The waterfront offers an insight into local life

"Hey, where are you going?" Adopting a London mentality, I simply carried on walking. But then the guy ran over and asked, "Why are you scared of Turkish people?" I smiled and replied that I was just in a hurry to get where I'm going before it gets to dark and more complicated. He then proceeded to promote a nearby accommodation and try to make a sale with me. After a friendly chat and one accommodation brochure later, I continued on.

Soon I was on the hostel rooftop bar, enjoying the views and a welcoming beer, then another and another... (Note: there is normally only a limited choice of one beer at the bar - Efes and that's it. Makes ordering a lot easier though - "one beer please")

The next morning I set out at a slow pace towards the Blue Mosque, one of the identifying attractions in Istanbul. The main courtyard is strewn with busloads of tourists endowed with cameras, video equipment and bottles of water to combat the heat. Heading past these groups, I slowly moved towards the main gate and was engaged by a Turkish man.

"Good morning, how are you today?"
"Fine thanks," I reply.

He asks if I have had a chance to see the stables and lower courtyard of the mosque, offering to show the way. As I take in the directions from him, he subtly mentions that his name is Servet and that he owns a gift shop just down the same way (how convenient). As I was keen to see what was on offer anyway, I cruised along and had a well guided tour around Servet's shop, and managed to leave without spending a single lira. Servet mentioned that he was always around the Blue Mosque area and I should come and see him first if I decide to buy gifts. I later learnt that most shop-owners in Turkey are very keen to make the first sale of the day for purposes of luck etc, and will generate instants bargains for the shoppers in order to get that first sale. So, early morning is always the best time to shop if you do want any trinkets to take back home.

Continuing my travels along the main road, it was pretty clear that this area was for the tourists - hotels, carpet shops, kebab shops, more carpet shops, gift shops, currency exchanges etc, compared to the Taksim area of town which is prime for shopping, filled with locals, minimal tourists and no carpet shops. As I wandered further I was greeted by a voice calling out in a bad Australian accent, "Gidday, mate".

"Close," I replied.
"Ahh, Kiwi," he responded before proceeding to recite a string of Maori words that made no grammatical sense at all, but I could see that it would appeal to some tourists. Then a combination of questions that would soon become familiar over the next few days - "Where are you from, Wellington or Christchurch?", "How long are you in Turkey for?", "Do you like Turkey?", "Are you here with friends?", and "Where are you heading?" - the crucial question as they then proceed to give directions in the friendly Turkish way before mentioning that they work for a carpet shop just down the same road. Then asking if I would like to come for a look and a glass of apple tea. He then explained that in Turkey, "One glass of apple tea is forty years friendship". Why not, I thought, this will be fun.

So, after a quick three block walk to the shop, Harun and I are sitting down, sipping apple tea and straight into business. Carpets start unrolling before me, with the different styles, techniques and qualities being explained to me. I'm asked what my budget is, what styles I like. As the apple tea runs out, more is brought out, and the sales pitch continues. Once the floor is covered, they remove the carpets one by one, getting me to indicate 'yes' or 'no' as to whether I like it or not. This is repeated and once reduced to a single carpet, Harun starts to talk prices. Not wanting to actually buy a carpet at this point, I don't start haggling with him, but he starts haggling anyway, trying to negate my refusals with 'as we say in Turkey...' sayings, for example - "As we say in Turkey, eat the soup while it is hot" - implying buy now, or "As we say in Turkey, every man eats his yoghurt differently" - implying that everyone has different tastes. As these weren't working and I'd had my fun, I decided to leave. I politely said I would consider a carpet after my travels, not before and started collecting my bag. Harun, then starting asking what price would I consider and started dropping the price, "£250, £220, £200" - soon the carpet was £120 less than the original price and all I did was sit there in silence. This does make me wonder what profits they make on people who don't have the strength or energy to haggle. At that point, I had to refuse once again, collected his business card and was finally out the door.

This encounter is the direct approach that I met many, many times. However there was one salesman, Razaram, with a much smoother approach. He approached me in the usual "Hi, how are you?" way, mentioned he had a carpet shop and would I like to see it. I declined, but he said that's fine, gave me a card showing me where it was in case I was ever interested in a carpet. We somehow met again the next day. He asked me when I would come see his shop. "Maybe tomorrow," I replied. He then asked me about my daily plans, and gave some helpful advice on the city and what to see. The trick to this was that whenever he was talking to another potential customer and saw me, he would call out "Hello!", pretending that I was a happy customer from his shop. Clever stuff.

The pigeon feeders - why??

After some further drifting, I found myself roaming the waterside down by the ferry docks. Here you can find an assortment of cheap, alternative local foods if you start to get sick of the traditional kebab. There are many little stands selling fresh mussels, BBQ or boiled corncobs, and fish sandwiches. The novelty of the latter is that the shop is a small boat rocking wildly in a ferry's wake, with a large grill covered in fresh fish fillets. Very tasty. This area is a lot less touristy and gives a view into local life: railings lined with fishermen; people sitting feeding pigeons with bowls of seeds (I didn't understand this one); many people coming and going from the nearby mosque; locals haggling with the cheese and fish stall owners (who were mainly children); lines and lines of shoe-shine stalls, street merchants with a single set of bathroom scales, charging 100,000 lira (4p) per weighing (I didn't understand this one either); and the friendliness of (some) spice market shopkeepers who were simply interested in where you come from, etc, often asking many questions about New Zealand in my case. Most people of Turkey simply want to promote their country, trying for one extra sale won't make them rich, but they do still try.

That night I finally met with my friend Jacob who came in from Greece, and a newly arrived Aussie girl named Sarah, who was keen to join us on our wanderings the next day.

The Grand Bazaar, so easy to get lost

The next day the three of us headed off to the Grand Bazaar for even more shopping experiences. The Grand Bazaar is the biggest indoor market you will probably ever see, a maze of 4,000 shops selling anything you could want - leather jackets, gifts, jewellery, books, 'genuine fake' fashion items, food, and of course carpets. Walking down the 'street', if you even glance at a stall, it's an indication that you are interested in the wares on offer. The most amusing aspect is that of the salesmen competing with each other for your attention. As I was passing a stall, the keeper beckons me, "Hello, yes please? Can I help you?" I declined and moved on with next keeper, stepping in my path saying "Hi, I'm here!! Would you like to have a look inside?" "No, I'm fine thanks", I replied. He then asks, "Is this your girlfriend? Maybe something for her?", indicating towards Sarah. I explain that we are just friends and move along. The next keeper says, "Ok, now its my turn...", and the pitches continue. Some people get quite irritated by it all, but as long as you treat it as a game, it's all good fun.

We then decided to wander to the Blue Mosque for a good look inside. Along the way I noticed Razaram, (the carpet salesman) in the distance. As he saw my two friends and I, his eyes lit up (a possible sale). He came over, shook my hand, started a friendly chat, and introduced himself to my friends. Then he started a ramble about me being a good man, having a look in his shop (which never happened), and maybe I would bring them to his shop sometime. We departed, and chuckled at his sales techniques. After sitting in the Blue Mosque for a good half an hour, interpreting the internal designs and contemplating many things, we emerged to randomly meet Servet (the gift shop guy) and his English teacher (who I met on another occasion). We started with a friendly chat, and then he tried a sales pitch on Sarah. She ignored him, and asked me if we should cruise up to the Topkapi Palace. I agreed, and we said goodbye to our Turkish companions and headed off. They interpreted this as Sarah being in charge, and made the comment, "One woman leading two men, this is not good at all". We just cracked up.

From here our journey continued for many weeks through historic battlefields, ancient cities, small villages, beautiful coastlines, underground cities, and alien landscapes. During this time, much apple tea was consumed, haggling skills were refined and the true friendly Turkish hospitality was exposed (as opposed to sales pitches). However, whatever the situation we were always expecting to hear the beckoning sales pitch of "Hello, yes please?"

Questions?
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