Zitat

travel fever

This Sunday I will fly to Istanbul. My second trip to Turkey. In this blog I will share my experiences of my journey.

From 3/11-25 I will travel through Turkey, starting
from Istanbul, then down to Antalya and from there... maybe to South Eastern
Anatolia, . We'll see. I have been feeling adventurous ever since my return from
my first trip to Turkey last September, but now, that the time of departure
has come so close, I am feeling a bit like I must be mad.

"Welcome to Turkey"

things to be aware of

I have only arrived here yesterday, and I am already learning again more and more things to be careful about.

Thank God I have been in Turkey before, otherwise I might have lost 300 Lira today.

Last night after arrival, the hotel receptionist told me that just the other day the PKK threw several Molotov cocktails into the area very close to our hotel. This morning I walked up the street to Sultanahmed tram station area. Very soon I noticed a police man standing in front of a building, with a machine gun hanging over his shoulder. So I walked over and asked him for directions, then I asked whether he is the "terrorism police". He said no, he is the "tourist police". He seemed nice enough, so I started a conversation with him, and asked what those Molotov cocktails the other night were all about. He told me that it was done by the PKK, like they do every year around this time, because in March Turkey sends Ocalan to Kenya. I am not sure whether he meant every year, or just this time, or whether Ocalan has received asylum in Kenya now, being sent into exile. (footnote: actually Ocalan was sent from Kenya) Will have to check the news about this... Anyway, March seems a dangerous month to be in Turkey. My luck... I also told this nice young man in uniform that I had never been so close to a machine gun before. It sure is a creepy feeling, I can tell you...

Then I went to the Eminonu area where the young boy who served breakfast had told me I would be able to buy a mobile phone. I ended up in a Philips shop, where the mobiles did not have any prices, and a young guy offered to sell me a rather old and outdated looking Sony Ericsson mobile (without a camera) for 145 Euros, "last price". When I pointed to the list on the wall, that seemed to have the names of the models with numbers next to them between 80 and about 600, and asked if I can just read the price list and choose one, he said:"No, these are not prices." "So, what are these numbers for then?" I asked, and he said:"No, no prices!" At that point I decided to leave the shop and try my luck somewhere else.

I found my way by bus to Taksim square (sitting next to another woman is a good idea, by the way, on public transport), and asked at the Savoy hotel where I could find an electronic shop. They explained. Then I asked:"Can I pay by EC card?" They claimed not to know what an EC card is (???!) and asked me to show it to them. So I did, and then the receptionist said:"Yes, this is ok." Suddenly his eyes lit up with a false green gleam, like a snake, and he added:"You write down your pin code and they will accept your card." Yeah, right... I thought, and immediately decided to pay in cash. (My credit card has never been abused before but after my last trip to Turkey it took only a month or two and someone started to buy things on the internet with my stolen identity and credit card number. To watch porno, by the way...)

So after a trip to an exchange office I walked into the shop they had directed me to, chose another Sony Ericsson model (their cheapest model, a new one, with a camera, cost 145 Lira, not Euro!) and went to the cashiers. The man asked me if I wanted a theft insurance too, for an extra 25 Lira. I accepted, paid everything, but then remembered to ask:" But will they send the money to my bank account outside Turkey?" "Don't worry, if your mobile gets stolen, I will help you. Here is my card with my phone number." Sure, I thought, and demanded that he call them immediately. He made some phone call, waited a long time til someone answered, talked briefly, and then said:"Yes, it is ok. They can send the money anywhere." They kept a whole bunch of spray cans on top of the tray in front of the cash register, and when I placed my bag on the tray, some cans fell down on the floor. When I bent down to pick them up this must have been the moment when my handy disappeared. Because when the man started packing up the carton, and I asked:"Can you give me my mobile? I want to use it right away.", he answered:"I have given it to you already, you must have it." Oh, no, not again, I thought, this is what they did last year with my credit card, and it took me an hour to get back, after repeatedly threatening them with the jendarme (military police).

Well, sure enough, it did take about 45 minutes, during which time I repeatedly considered paying another 300 lira to buy the same mobile again. The man said:"Ok, I will go and look at the video of the supervision camera." He came back after quite a while and said:"I saw the video. You have the mobile." I kept my composure with some effort and replied:"I want to see that video too." So he took me down to the basement, played the beginning of the video until the moment when he gave me the mobile, and said:"See? You have the mobile." "Let's watch some more", I said, and we continued. The video showed how I passed the mobile back to him. "See? I gave it back. You have it." No, no, he said, played more of the video, until the moment I bent down to pick up the fallen spray cans and paid. "See? The mobile is gone from the counter. When you bent down, that is when the mobile disappeared. So you have it." "Well, if I had it it would be in my bag. But it is not. So I don't have it", I said. "Ok, let"s call the police." Then his eyes also took on a sinistre snakelike look and he said:"This is a dangerous game..." "I think, you don't need to call the police now. Let's just call one of your colleagues from upstairs and let him see this video too. And I will tell him that you said to me 'This is a dangerous game' too !" After protesting a little he finally agreed, we went upstairs, he did not want me to call one of the men and instead went over to a woman who said, she can't leave her seat, she is busy etc. So I went to his male colleagues again to ask them, they all ignored me, they suddenly did not understand English anymore... At this point the lady appeared from behind her counter and agreed to come downstairs.

After watching the video she again tried to convince me that I had the mobile. "If I have it, it must be somewhere, right? But it is not in my bag." "Well, maybe you put it into the pocket of your coat. Why don't you check", she said. "The pockets of my coats have holes. I never put anything into those pockets. But you are welcome to search my whole coat. Here.", I said coolly and handed her the coat. At this point suddenly the first man who had helped me choose a mobile appeared with a beaming smile on his face and said:"We have found your mobile. It had dropped between the counter and the cash register!" Yeah, right, now I know why they put those spray bottles there, I thought, checked whether my SIM card was still inside and left the shop. By now I really had had enough of Beyoglu for one day and went back to my hotel, feeling totally exhausted. Argh, all of this on the first day in Istanbul ! You cannot even buy a mobile phone in one of the best areas in town without something like this happening !

When I told the whole story to my Belgian friend who lives here in the evening he grinned:"WELCOME TO TURKEY!"