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Published: November 17th 2007
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Every spice...
and then some... Hello all,
Turkey is an amazing land - so unique compared to other places I have been. The first day we arrived, we were accosted by merchants and it hasn't let up - though strangely it's not as irritating as you would think. They are not aggressive, but they are slimy, charming, and persistent. They will try anything to get you in their store... and what really astounds me is their language ability, and not only English!
So, the first day we were conned into a local merchant's store... of carpets, no less, but the experience was worth it. We were on our way to see the blue mosque and it suddenly closed to visitor's for prayer time, which meant we had an hour to kill, of course we learned this from a man outside who then walked with us telling us all the local history until we reached his store where he asked us to come in, just to leave us his business card. We politely refused a few times and then finally said "just for the card". Well, the second we were inside, we were surrounded by his uncle and brothers, presented with apple tea, and sitting
nuts!
this was the prime stand for the locals... so of course we bought from here... after being scammed at the more touristy stalls ;0) on a sofa watching the uncle point to carpets and the young men run and fetch them to lay out in front of us while the quality was explained.
Now, I have to say, it was rather educational, and they are happy to tell you all about the types of carpets, weaves, process, local mountain folk who sell them, and much, much more... We sat through the demonstration and learned never to tell someone that you were new to their country... but filled with local carpet knowledge and tea, we were on our way to see the mosque.
The buildings here are also incredible, the intricate designs with absolutely nothing on the walls. They cannot have images of people, so everything is designs and detailed patterns.
After being conned a few more times for food and at the local stores, we set out for a day of sightseeing and the experience of the Egyptian spice market. That itself was like a dream... and again, the same accosting store tactics. However, we enjoyed more than our share of free samples of Turkish delight and filled our bags with tastes of each unique thing we came across.
In
the end, we were on our way home, when we were being called into a carpet shop for the hundredth time that day... we were walking on when one of the sales men desperately shouted out "hold your horses!" I couldn't stop laughing and we decided that warranted a pause... at which point he begged to ask us one question - only one... of course when he did so, I got a bit playful and said you just did! By then we were hooked, but the two young guys were quite persuasive so we were lured in again.
We were asked if we would like to see a flying carpet... I told him if he could give me a demonstrations, I would likely buy it... he promised he would, he said "come inside, sit on the carpet and I will run over to the liquor shop to get our local specialty, and after a taste of that, you will be flying!" By this time, he was all in, he was young and he was good. He then said that he had a magic carpet... would we like to see it. I told him if he really had a magic
Tastes like apple!
(but wow those things take a long time to finish!!!) no wonder they have backgammon - to distract them! carpet I would like to see it - and we were in the shop.
To give him the credit he deserves, he grabbed an ottoman carpet (they are knotted in a specific manner so that the weave creates two colours, depending on the angle you look at it from....) so after explaining this, he showed us a light carpet, flipped it in the air and it was instantly dark when it landed - "see" he said "a magic carpet!"
So, like this, we received more of a demonstration of the different kinds of carpets, and watched this young fellow jump on stacks of carpets to hold them up to the light for us to see, crawl on all fours while he explained the weave and pile that comes from machines, but not hand knotted, and do everything short of back flips.
Well, what can I say, it is the Turkish experience, and it really is quite amazing...
More to come...
Trish xxx
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