Turkish Travel Tips -- 5 things you should do
Travel Tip #1 -- Behave modestly in every new situation. (There'll be more on his point, at another time.)
Travel Tip #2 -- Treat everyone you meet with the same amount of respect. When you
first meet "him", the town leader may be dressed like and look like
a vagrant.
Travel Tip #3 -- Be careful about what you try to take out of the country.
Anything over 50 years old may be considered an antique. This
over-reaction on the part of Turkish Officals is due to past thefts of treasures by pilfering foreigners going back to Ottoman Times -- thefts which haven't stopped entirely yet. But those who get caught, suffer severe penalties involving time and money.
Travel Tip #4 -- In public, always control your temper, never display it. Turks
display temper publicly all the time, but foreigners who do so are
considered deli (crazy) or manyak (maniacal). Such angry behavior
may serve your short term interests, but it won't earn you any long term Turkish friends.
Travel Tip #5 --
Be patient. "Burasi Turkiye, Amerika (İngiltere, Avustralya, et al) degil," is a phrase I have heard and reheard 100 times and more. Literally. it simply means, "This is Turkey, it's not America (England, Australia, et al)." But it is also pregnant with the self-deprecating (and somewhat wily) implication that, "We here in Turkey aren't as quick and efficient as you Westerners. So you may as well sit back and enjoy the ride..."