Tuesday 29 September 2015

The art of haggling and other stories....

As today is our last day in Istanbul
We devoted most of the day to shopping
Buying gifts and keepsakes for ourselves
First we headed to the spice market
Where we loaded up on different spices
We went to stall 51
Where Rick Stein went making his most recent cookery and travel show
For anyone that doesn't know
He is an English chef
Who made a show recently 
About cooking from Greece to Istanbul

Anyway
After taking many photos
See below
We braved the Grand Bizarre 
Which is the largest indoor market in the world
With 4000 shops
It employs 30,000 people
Thankfully it wasn't too busy today
We stocked up on gifts for family and friends
As well as a couple of things for ourselves
I bought Turkish slippers 
And a Turkish bathrobe
All for very little 
It was an amazing experience
Everywhere you go 
People are shouting at you
Asking where you are from
And do you want to buy what ever they are selling
As they will give you 'special price'
For 'special lady'
If you showed the slightest bit of interest in their wares
They literally pounce on you!

We had a very interesting experience in one of the many scarf shops
It was the first shop that we showed interest in 
There were two guys working there
I touched one of the scarves 
And he went in for the kill
He brought me in to the shop
Draped the scarf beautifully around me
I asked how much
He said 110 Turkish Lira
As I began to leave the shop
He knocked it down to 90
Then 80
I refused and said we would be back
And as we walked away
One of the guys followed us
And dropped his price to 70
At the end of the day we did go back
The same two guys gave us a great welcome
Brought us in to the shop
I wanted to buy one
Mum wanted to buy a couple 
And my brothers partner also wanted a couple
The two guys sat us down 
And displayed beautiful scarf after beautiful scarf
The guy dealing with us had quite good English
So we spoke in Irish amongst ourselves 
Which became very confusing indeed
Suddenly 
The guy asked us if we wanted apple tea
We said yes
He rang someone on his phone
Two minutes later someone arrived with a little wooden table
And erected it in the middle of the shop
Following that
A tray with six Apple teas
I swear it felt like we were in that shop forever
He said he would give us the four scarves for 270TL
So we agreed to that 
He packed them for us 
And we headed out
But just as we were leaving 
He called my mother back
And offered her one more scarf for 40 TL
So in all
We ended up with five scarves for 310 TL
And given they were cashmere
It was a bargain

Below are photos of the day
Hope you enjoy 
And you get to experience a little bit of Turkey...























5 comments:

  1. I suck at haggling! In Africa the store owners used to haggle for me, because I just wanted to buy at the original cost :D

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  2. I can't haggle to save my life. I had trouble with it in Thailand. I watched my dad try and haggle with a lady in Bali. He spoke his best Indonesian and got his numbers mixed up. The lady knew it and he ended up paying more for the clothes meant for me. It was funny to watch. I guess I should learn to haggle sometime because a lot of countries haggle over goods snd services.
    I'm glad you had a good time. Cashmere scarves and apple tea, what could be better.
    Anne Xx

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  3. wow you are so confident now, i can't even handle food shopping! when u home? have good journey, lots love xxx

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  4. That sounds insane! The most I've ever haggled was over Pokemon cards at the market when I was a kid :P

    I know I sound like a broken record, but I'm really loving all these photos! Every one gives a unique snap of such a different culture. I hope you plan to get some framed and displayed!

    <3
    xxxx

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  5. Abso LURV your scarf, Rubly !!
    *pseudo-pouting outta jelly*

    Just so you kno, I'd FULL-ON pout if said scarf weren't such a spot-on match to your outfit… [so you've actually got a bit of a semi-'reprieve' from me immaturity]…..*for now*
    -!

    ; ) <3 Jils

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