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It ain't half hot mum!
Aug. 19th, 2009 01:23 pmSome observations.
(1) Crossing the road is an exercise in fearlessness here. There are almost no proper crossings, so the way to cross the dual carriageway at rush hour is to wait until the cars are slow enough to be able to stop, then to run out into the road, dodging between hooting taxis and apologising frantically.
(2) Turkish coffee itself is sweet and sickly but ok in small doses. Normal coffee consists of a waiter spooning some nescafe into a cup and adding water - urgh! I have been forced to break my golden rule of travelling and go to Starbucks. The last time I had to do that was in Kyoto when I just couldn't hack green tea and rice for breakfast any more.
(3) Its not actually that hot, only high 20s
(4) The city is a bit crazy. Shoe-shine men drop their brushes so that when tourists pick them up to help, they can grab you and start on your shoes - seen this happen to a couple of people. There is street food everywhere, but most of it is inadvisable to eat. I stick to the salted bbq corn on the cob. People try and drag you into shops or harangue you.
(5) Most locals hear the call to prayer while sitting at a bar drinking a local alcoholic beverage. No one seems to mind.
(1) Crossing the road is an exercise in fearlessness here. There are almost no proper crossings, so the way to cross the dual carriageway at rush hour is to wait until the cars are slow enough to be able to stop, then to run out into the road, dodging between hooting taxis and apologising frantically.
(2) Turkish coffee itself is sweet and sickly but ok in small doses. Normal coffee consists of a waiter spooning some nescafe into a cup and adding water - urgh! I have been forced to break my golden rule of travelling and go to Starbucks. The last time I had to do that was in Kyoto when I just couldn't hack green tea and rice for breakfast any more.
(3) Its not actually that hot, only high 20s
(4) The city is a bit crazy. Shoe-shine men drop their brushes so that when tourists pick them up to help, they can grab you and start on your shoes - seen this happen to a couple of people. There is street food everywhere, but most of it is inadvisable to eat. I stick to the salted bbq corn on the cob. People try and drag you into shops or harangue you.
(5) Most locals hear the call to prayer while sitting at a bar drinking a local alcoholic beverage. No one seems to mind.
