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Remember that a deal is supposed to end with both parties satisfied. If, after much back and forth, you encounter a vendor who won’t budge below a certain price, it’s likely that it’s not posturing but a way of letting you know that anything lower will no longer be advantageous to him or her. If you feel you are stuck and have reached an impasse, try asking the vendor once more, “Is this your very best price?” If he or she has spent a considerable amount of time with you, this is the moment when it would be advantageous to compromise, or all that time will have been wasted.

Pay attention when a merchant wraps up your purchase—dishonest vendors may try to switch the merchandise. Though this has never happened to me, I read a lot of letters from people who didn’t know they were had until they got home.

If you’re a real shopaholic and plan to ship large items home, remember that rates are based on cubic meaşurement, not weight. Make sure the savings you receive at the market are truly significant to justify the shipping home.

If you’re interested in buying antiques—or making a large purchase of any kind—it’s worthwhile to read “Know Before You Go,” a brochure from the U.S. Customs Service. You can view it online (cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/ vacation/kbyg) and download it, or simply go to Cbp.gov and click on Travel). Dull as it may sound, this document is actually very useful, especially the details on what you must declare, duty-free exemptions, sending items back to the United States, freight shipments, etc.

Bayram

The Turkish word that refers to a holiday or festival. In addition to Ramadan (Ramazan in Turkish), the two other major Muslim holidays observed in Turkey are Eid al-Fitr, or Festival of the Breaking of the Fast (Şeker Bayramı in Turkish), which is a three-day festival when sweets are eaten and distributed to celebrate the end of the Ramadan fast; and Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice (Kurban Bayramı in Turkish), which is celebrated over the course of four days during which sacrificial sheep are slaughtered and the meat is distributed to the poor. As the Islamic calendar is lunar, Seker Bayramı is celebrated in 2009 on September 20-22 and in 2010 on September 9-11. Kurban Bayramı will be celebrated in 2009 on November 27-30 and in 2010 on November 16-19.

The three holy nights of the year are Laylat al-Qadr, or Night of Power (traditionally thought to be the twenty-seventh night of Ramadan), which is the night on which the Koran was brought down to the first heaven before being revealed to Muhammad; Laylat al-Bara’ah, or Night of Record (which falls on the fifteenth night of Shabaan, the month before Ramadan), when God registers the actions that all mankind is to perform in the coming year and all the births and deaths that will occur that year are recorded; and Laylat al-Mi’raj, or Night of Ascension, which commemorates Muhammad’s ascent to heaven. Though there are other days that are observed in the Muslim world—notably the birthday of Muhammad, which is frowned upon by more orthodox Muslims—the two Eids (bayrams) and the three holy nights are considered to be the great festivals of Islam and are the only ones universally observed by all Muslims.

Bey

The equivalent of Mr., but used after a man’s first name, as in Mehmet Bey (Mr. Mehmet).

Bookstores

General bookstores are great, but specialty booksellers are even better. Specialty booksellers understand that the most committed of travelers are interested in books about art, cuisine, and history, as well as biographies, walking guides, novels, maps, phrase books, and memoirs. So they offer all of these in one place, and more. Sadly, some of my favorite bookstores are no longer around, but here are a few that still are and that I highly recommend. All do a brisk mail-order business:

American Book Exchange, also known as Abe Books (abebooks.com), is a great source for out-of-print books.

The Complete Traveller (199 Madison Avenue, New York