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Istanbul is amazing. Some of the merchants can be rude/pushy, but it has a wonderful balance of historical attractions, great architecture, and fantastic food. Love the street cats, too. Istanbul is an A plus destination in my book.
Istanbul is a stunningly beautiful city from my experience, but my time there was also somewhat unpleasant in different ways, namely to deal with racism and just insensitivity in general. One day some Turkish police officers called me a monkey and started laughing as my friends and I walked by (I'm black for what it's worth). Another time, while at a café, some woman walks up to me, pulls my Afro, and then walks off laughing. Needless to say I did not have the best time in that city.
That would have been really horrible but unfortunately some other cultures seem to have different ideas on what is acceptable to say. I have a friend with a very prominent red birthmark right down the side of his face. He was saying how in China people would constantly want to touch it and I think I remember him saying something like that happened in Turkey too.
Much less upsetting but something that happened in China was that when my husband wanted some shoes, they thought his feet were so enormous that every sales assistant in the store ended up in a circle watching him trying on shoes and were pointing and laughing.
I would love to visit Latin America as I've heard amazing things and love the cuisine there
It's hard to say that as a whole since Latin America is so big and varied. Food in Argentina is night and day from food in Mexico, as they are over 5,000 kilometers apart.
I wholeheartedly agree that, with a few exceptions, Istanbul is a dump. I recently came back from three weeks in Turkey, two of those weeks spent in Istanbul.
Scammy people everywhere. Pushy hustlers trying to sell you on stuff you don't need. You can hardly walk freely around the tourist areas without somebody approaching you to try and sell you something, and doesn't like taking "no" for an answer. They will start off so friendly, asking you where you are from, engaging in personable conversation, but then two minutes late, that drops, and in comes the sales pitch and you realize the friendliness was a sham. The people who have a good heart and genuinely want to be friendly with you, are a very, very rare exception it seems.
Most of the food I had was mediocre at best, with the exception of Turkish delights and baklava. I got the impression it's as if restaurants are afraid to over-season their entrees, so it's as though they spare the seasonings all together. When I ground the salt and pepper on to my entrees, it's as though they were flavorless and I had to dispense copious amounts to be able to finally start tasting the salt and pepper.
The driving is absolutely terrible. No need to go to a theme park ride, just order a taxi ride and see for yourself the shenanigans that are done on a daily basis. If you rent a car, people step it into the road to cross it at random, in areas with no crosswalks. Kind of made me nervous.
Forget going to the Grand Bazaar. It's as though the entire city of Istanbul is one giant bazaar, with cheap bodega after bodega. I've seen little kids being egged on by older people to run shameless scams. I can hardly walk around some of the places of historic interest without constantly feeling like a sales target with hardly a chance to relax and feel at ease.
Let's not forget the Muslim calls to prayer. Even at 4:30 in the AM? Seriously? I was at a hotel near the Blue Mosque, which was the most expensive hotel I stayed at while in Istanbul, and they wouldn't even let me run the AC. They told me nights are still cool enough to where I could pop a window open to stay comfortable. As a person who does not subscribe to the Muslim religion, it was not a pleasant experience being woken by megaphones blaring a loud call to prayer at 4:30 in the morning. Can we please get a text subscription service to everyone who wants to subscribe to calls to prayer, rather than blaring these calls all over the country on megaphones at all hours of the day and night?
I would never dream of coming back to this city again. Unless if it was to see one of the friends I was fortunate to meet, both of whom do speak English
Your experience.
Sounds like you aren't very seasoned traveller and totally unprepared for what to expect.
People who don't care for, accept or embrace foreign cultures and customs probably shouldn't travel. They won't be happy to see and experience things that are different than in their own country.
Next time do some homework and try to learn at least basics about a country you want to visit. See if that fits your mentality and expectations. Otherwise you will just waste your money.
I disagree with every word you said and find Turkey a wonderful country full of warm, welcoming people. Their food is great too! Their country and culture is rich, interesting and worth exploring.
Touristy paths are overrated everywhere and a real globetrotter won't even go there.
I can't imagine complaining about hearing calls to prayer in a muslim country, or church bells in a christian country, or chanting in a buddhist country. It is part of what makes that country that country, and if the noise bothers you then do your homework before booking a room right next to a mosque.
Some folks are more suited just taking a cruise where they can be safely back on the familiar comfortable environment of the ship and only put their toe into other countries on organized scheduled excursions. I'm not trying to sound disdainful as there is nothing wrong with that either, to each their own.
I love Istanbul! Tons of things to see and do, good food, and easy to get around. Around the major tourist areas the people felt similar to the people making their living off of tourists all over the world. Get away from those areas even slightly and the Turks seemed welcoming.
I've been three times. If given the chance I'd be happy to visit again although the shear number of places that I haven't been to yet means I'm unlikely to go back to Istanbul.
It's hard to say that as a whole since Latin America is so big and varied. Food in Argentina is night and day from food in Mexico, as they are over 5,000 kilometers apart.
True, but I’ve experienced food from all over Latin America. Haven’t been disappointed yet! But perhaps I should have specified “cuisines” vice “cuisine.”
That would have been really horrible but unfortunately some other cultures seem to have different ideas on what is acceptable to say. I have a friend with a very prominent red birthmark right down the side of his face. He was saying how in China people would constantly want to touch it and I think I remember him saying something like that happened in Turkey too.
Much less upsetting but something that happened in China was that when my husband wanted some shoes, they thought his feet were so enormous that every sales assistant in the store ended up in a circle watching him trying on shoes and were pointing and laughing.
Definitely possible, although something tells me this wasn't acceptable even under the cultural norms of Turkey. And if it is, that's concerning in itself and all the more reason for me to keep the country off of my list, which is a shame as it truly is a beautiful place!
As for your husband's interactions in China, that is very interesting and I'd certainly be uneasy about all of that at the very least. When I was in China in 2008 for the Olympics, I noticed that local residents were far more prone to openly and brazenly stare at me (I get it . . . they probably hadn't seen very many black people in person before) than in, say, Japan, where this was not a thing. I also had several dozen people ask to take pictures with me, which I had no problem obliging.
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