Exotic adventures (kind of)
Feb. 15th, 2007 05:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
le_woodmanThis post by ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
starfolder reminds me of something that happened to me in Istanbul :
I had just arrived, and had gone out just to have a look at the neighbourhood, it was about 9-10 pm, and some dude in the street asked me something in turkish. So I said (in english) "Sorry, I don't speak turkish.", and then he said "Oh, you're not turkish ? I thought you were turkish, you look turkish, you know ?" So he went on talking with me, introducing himself and his friend (they were two) "Where are you from ? Ah France, Paris, Comment ça va ?" "Do you know this part of town ? This street is nice, it's the turkish Champs-Elysées", "I've been to France once", etc, etc... I was expecting them to try to sell me something, or to just ask for money or something, and I was staying in populated places in case their intentions were to mug me, but they were just behaving friendly, like they had nothing in their mind, and were just enjoying a conversation with a random foreigner...
Then I noticed an "Internet" sign and said "look, a cyber-café ! I need to check on emails and stuff !", and they said OK, and came with me, acted as translator with the employee there, and politely waited for me. I told them this could take an hour, so they took a computer each and started to chat on MSN or something. When I was finished, they continued to walk with me speaking of all kinds of things, work, girlfriends, travels, etc... I stayed vague on questions concerning which hotel I was staying at or was I alone in this city...
At one point they asked if I wanted to have a drink somewhere, so I said "sure", and I noticed they seemed to be know exactly where they were going (as opposed to before, when they looked like they were just wandering about), and then they took the direction af a smaller street, with almost nobody in it. As long as we were staying in the crowd walking in this big avenue called "Istikal Kaddesi" where the shops are open late at night, and there are all kinds of bars, restaurants and night clubs, I felt pretty safe, but I sure wasn't going with them to a place where they could mug me without witness, so I asked "where are we going ?" and they said "To a bar we know." And I said "there are bars everywhere around here, why don't we go to one of these ?" But they insisted on going to this other bar. So I asked "What kind of bar is it ?" "Well, it's, you know, a belly-dancing bar"
There we were. That's what this was all about. A belly-dancing bar, a strip club, a tourist trap... I'd read and heard many stories about these places. They're usually not as classy and friendly as Portland's "Devil Point" (from what I've heard of it). The story ususally goes like this : you make a new friend, he invites you to a bar who turns out to be a strip club, where you'll have to drink, buy drink to your "friend", to the girls, and a few hours later comes the bill and you realize the beers are 30 dollars at least, not to mention all the cups of bad champagne the girls ordered on your tab, and you have an astronomic sum to pay. Usually you can come to an agreement with the owner of the place (and his bouncers) : they agree not to beat you to a pulp, and you give them all the money you have, and all the money you can draw from the nearest ATM, where they will escort you...
So of course I refused to go and turned back, and then they grew really insistent : "Why don't you want to go ?" "Because I have a bad feeling, and I usually trust my feelings". "What is the matter ? Don't you trust us ?", etc, etc... Eventually they realized I wouldn't go, and admitted they worked for the club, and asked me to give them money, for "taking their time". So to get rid of them, I gave them 5 liras (about $3.50) for their expenses...
It was not the first time somebody tried to drag me into a strip club or another dubious place, but never had I seen anybody spend more than one hour and a half before even mentionning the club. In other place (like, for example Prague or Amsterdam) it's more direct : "Hey, mister, come here ! Good bar ! Pretty girls dance ! Sexy xhow !"
For the rest of my stay in Istanbul, every time I found myself on this avenue at night, some guy would eventually come to talk to me. And the conversation would always go exactly like this :
- (...) [asks for something in turkish, like a light or a direction]
- Sorry I don't speak turkish
- Oh, you're not turkish ? I thought you were turkish ! You look turkish, you know ?
- Aha ?
- Where are you from ?
- France.
- Ah, France, Paris, Comment ça va ?
- You're not trying to drag me to a belly-dancing bar, are you ?
- Hahaha, of course not
And then the guy would go away...
Ah, the good times...
starfolder reminds me of something that happened to me in Istanbul :I had just arrived, and had gone out just to have a look at the neighbourhood, it was about 9-10 pm, and some dude in the street asked me something in turkish. So I said (in english) "Sorry, I don't speak turkish.", and then he said "Oh, you're not turkish ? I thought you were turkish, you look turkish, you know ?" So he went on talking with me, introducing himself and his friend (they were two) "Where are you from ? Ah France, Paris, Comment ça va ?" "Do you know this part of town ? This street is nice, it's the turkish Champs-Elysées", "I've been to France once", etc, etc... I was expecting them to try to sell me something, or to just ask for money or something, and I was staying in populated places in case their intentions were to mug me, but they were just behaving friendly, like they had nothing in their mind, and were just enjoying a conversation with a random foreigner...
Then I noticed an "Internet" sign and said "look, a cyber-café ! I need to check on emails and stuff !", and they said OK, and came with me, acted as translator with the employee there, and politely waited for me. I told them this could take an hour, so they took a computer each and started to chat on MSN or something. When I was finished, they continued to walk with me speaking of all kinds of things, work, girlfriends, travels, etc... I stayed vague on questions concerning which hotel I was staying at or was I alone in this city...
At one point they asked if I wanted to have a drink somewhere, so I said "sure", and I noticed they seemed to be know exactly where they were going (as opposed to before, when they looked like they were just wandering about), and then they took the direction af a smaller street, with almost nobody in it. As long as we were staying in the crowd walking in this big avenue called "Istikal Kaddesi" where the shops are open late at night, and there are all kinds of bars, restaurants and night clubs, I felt pretty safe, but I sure wasn't going with them to a place where they could mug me without witness, so I asked "where are we going ?" and they said "To a bar we know." And I said "there are bars everywhere around here, why don't we go to one of these ?" But they insisted on going to this other bar. So I asked "What kind of bar is it ?" "Well, it's, you know, a belly-dancing bar"
There we were. That's what this was all about. A belly-dancing bar, a strip club, a tourist trap... I'd read and heard many stories about these places. They're usually not as classy and friendly as Portland's "Devil Point" (from what I've heard of it). The story ususally goes like this : you make a new friend, he invites you to a bar who turns out to be a strip club, where you'll have to drink, buy drink to your "friend", to the girls, and a few hours later comes the bill and you realize the beers are 30 dollars at least, not to mention all the cups of bad champagne the girls ordered on your tab, and you have an astronomic sum to pay. Usually you can come to an agreement with the owner of the place (and his bouncers) : they agree not to beat you to a pulp, and you give them all the money you have, and all the money you can draw from the nearest ATM, where they will escort you...
So of course I refused to go and turned back, and then they grew really insistent : "Why don't you want to go ?" "Because I have a bad feeling, and I usually trust my feelings". "What is the matter ? Don't you trust us ?", etc, etc... Eventually they realized I wouldn't go, and admitted they worked for the club, and asked me to give them money, for "taking their time". So to get rid of them, I gave them 5 liras (about $3.50) for their expenses...
It was not the first time somebody tried to drag me into a strip club or another dubious place, but never had I seen anybody spend more than one hour and a half before even mentionning the club. In other place (like, for example Prague or Amsterdam) it's more direct : "Hey, mister, come here ! Good bar ! Pretty girls dance ! Sexy xhow !"
For the rest of my stay in Istanbul, every time I found myself on this avenue at night, some guy would eventually come to talk to me. And the conversation would always go exactly like this :
- (...) [asks for something in turkish, like a light or a direction]
- Sorry I don't speak turkish
- Oh, you're not turkish ? I thought you were turkish ! You look turkish, you know ?
- Aha ?
- Where are you from ?
- France.
- Ah, France, Paris, Comment ça va ?
- You're not trying to drag me to a belly-dancing bar, are you ?
- Hahaha, of course not
And then the guy would go away...
Ah, the good times...
