messiestobjects: Even Old New York Was Once New Amsterdam. Why They Changed It I Can't Say, People Just Liked It Better That Way.

So you really only need about three or four days in Istanbul to see everything you need to see... I've been here for 11 days, which is excessive, as it turns out. Don't get me wrong, I've kept busy, and it's been pretty entertaining. The ferry ride up the Bosphorous Strait was very nice; a real continental divide, you know? (Yuk Yuk) But the total tourist trap of a town on the Asian side at the end of the ride was an unpleasant surprise. The town, named Anadolu Kavagi, is the last stop before the Bosphorous runs into the Black Sea, and you have to wait there for three hours until the next ferry returns to Istanbul. They had one of those old run down castles that you see all over both of these continents at the top of a hill there. Everything worth seeing in Europe is at the top of a hill, it seems. That took an hour to do, and otherwise the town is made of nothing but schmaltzy seafood restaurants with a guy for each one out on the street pleading with passersby to come in and eat. The first guy will say "Excuse me sir! Please, come inside to eat we have very good fish!" And I will say any of a number of things such as "No thank you", or "I just ate", or "NO!", or "F*** off you annoying s*** of a tout!" And the next guy, standing in front of the next resaurant about five feet away, and who was watching and listening to your pleasant exchange the entire time, will step out and almost block your path and say "Excuse me sir! Please, come inside to eat we have very good fish!" ... Repeat ad nauseam.
And the Grand Bazaar... good lord. It's the same thing times ten. The Grand Bazaar is a neat place with alot of interesting things, but I pretty much was forced to run through it to avoid being harangued into a very annoyed death. This is a really bad habit that many of these near-eastern countries seem to have fallen into. Morocco was really awful that way also, especially in Fez. It's disappointing, and I think ultimately self-defeating for their own tourist business, because you know, if I am left alone, and I see something interesting, I will stop, peruse and potentially purchase. But the minute some smelly shop guy comes out and starts begging me to look at this or look at that, even if I may have initially been interested, I will run away from him, braying and kicking my hind legs out at him like the donkey I am. I have no patience for that crap. And I see alot of other tourists doing the same thing. The carpet seller's touts are particularly bad that way. It' s upsetting because they ruin what otherwise could be a very lovely atmosphere. Here's a shot I took of Touts on the lookout for suckers in the Grand Bazaar:

It's not that way quite everywhere in Istanbul, thankfully. The Grand Bazaar and Anadolu Kavagi, and various other pockets of tourist trapism here and there, but not all. Sultanahmet, the district where my hotel is, is mostly free of that except for a few carpet sellers and resaurants. Istiklal Caddesi is the main shopping area, and is the most western part of the city that I can see. There are no touts on that street and so far it's my favorite part of Istanbul, except for the Whirling Dervishes and Turkish Delight of course. There's a Starbucks there. Now, I really hate Starbucks coffee. But they have good muffins and pastries and such, and they had this special Pumpkin Spice Latte thing... the sins of the west never tasted so good. It's been a really long time since I was really able to indulge freely in a silly franchise flavored thingie on a street full of chic clothing stores playing obnoxious beat music loud enough to be heard from outside, unhealthy food vendors, dirty street buskers, and throngs of worshippers of the bargain.
Anyway, I leave tomorrow for other parts of Turkey. Cappadocia for starters, and we'll see where we go from there.
If I was still in Baghdad, I'm sure I'd have posted almost every day this week about how happy I am that The Democrats took back the power, Rummy quitting (!!! :) :) ) Bush looking like a chastened little monkey sitting next to Pelosi, and so many other beautiful moments. So aren't you glad you don't have to hear about any more of that crap from me? I am sad in a way, because I'd love to see how the denizens of Interzone are reacting to all of this... I asked my friends who are still there what the general mood is, and Darren wrote me back to say,
"As for the post-election mood, there's alot of "we're screwed now" and "that damn Pelosi's a b****" talk. I can't wait to get the f*** out of here!"
God I hate those people. I'm glad I'm gone and done with it, but a big ugly smug part of me wishes I could be there to see all the chagrin going around. Let's just hope that voting the Democrats in just to get rid of the Republicans actually accomplishes something.