Turkey?

It seems odd to visit anywhere and expect alignment of cultural difference. We in the UK are so sheltered by our own traditions, many will choose somewhere like Benidorm. The thought of being away from fish and chips, our own interpretation of Chinese food or a game of football for a couple of weeks is just too much. Pretty sad really..

If you’re not prepared to immerse yourself in the culture of another country while accepting you are a visitor, I think is fair to consider you have a horribly ignorant and selfish feeling of self entitlement.

Back on topic, I would thoroughly recommend visiting Fetiye, making use of the public transport and going on as many day trips as possible. Fantastic country, fascinating history. You’re never going to experience it sitting in a hotel or complex for two weeks.
 
Bluntwrapped said:
It seems odd to visit anywhere and expect alignment of cultural difference. We in the UK are so sheltered by our own traditions, many will choose somewhere like Benidorm. The thought of being away from fish and chips, our own interpretation of Chinese food or a game of football for a couple of weeks is just too much. Pretty sad really..

If you’re not prepared to immerse yourself in the culture of another country while accepting you are a visitor, I think is fair to consider you have a horribly ignorant and selfish feeling of self entitlement.
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... Well that escalated quickly :confused:

What nonsense. I'm not sure who you are having a go at, but personally I love immersing myself in different cultures. Food, drink, theatre, architecture, activities etc. What I don't like, is being seen as some sort-of rich tourist stooge ready to be ripped off by someone who just needs to go out and get a proper job instead of hawking tat at people who don't want it. I don't see them doing it to the locals, so I don't think you can actually use the excuse of "that's the culture there" at all.
 
FortuitousFluke said:
On the bright side now I know that feigning being from another Country isn't a viable tactic I don't have to spend time learning new languages, I mean, I wasn't going to anyway but now I feel justified in my laziness.
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Heh, it can still be useful. My ex and I spoke in German in markets around India, and now I tend to speak Mandarin with my wife if we're travelling - obviously I can't pretend I'm Chinese, and it's a bit trickier in Asia, but it's been great in Europe :p in both cases, mostly for talking about what we're interested in and prices.

She also has conversational Korean similar to my French, so if we can get to each other's levels on those we should be good for secret talks in foreign markets :p

On topic, haven't been to Turkey since I was 10, but never really felt that hassled in Morocco.
 
Feef said:
Heh, it can still be useful. My ex and I spoke in German in markets around India, and now I tend to speak Mandarin with my wife if we're travelling - obviously I can't pretend I'm Chinese, and it's a bit trickier in Asia, but it's been great in Europe :p in both cases, mostly for talking about what we're interested in and prices.

She also has conversational Korean similar to my French, so if we can get to each other's levels on those we should be good for secret talks in foreign markets :p

On topic, haven't been to Turkey since I was 10, but never really felt that hassled in Morocco.
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Learning a new language to actively hinder communication. For some reason that really appeals to me as a concept :D

I could achieve the same results by inventing my own language with the wife, it would have the added benefit of making me seem like even more of a simpleton than I already am, who is going to want to hard sell to a man who likely still gets his mum to tie his shoe laces?
 
Scam said:
... Well that escalated quickly :confused:

What nonsense. I'm not sure who you are having a go at, but personally I love immersing myself in different cultures. Food, drink, theatre, architecture, activities etc. What I don't like, is being seen as some sort-of rich tourist stooge ready to be ripped off by someone who just needs to go out and get a proper job instead of hawking tat at people who don't want it. I don't see them doing it to the locals, so I don't think you can actually use the excuse of "that's the culture there" at all.
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I’m inclined to lean toward Bluntwrapped’s view, certainly a bit.
Having had the misfortune to get invited on a freebie to Benidorm maybe 15 or 16 years ago, I thought that it was the absolute pits, almost every bar that I nearly went into, featured EastEnders and/or Coronation Street on their TVs.
If it wasn’t that it was football, there were Irish bars, Scotch bars, tea as mum makes it, egg, chips, and beans everywhere.
Of course, if that’s what people want, that’s their choice, I’d defend their right to choose it to the death, but it’s not for me.
I don’t “immerse” myself in local culture, anywhere, but I like to try the local cuisine, and look around the back streets and architecture, to check out how the locals live their lives, and do things.
When approached by the tat hawkers, try no thanks, if it doesn’t work, keep walking, ignoring them, and looking straight ahead.

Scam said:
When the girlfriend and I went to Djerba (Tunisia) we had great fun doing the same thing trying to get them to go away. Me speaking terrible GCSE German, her basic/terrible french. It's way easier to ignore them shouting back as you walk off - if you don't understand what they're saying :p

I know it's a cultural thing, but I can't imagine why they think it's a good idea to hassle tourists like that.
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Just a wild guess, but maybe if they sell one watch for a tenner, that they paid a tenner for 100 of,
they’re in front, and all the “no thanks” and “**** offs” were worth it.
 
Scam said:
... Well that escalated quickly :confused:

What nonsense. I'm not sure who you are having a go at, but personally I love immersing myself in different cultures. Food, drink, theatre, architecture, activities etc. What I don't like, is being seen as some sort-of rich tourist stooge ready to be ripped off by someone who just needs to go out and get a proper job instead of hawking tat at people who don't want it. I don't see them doing it to the locals, so I don't think you can actually use the excuse of "that's the culture there" at all.
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Lol I wasn’t having a go at anyone in particular so I’m not sure why you consider it nonsense - especially if you feel it doesn’t apply to yourself. I work with people who are essentially looking for Blackpool in the sun. I don’t get why anyone would want to fly abroad but then pretend they’re still in the UK. If you want to do that then ok, but it gets a bit ridiculous when someone suggests much is left to be desired in the way of a dinner menu and preference to the inclusion or omission of photographs? :o

If it was as easy as all the locals going out to get a “proper job” do you really think they’d be standing selling tat on the streets in the first place? Seems a bit of a blinkered way of thinking about it if you believe life in a 3rd world country is easy going and anything like living here in the UK.
 
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Bluntwrapped said:
If it was as easy as all the locals going out to get a “proper job” do you really think they’d be standing selling tat on the streets in the first place? Seems a bit of a blinkered way of thinking about it if you believe life in a 3rd world country is easy going and anything like living here in the UK.
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You make a fair point there but my issue is with the manner of selling. Not the fact they are selling "tat" but the fact they want to hassle you, goad you, even sometimes trick you into buying something. It's the dishonesty that grates with me.

I still think my point about photographs on menus is fair. Google it if you like, there's plenty of opinion online (not least from Gordon Ramsey).
 
Ahleckz said:
Spent last night in Amsterdam. Was a hell hole. Felt dangerous, lots of louts and felt it was going to kick off. Had a lovely day walking around the city today though.
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That's because of the high amount of turkish immigrants roaming the streets selling drugs :D
 
Scam said:
You make a fair point there but my issue is with the manner of selling. Not the fact they are selling "tat" but the fact they want to hassle you, goad you, even sometimes trick you into buying something. It's the dishonesty that grates with me.

I still think my point about photographs on menus is fair. Google it if you like, there's plenty of opinion online (not least from Gordon Ramsey).
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I understand it’s annoying and can quickly get to be a bit much but I suppose desperate times call for desperate measures. If it comes down to feeding your family and kids then I’m sure we’d all have a go.

In that context I’m not convinced it is worse to be hassled into buying a crap souvenir while on holiday, compared to taking your car to a garage to be told by a mechanic your disc brakes need replacing when there’s nothing wrong with them.

When I visited Hong Kong I found the worse looking places generally serve the best food. Many have photos of famous world travellers along side photos of food. Michael Palin had been back to the same grubby hole of a place 5 times with a photo taken each visit. The food was amazing.

I’d be far more inclined to take the advice of Michael Palin, someone who has a greater understanding of what is important compared to Gordon Ramsey - a man who lives in his own plastic bubble.
 
Bluntwrapped said:
It seems odd to visit anywhere and expect alignment of cultural difference.
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So we should all expect our women to be sexually assaulted as a brucie bonus on our vacays ? Cos of the cultural difference ? They were even leering / trying it on with a 13yr old at the poolside. I've been to many impoverished places. Some proper hoods / ghettos in South America.. Yes while you're more likely to lose your life there over your wallet, they seem to be less hands on with the ladies. Ask the Germans and Dutch how its working out for them.
 
Bluntwrapped said:
It seems odd to visit anywhere and expect alignment of cultural difference. We in the UK are so sheltered by our own traditions, many will choose somewhere like Benidorm. The thought of being away from fish and chips, our own interpretation of Chinese food or a game of football for a couple of weeks is just too much. Pretty sad really..

If you’re not prepared to immerse yourself in the culture of another country while accepting you are a visitor, I think is fair to consider you have a horribly ignorant and selfish feeling of self entitlement.

Back on topic, I would thoroughly recommend visiting Fetiye, making use of the public transport and going on as many day trips as possible. Fantastic country, fascinating history. You’re never going to experience it sitting in a hotel or complex for two weeks.
Click to expand...

Where do you get this idea that you're some special ********* for wanting some cultural enrichment? Most people don't go to Benidorm, it's popular with stag parties and families with small children. Basically everyone I know and work with travels to a wide variety of places and cultures because they enjoy seeing and experiencing new places.

Oh and the Turks are absolutely shocking when it comes to women, anyone who's been there knows that. Though we did meet lots of fantastic people there as well.
 
Scam said:
... Well that escalated quickly :confused:

What nonsense. I'm not sure who you are having a go at, but personally I love immersing myself in different cultures. Food, drink, theatre, architecture, activities etc. What I don't like, is being seen as some sort-of rich tourist stooge ready to be ripped off by someone who just needs to go out and get a proper job instead of hawking tat at people who don't want it. I don't see them doing it to the locals, so I don't think you can actually use the excuse of "that's the culture there" at all.
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We were one of the few British/Western tourists I saw in Instabul. The restaurant/cafe owners absolutely try and get the 'locals' in as well. In most places, they spoke Turkish to me before English. But as I said, it wasn't pushy at all - and they didn't follow us down the road or make us stay somewhere. Simply just stood beside the doorway and said hello and told us that there place was excellent.
 
thedoc46 said:
So we should all expect our women to be sexually assaulted as a brucie bonus on our vacays ? Cos of the cultural difference ? They were even leering / trying it on with a 13yr old at the poolside. I've been to many impoverished places. Some proper hoods / ghettos in South America.. Yes while you're more likely to lose your life there over your wallet, they seem to be less hands on with the ladies. Ask the Germans and Dutch how its working out for them.
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Seek help.
 
I'm confused. I'm thinking of booking a week in Turkey to unwind a bit. Do all hotels come with a lecture about immigration policy and sexual assault or do I have to add that at checkout like my hold bags.

My 2 cents, I've been there a few times and never met a local who wasn't delightful. Shop attendants as mentioned are more forward than in the UK but the ones I interacted with respected boundaries and actually on a couple of occasions really went out of their way to help me out, including promising to source a few Items for me.
 
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