Now I'm finally getting scammed! I was beginning to think I wasn't pretty or something.
The boat riding went down as planned. Sort of, that was scam one. I was armed only with a little info from the internet to look for "TML" for a ferry that would cost $5 round trip, and the ride would be about 2 hours each way, and a the far end I could get off and eat fish (take note, I'm desiring fish now, it comes into play later). Well I can't find no "TML" and I don't remember the name of the exact place I want to go (something like Anadolu Kavagli). I just kind of assumed ther would be one going north, south and across to Hadarpasha (the Asian side). I thought that pretty much all I'd have to do was find the northbound one, and take it all the way.
Well there's lots more boats than that, and they aren't clearly marked, and they go all different ways. So I hear something familiar - "Bosphorous" and say ok. Now I had glanced at a ferry price and saw 7.50 YTL round trip. So when this guy says "20 YTL" I almost said no. But didn't, I'd already wandered a lot at this point and wanted to get on a boat. I knew at least that this was in the general direction I wanted to go in. SO I say OK. I ask where the ticket window is and he says just to pay him. This is also bad but I do it. Then he doesn't have the right bills to make change, so he wanders off with my money, leaving me short.
Surprise, he actually comes back eventually with the 10 YTL he owes me. But still no ticket, I can just get on. Well at this point there are only 3 other guys up there, so I was sure that the way this would go down is that he would take us way out, drop us, and leave us. Then when the next ferry comes along we'd have to pay again because we have no ticket.
Turs out though he was running at least a semi legit operation. Lots more people get on and it's not really a "round trip", it just goes in a big loop, no stops. I wonder if everybody else paid as much as me though... All in all it worked out though considering this, a slow boat up the Bosphorous, is something I really wanted to do and if the going rate was 20, I wouldn't blink.
But then after dropping by the hotel room I really do get scammed. I still wanted fish and had noticed a poster for a fish place behind my hotel. (It's called somthing like Sabahattin in Sultanahmet). Anyway they got me with a tourist trick where they give you stuff you don't order. Turkish fish restaraunts don't usually have menus. You either tell them what fish you want or they tell you what they have and you agree on a price (more like they tell you market price). So as soon as I sat down I realized the place was a little too "nice" but I decided to give it a shot. I have speant no more than 7 YTL ($5ish) for any meal up to this point, but I wanted some fish. So I decided that I would do it unless it was more than 20. Well I ended up ordering bonito for 25. So then he brings out the meze (appetizers). And I submitted to a salad. The salad was brought out with a sort of milky fish dish. It rang alarm bells because I had only seconds ago ordered the salad. I almost said "No take this back, I didn't order it". But the fish was tunaesque so I assumed it was bonito (which in American sushi restaraunts at least is a kind of tuna). I ate it and waited a long time, presumably just to ask for a check. And just when I was about to do so the waiter shows up with a plate full of fish. Wow. I had fallen for the gambit - but only because the apetizer was plausibly my entree.
So my bill was 40YTL. Thats 5 for salad and 10 for soup or vice versa or 7.50 each. Any way you cut it, expensive stuff. And the entree was actually plenty. I was pissed but knew I had no case. "You ate it, you have to pay" would surely have been the answer.
The rest of the day was uneventfull, I wnet back to a tried and true Kuftechi from last night for dinner. I just didn't want any surprises at this point.
I'm back in the saddle tommorrow.
The boat riding went down as planned. Sort of, that was scam one. I was armed only with a little info from the internet to look for "TML" for a ferry that would cost $5 round trip, and the ride would be about 2 hours each way, and a the far end I could get off and eat fish (take note, I'm desiring fish now, it comes into play later). Well I can't find no "TML" and I don't remember the name of the exact place I want to go (something like Anadolu Kavagli). I just kind of assumed ther would be one going north, south and across to Hadarpasha (the Asian side). I thought that pretty much all I'd have to do was find the northbound one, and take it all the way.
Well there's lots more boats than that, and they aren't clearly marked, and they go all different ways. So I hear something familiar - "Bosphorous" and say ok. Now I had glanced at a ferry price and saw 7.50 YTL round trip. So when this guy says "20 YTL" I almost said no. But didn't, I'd already wandered a lot at this point and wanted to get on a boat. I knew at least that this was in the general direction I wanted to go in. SO I say OK. I ask where the ticket window is and he says just to pay him. This is also bad but I do it. Then he doesn't have the right bills to make change, so he wanders off with my money, leaving me short.
Surprise, he actually comes back eventually with the 10 YTL he owes me. But still no ticket, I can just get on. Well at this point there are only 3 other guys up there, so I was sure that the way this would go down is that he would take us way out, drop us, and leave us. Then when the next ferry comes along we'd have to pay again because we have no ticket.
Turs out though he was running at least a semi legit operation. Lots more people get on and it's not really a "round trip", it just goes in a big loop, no stops. I wonder if everybody else paid as much as me though... All in all it worked out though considering this, a slow boat up the Bosphorous, is something I really wanted to do and if the going rate was 20, I wouldn't blink.
But then after dropping by the hotel room I really do get scammed. I still wanted fish and had noticed a poster for a fish place behind my hotel. (It's called somthing like Sabahattin in Sultanahmet). Anyway they got me with a tourist trick where they give you stuff you don't order. Turkish fish restaraunts don't usually have menus. You either tell them what fish you want or they tell you what they have and you agree on a price (more like they tell you market price). So as soon as I sat down I realized the place was a little too "nice" but I decided to give it a shot. I have speant no more than 7 YTL ($5ish) for any meal up to this point, but I wanted some fish. So I decided that I would do it unless it was more than 20. Well I ended up ordering bonito for 25. So then he brings out the meze (appetizers). And I submitted to a salad. The salad was brought out with a sort of milky fish dish. It rang alarm bells because I had only seconds ago ordered the salad. I almost said "No take this back, I didn't order it". But the fish was tunaesque so I assumed it was bonito (which in American sushi restaraunts at least is a kind of tuna). I ate it and waited a long time, presumably just to ask for a check. And just when I was about to do so the waiter shows up with a plate full of fish. Wow. I had fallen for the gambit - but only because the apetizer was plausibly my entree.
So my bill was 40YTL. Thats 5 for salad and 10 for soup or vice versa or 7.50 each. Any way you cut it, expensive stuff. And the entree was actually plenty. I was pissed but knew I had no case. "You ate it, you have to pay" would surely have been the answer.
The rest of the day was uneventfull, I wnet back to a tried and true Kuftechi from last night for dinner. I just didn't want any surprises at this point.
I'm back in the saddle tommorrow.
posted by Wes at 12:31 PM
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