Queen’s Wharf every half hour from 6.15am to 11.00pm or later, with the standard adult fare of NZ$5 (£1.60) one way. www.fullers.co.nz.
Postcard skyline views, sea air and period cabin atmosphere at, in most cases, a fraction of the cost of a London tube ticket make city ferries modern travel’s outstanding bargain, and nowhere on earth does them quite like Istanbul. From the water, the views of this continent-straddling city impress not only visitors but even survive repetition as a routine commute, as a company secretary called Ayse explained on her ten-minute return crossing to the Asian side. ‘You never tire of it as a way of getting to work,’ she said. It was the evening rush hour, and an orchestral din of ships’ horns rose from the ferries, the Sevastapol-bound freighters, the tankers and police launches as they jostled for space with local fishing boats and scruffy waterborne jalopies, quite drowning out the competing muezzins.
Modern sea buses also ply many of the city’s water routes, but it is the ageing ferries which remain the quintessential Istanbul experience, their white livery finished off with masts and funnels in varying shades of mustard, plus dodgem-style bumpers in the form of fat black sandwiches of timber and metal, and the wooden destination boards that hang from their sides as if to advertise hymn numbers in churches. Inside, they retain an aged elegance with varnished banquettes, snack bars fronted by silver tea urns and neat buntings of crisp bags, and even framed copies of Turkey’s great independence march plus the usual Ataturk portrait hanging in the stairwells.
Istanbul’s ferries ply regular routes across the Bosphorus, serve the villages of the upper Bosphorus during rush hour (a daily sightseeing ferry, a round trip of five hours, also runs on the same route), and also run regularly to the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara. Another highly recommended service, though less frequent and in sea buses, potters up the Golden Horn, the wide creek which spears into European Istanbul, subdividing the city into its two western quarters.
The city’s ferry hub is at either end of the new Galata Bridge, where the Golden Horn meets the Bosphorus. I took a ferry from Karakoy on the northern side, home of fish markets and brothels, across the Bosphorus to Haydarpasa station. Asia Minor’s magnificent waterside train terminal was built in 1908, in a style known as German Classical (sort of Rheinland schloss and Loire chateau come an architectural acropolis). I disembarked at the adjacent ferry terminal, an Ottoman-style pavilion with ornately tiled walls , and walked into the station for the thrill of a departures board, even an electronic digital one, showing arrivals from Kars in Eastern Turkey, and even Tehran, Iran. I lunched in the station restaurant, a period piece featuring statuary of lions, decorative floral wall panels and many metres of plastic grapevine, where a man in a bow tie served me rice and stuffed peppers.
I devoted the afternoon to the ferry service along the Golden Horn, where a gilded imperial past does constant battle with an industrial, occasionally malodorous, present; the docks at Kasimpasa can resemble Southampton Water in the wrong weather. But once I’d eventually tracked down the five-mile waterway’s ferry station to a bankside carpark behind a derelict mosque just west of Galata Bridge, the past began scoring points at will. A peeling white clapboard kiosk with a tiled roof, overhanging eaves
and sapling cypresses in pots gave onto a rotting wooden quayfront hemmed in by old tyres, with only the electronic turnstiles reminding me that I was not in the dying days of the Ottoman Empire.
The open-decked sea bus zig-zagged westwards along the Golden Horn in the bright spring sunshine past cormorant-crowded buoys, dropping naval cadets at Kasimpasa and a bustle of matrons at Fener where St Stephen’s Church, produced entirely from iron in Vienna and kit-shipped down the Danube, was constructed in the mid-nineteenth century. The ferry pavilions were all identical except in their degree of decrepitude; the one at Balat, its façade tilting alarmingly skywards and slated for imminent repair, had been temporarily abandoned. Just before Ayvansary, we passed the old Galata Bridge, towed here in the early 1990s from its much-loved position at the heart of the city, before passing the imperial fez factory, long since reborn as a conference centre.
The last stop was at Eyup, within sight of the head of the Horn, where I strolled through this holy village to the mosque and shrine of Mohammed’s standard bearer. Signs outside the shrine commanded (in English) that visitors remove their shoes and (in Turkish) that they turn off their mobile phones. Inside, a green-canopied sarcophagus could be glimpsed beneath an extravagant chandelier. Woman had gathered before it, henna’d hands outstretched. In the sprawling hillside cemetery which rises behind the mosque, masons were building marble graves with chisels and angle-grinders. I stopped for a view of the Golden Horn before turning back. I ignored Eyup’s touting taxis and retraced my steps back to the ferry terminal.
FACT BOX:
Jeremy Seal was a guest of Turkish Airlines (020 7766 9300) and Kirker Holidays (020 7231 3333;www.kirkerholidays.com). He stayed at The Four Seasons Hotel, Sultanahmet (00 90 213 638 8200; www.fourseasons.com). Three nights B&B based on two sharing including flights and transfers from £925 per person through Kirker. He also stayed at the Empress Zoe Hotel, Sultanahmet (00 90 212 518 2504; www.emzoe.com; from £50 per double B&B)
CITY FERRIES; 9 OF THE BEST.
The Staten Island Ferry, New York
The 5-mile journey between Staten Island and Whitehall Terminal, Lower Manhattan was long regarded by foot passengers as New York’s best bargain at 50 cents return; well, they went one better in 1997 and made it free. The views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and the Manhattan skyline always stirred the soul but have had an added poignancy since September 11th. Staten Island’s attractions include Historic Richmond Town, featuring buildings from early New York and Snug Harbor Cultural Center, as well as a produce market on Saturdays. The island’s St George Terminal, long a hangout for winos, is now undergoing an impressive refurbishment due for completion in 2004, with observation decks and a 40-foot glass wall to replace the harbourside wall in the waiting room. Departures on the 24-hour service run at least every half hour, and the crossing takes 25 minutes. www.siferry.com.
Star Ferry, Hong Kong
Hong Kong’s iconic green and white double-decker ferries have been crossing Victoria Harbour between mainland Tsim Tsa Tsui and Central District on Hong Kong Island since 1898. With landmark buildings including the Bank of China, the neon-lit Central Plaza and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, not to mention a maritime melee including everything from junks to container ships, Hong Kong’s is a waterside cityscape to rival Manhattan – the seven-minute crossing is especially spectacular at night. Services run at least every 10 minutes between 6.30am and 11.30pm, carrying around 100,000 passengers daily. Don’t stint on your class of ticket; at HK$2.20 single (20p), the views from the upper deck only cost 4p more than lower-deck tickets. The Star Ferry also runs a service between Tsim Tsa Tsui and the island’s Wan Chai district.
Niteroi Ferry, Rio de Janeiro
You can cross Guanabara Bay to the city of Niteroi by 9-mile bridge, by high-speed hydrofoil or air-con catamaran, but you’d be missing the point. Take your time, save some money and savour the fabulous views of harbour and mountains by taking an old barca (ferry) from Praca 15 de Novembro. The 24-hour service, with departures at least every 15 minutes during the day, takes 20 minutes and costs 1 real (32p) each way. Cariocas – citizens of Rio – tend to dismiss the old capital across the water, but Niteroi has its fans, not least of Oscar Niemeyer’s flying-saucer-shaped Museum of Contemporary Art and the period-piece Rio Cricket Club, though you should be on the lookout for pickpockets at the terminal, and are advised to avoid the crossing after dark.
Manly Ferry, Sydney
Operating since the 1850s, the Manly Ferry is a part of Sydney’s social history. The green and cream ferries run every half-hour from Pier 3, Circular Quay, between 6am and 7pm, taking 30 minutes to reach Manly Wharf (with fasters JetCats operating till midnight). Views of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge are awesome, and there are onboard snack bars. You may also see dolphins, penguins and humpback whales; there were even sightings of a rare southern white whale off Dobroyd Head in 1999. At Manly, Australia’s original resort, there are beaches, restaurants and shops as well as an aquarium at Oceanworld and a funfair. Tickets are A$10.60 (£4.00) return.
Mersey Ferry, Liverpool
Europe’s oldest ferry service plies a triangular route between Pier Head, Liverpool and Seacombe and Woodside, on the Wirral. Whether they have been inspired by Gerry & the Pacemakers’ hit or are simply getting to work, 600,000 people ferry cross the Mersey every year, enjoying views of the city’s Victorian landmarks including the Liver Building and the Cunard Building as well as the Anglican Cathedral into the bargain. Commuter services run during rush hour on weekdays – every half hour between 7.45am and 9.15am and between 4.15pm and 7.15pm (£1.90 adult return, free coffee). For more on the ferry’s 850-year history, try the 50-minute heritage cruise, with commentary, departing Pier Head every hour from 10am to 4pm weekdays and 10am to 6pm weekends (£3.75 adult return). www.merseyferries.co.uk
Alameda-Oakland Ferry, San Francisco
San Francisco was a prime ferry city, with 170 daily services, until the Bay Bridge was built in 1936. The East Bay ferry service was discontinued in 1950 only to be resumed in 1990 as road traffic began choking the bridges. Weekday services depart between 6.30am and 8.15pm every half-hour during rush hour, less regularly at other times, from Fishermen’s Wharf (and also, in some cases, from the old Ferry Building), offering fine views of Alcatraz Island and the Bay Bridge. Ferries call at Alameda Island – home of the award-winning Rosenblum Winery – and Oakland, where Jack London grew up in the 1880s and where his museum now stands. One-way adult fare US$5 (£3.60). www.eastbayferry.com
Barreiro and Cacilhas ferries, Lisbon
A number of ferry services cross the wide River Tagus at Lisbon, giving excellent views of the 25th April Bridge and of Christo-Rei, the city’s Rio-style statue of Christ. If you arrive by train from the Algarve, you’ll conclude your journey to Lisbon in style with a ferry crossing that’s included in the ticket price. Trains terminate at Barreiro, on the south side of the river, where passengers for the capital take the ferry across to the quay at Fluvial Station, next to the Praca do Comercio. Another popular route from Fluvial Station is the 25-minute crossing to Cacilhas where the main street majors in popular fish restaurants. Departures every 30 minutes for Cacilhas from 6.10am to 9.45pm, costing 1 euro (64p) each way.
Creek abras (motorboat ferries), Dubai.
The abras, or aged wooded al fresco waterbuses of Dubai, only take a couple of minutes puttering across the city’s ‘creek’. For that short time, however, they take their passengers past dark-wooded dhows beneath soaring skyscrapers, evoking an Arabian romance which can otherwise seem faint in this booming emirate. Abras depart from either end of the old souq on the creek’s southern side, making for various drop-off points within a few hundred metres on the Deira bank. Abras run from dawn until around midnight, leaving when they are full (every few minutes). Pay onboard; 50 fils (10p) one way.
Devonport ferry, Auckland.
Traffic congestion across Auckland’s Harbour Bridge has in recent years revived the ferry service to Devonport, a popular Victorian suburb on the city’s North Shore. The 15-minute ferry ride across this impressive natural harbour takes in views of the Harbour Bridge, beaches to the east and Devonport’s striking volcanic hills. Services leave from Queen’s Wharf every half hour from 6.15am to 11.00pm or later, with the standard adult fare of NZ$5 (£1.60) one way. www.fullers.co.nz.