shopping in istanbul

Shopping in Istanbul

Not that I did that much of it...no carpets....

Interestinly a contact suggested that you can buy a carpet there and

get the shop to ship it home for you (after you have taken a photo of

the shop, the salesman and the carpet); other sources suggest that you

might not unwrap the same carpet at home... much like suppliers to EU

projects when heavy-duty lino is ordered for a project office floor,

and you end up with paper-thin stuff....

In Istanbul there are whole streets specialising in certain types of

goods, eg gold, silver, clothes, lights, musical instruments, electric

cabling, and so on and so on. Many of the goods are sold in wholesale

quantities, even in the town centre - eg a bag of 100 silver

bracelets, or, at the side of the road, waist high bags all containing

the same wolly hats. There are also many informal little street stalls

- I even spotted a microscopic stall selling 'Viagra' and 'Cialis' -

no doubt the size of the stall was in inverse relationship with the

hoped-for effect of the drugs concerned.

I saw some strange contraptions whose use I could not work out, until

I spotted them on the backs of men bent down under loads bigger than

themselves. These contraptions kind of extend the back so that the guy

can carry a really gynormous load - saves using donkeys and getting in

trouble with soft-hearted tourists complaining about animal welfare.

Picked up some spices, some Turkish Delights, lots of dried figs (had

a bad do with dried figs as a child, when, in order to keep me

regular, I had to eat soaked dried figs for breakfast every morning -

yuk!, but unsoaked they are nice), some prezzies but no carpets, harem

outfits or fezes!

Posted by violainvilnius at 9:08 PM

Labels: Istanbul