CARVING THE TURKEY
Trip Start
Feb 05, 2008
1
53
70
Trip End
Ongoing
Istanbul,
Turkey
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Generally the Turks I encountered were a good natured lot. They like to laugh and their sense of sarcasm rivals that of us Canadians or the Brits. I was chatting with a couple of fast talkers outside of an art shop next to the McDonald's that one of the fellows runs in Istanbul. They were pretty funny guys who were trying to convince me to buy a tour package (They have a friend of a friend or a cousin or a brother or something like that who's in the business, that's usually the story.). As we are talking, one of them continues to call out to tourists as they pass, especially the cute blonde ones of the female variety, at one point saying, 'hello can I hassle you'? You probably had to be there but it cracked me up, the look on their faces. Later down in Fethiye, Sean and I were waiting for a bus to take us to some ruins a little ways out of town and were told by someone who looked to be in charge to come back in about 25 minutes for an 11:00 bus. We wandered around a bit and returned at 11:00. There's no bus and the same guy tells us to wait another 10 minutes. Sean protested politely, reminding the guy he'd told us the bus was at 11:00, to which the guy says gruffly and straight faced, 'I bus 'spector, you are?' Sean says, 'But...', the guy says 'I bus 'spector, you are?' I thought he was full on deadpan and funny as hell. Sean thought he was being a dick. I told the guy, 'okay, okay, you the boss and laughed and sat down to wait. We still don't know if he was trying to be funny. Those are just a couple of examples of the sort of encounter you might have from time to time.
Every now and then as I walked around, particularly in Istanbul, I'd say mahaba (hello, spelt phonetically) to those I'd pass or a small group who might be staring at me and they would almost always respond in kind, quickly, if not a little surprised. You could tell they appreciated the gesture. I was once invited in for tea while walking around the less touristy part of Sultanahmet. It was difficult to have much to do with anyone who wasn't dealing with tourists. All too often though, you couldn't shake the sense that they were only being nice because they wanted a piece of you. Although that's true of any tourist area, there's something in the way the Turks come across.
Turkey is not cheap...but it's not expensive either. What gets me is that basically everything the tourist consumes is priced disproportionately high relative to other costs. Where dorm rooms are 10 to 20 dollars a night and meals are in the five to seven dollar range (you could get some fantastic durum for $3.50), beers are usually a dollar fifty to two bucks, that sort of thing. Not in Turkey. Likewise with admissions to attractions, many of which were in the 10 lira range and only a few of which warranted such a price. Coffees, cokes, water. All the same. You pay as much for a drip coffee or cappuccino as you do in Western Europe. And laundry. 12 bucks a load! Gimme a break. And for Sean and Jackie, one load suddenly became two. (As I write this, I'm in Vienna where a load is costing me about $6.75.). Istanbul airport has Snickers bars priced at $5.60! Cokes were 6 lira! I've been to a lot of airports and never seen prices like that! It's a blatant money grab and it left a bad taste in my mouth..
Turkey is like that really decent wine you discover and it's only $12 a bottle and you think wow, what a great wine for only 12 bucks, except that they've got it priced at $30 a bottle. In summary, its beaches are substandard. With some exceptions, notably Kas, its architecture is rather on the bland side and indeed the newness of its buildings and cities and towns was striking. Its attractions are mostly average and over hyped. Its topography is unidimensional. As an international city, Istanbul is average at best.
Finally, this was my first visit to an Islamic country. 97% of the population is Islamic. I'm not one to judge. Live and let live. While Turkey is progressive in many ways, the male chauvinism inherent in the culture was off-putting. You deal almost entirely with men. They do all the jobs. And generally what you see of their attitude towards women is at times unsettling.
In the end it gets about 6.5 out of 10. Funny thing is I met a guy who was more glowing about it than me and asked him to score it and he gave it the same score. Really, it has its wonderful bits and it's well worth a visit. I'm glad I went and I think you should go too, but once was enough for me.
