Back to Top 2. No matter what kind of storms shake this ancient city, within the smoky and fragrant confines of the Erzurum Nargile Salon all is right with the world. They are heirs to a centuries-old culture, and their worlds revolve around the soft sound of bubbling water, the sensation of drawing filtered tobacco smoke through long curled tubes, and an atmosphere of quiet camaraderie. When you smoke a nargile, you have time to think. It teaches you patience and tolerance, and gives you an appreciation of good company.
Nargile smokers have a much more balanced approach to life than cigarette smokers.
Every year brings a new crop of retirees, who have the time and often the desire to spend hours in reflection. And on many evenings, students and other young people join the older clientele. There are said to be fewer than a dozen nargile salons left in Istanbul, and a few in nearly every other Turkish city. They are the remains of thousands that sprouted here after the first tobacco leaves arrived from America in 1601. In the early part of the 17th century, Turks took to smoking with a passion.