Customized Istanbul City Tour – Fill it up and go…
It can be really enjoyable to use dolmus for customized tour Istanbul. No privacy and space (sometimes) but definitely fun.
Just like all the rest of the world Istanbul got its share in the economic crisis at its beginning in the 1930s. By that time, people who used taxis to go to work or different places started using the public transport – trams instead, like the poorer people did. In ancient Ephesus, though, people knew no trams, cars or minibuses. Neither did richer people, nor poorer. Today, visitors to Ephesus still walk and they enjoy the informative and amusing stories of guides (walking guided tours Ephesus).
The first minibus driver – the cook Halid..
Halid used to be a cook who changed his occupation with that of a taxi driver. His old profession stayed with him as a nickname, though. For some time, every morning and in the evening, he would take a Jewish citizen of Istanbul from Nisantasi to Eminonu and the same way back (contact me ). It cost 80 kurus (penny) one way (by that time it was the money enough for 5 breads or a chicken). One day the gentleman said to Halid, ‘Look, young man.
It is getting more difficult every day and I am struggling to pay you 25 lira every month. But I have a solution to that. I found four more people who go to Eminonu as well. You will take us together and we will pay you 100 kurus instead.’ Not only did Halid accept that offer but he also started to take people to different destinations. He would wait till the vehicle got full, then he would take the people to the chosen destination. The name ‘dolmus’ comes from that action. In Turkish ‘dolmus’ means ‘full’.
Dolmus drivers should have been married…
With the introduction of dolmus as a mean of transport, unwritten rules started taking place in Turkey in the 1960s. Drivers should be younger than 25, they shouldn’t be single, etc. The most popular cars among dolmus became the American cars (Chevrolet, Impala, Dodge) because of being spacious and comfortable.
Although one cannot see these old American cars in Istanbul that much nowadays, dolmus is still in use in Istanbul. Dolmus is one of the options for public transportation for your customized Istanbul city tour and private tours Istanbul.
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