While most Turkish establishments and salespeople are simply attempting to make an honest lira, there are the unscrupulous few on the streets that can make a bad name for the rest. I’ve written about taxi drivers and waiters performing a disappearing act with your money, but they aren’t the only “quick change” artists for whom you should watch. The following aren’t so much handling money as simply snatching it from your hand.Be careful when someone approaches you, saying that he is a tour guide and will take you around for a “practically free” rate. Even if the nice young man offers his guide service free with “no strings attached,” don’t believe it. Official tour guides in İstanbul are licensed. They have taken a long course, are certified and knowledgeable; they are paid set fees for their services. The legal guides have an identification badge hanging on a cord around their necks. Real tour guides do not wander the streets looking for customers; they are hired through agencies. Anyone else is most likely trying to bring you to his ever-so trustworthy “brother, cousin, uncle” at whose shop you can expect to be sold goods at a much inflated price which you are told is a discount just for you, his new good friend. Certainly, he will begin by taking you to a tourist site or two, but at breakneck speed and with a not always accurate historical account. The small fee you pay for the fake tour guide’s service is made up to him by the fat commission he gets from a sale to an innocent tourist. Unless you want to have a bit of free tea and a minute to sit and rest your feet, just say “No, thank you” over and over and keep walking.
Most tourists already carry guide books providing sufficient directions to the important sites and summaries of relevant background details. For more intensive sightseeing, either ask your hotel receptionist or stop at one of the many tour agencies for a half-day or day-long tour package. If what you are interested in is a shopping tour, check the Internet for reliable services such as www.istanbulpersonalshopper.com which do not take commissions from the shopkeepers.
Beware of beggars. Indeed, there are many people who are legitimately unemployed and seeking to eke out a living by selling small packets of tissues or other inexpensive items on the streets. Watch out for the older ladies with babies -- they most often are employed by someone to whom they give the majority of their take. If you offer to buy the woman and child a meal or to give her some grocery items and she refuses, say no and walk away.
Pickpockets can be a problem. When my late husband and I were here as tourists, late one snowy night we had stopped to buy a one-lira packet of tissues from an elderly woman we had seen several times but who had never pushed us for money. Four young boys came up to us, purporting to sell postcards but crowding up much too close for comfort. The young ones’ actual goal was picking my husband’s pocket and stealing my purse. However, they misjudged both their prey and how close we all were to a wall and a feisty old woman. My husband and I grabbed each of the boys’ arms and shoved them at the wall. That wonderful crippled old lady picked up her cane and whacked them all repeatedly, screaming in Turkish. They ran like the dickens. We had planned on giving this woman maybe twice the price of her wares; instead we gave the lady 10 lira (well, it was 10 million then) and helped her up from her cold seat on the sidewalk. I hope she went home as happy as we were that night. In this case, we didn’t say no, but rather “No, you don’t!”
Men should keep their wallets in a buttoned back pocket -- better yet, a front pocket. Women are advised to use purses with long straps which can be worn slung over one shoulder and crossing the chest. Be sure to securely zip all backpack pockets. If a stranger’s hand is coming too close, don’t be afraid to move away or even flick at the intrusive member.
Often a tourist feels uncomfortable about being rude by ignoring what seems to be a friendly gesture or a plea from the poor. But more often, just saying “No” is the wisest course of action.
