Middle East - Anthony Ham [518]
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BUSINESS HOURS
Government and business offices, and banks usually open from 8.30am to noon and 1.30pm to 5pm Monday to Friday. Main post offices in large cities are open every day. Smaller post offices may be closed on Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday. During the hot summer months the working day in some cities begins at 7am or 8am and finishes at 2pm.
The working day gets shortened during the holy month of Ramazan (Ramadan), and more-Islamic cities such as Konya and Kayseri virtually shut down during noon prayers on Friday. Apart from that, Friday is a normal working day in Turkey. The day of rest, a secular one, is Sunday.
In tourist areas food, souvenir and carpet shops are often open virtually around the clock. Elsewhere, shops are open 9am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, and markets often get going earlier than that. Shopkeepers generally don’t close for lunch, even if it means munching on a kebap behind their counter.
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CUSTOMS REGULATIONS
Two hundred cigarettes and 50 cigars or 200g of tobacco, and five 1L or seven 700mL bottles of alcohol can be imported duty free.
It’s strictly illegal to export antiquities. Customs officers spot-check luggage and will want proof that you have permission from a museum before letting you leave with an antique carpet.
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DANGERS & ANNOYANCES
Although Turkey is one of the safest countries in the region, you must take precautions. Conceal your money in a safe place (such as a discreet money belt, or loose in a zippable shirt pocket) and be wary of pickpockets on buses, in markets and in other crowded places. Keep an eye out for anyone suspicious lurking near ATMs.
In İstanbul, single men are sometimes approached in areas such as Sultanahmet and Taksim and lured to a bar by new ‘friends’. The scammers may be accompanied by a fig leaf of a woman. The victim is then made to pay an outrageous bill, regardless of what he drank. Drugging is also a problem, especially for lone men. Again, it most commonly happens in İstanbul, and involves so-called friends, a bar and perhaps a willowy temptress. Sometimes on the bus, the person in the seat next to you buys you a drink, slips a drug into it and then makes off with your luggage. So be a tad wary of who you befriend, especially when you’re new to the country.
More commonly, the hard-sell tactics of carpet sellers can drive you to distraction. Despite their idyllic appearances, tourist hotspots are driven by foreign spenders and there is often no such thing as a free kebap. ‘Free’ lifts and other cheap services often lead to near-compulsory visits to carpet showrooms or hotel commission for touts.
Travelling in the southeast is now safe, although roads do close due to military activity against the PKK (PKK/Kongra-Gel) rebels in the mountains on the Iraqi border. When we visited, the only road that was closed to foreigners was between Hakkari and Şırnak. For more information, Click here.
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EMBASSIES & CONSULATES
Foreign embassies are in Ankara but many countries also have consulates in İstanbul. In general they are open from 9am to noon Monday to Friday, and some open in the afternoon. For more information, visit http://tinyurl.com/6ywt8a.
Australia Ankara ( 0312-459 9521; www.embaustralia.org.tr; 7th fl, Uğur Mumcu Caddesi 88, Gaziosmanpaşa); İstanbul ( 0212-243 1333; 2nd fl, Suzer Plaza, Asker Ocağı Caddesi 15, Elmadağ)
Bulgaria ( 0312-467 2071; Atatürk Bulvarı 124, Kavaklıdere, Ankara)
Canada ( 0312-409 2700; Cinnah Caddesi 58, Çankaya, Ankara)
Egypt Ankara ( 0312-426 1026; fax 427 0099; Atatürk Bulvarı 126, Kavaklıdere); İstanbul ( 212-324 2180; Akasyalı Sokak 26, 4 Levent)
France Ankara ( 0312-455 4545; Paris Caddesi 70, Kavaklıdere); İstanbul Map; 0212-334 8730; İstiklal Caddesi 8, Taksim)
Germany Ankara ( 0312-455 5100; Atatürk Bulvarı 114, Kavaklıdere); İstanbul Map; 0212-334