Quoting Capoeira

Hello everybody! I love traveling and I know that Turkey is a great place with wonderful and by far very honest people. However, there are always a few that try to take advantage of our tourist ignorance. Even the best of us get taken every now and then. I would like people to share the scams that they avoided or got caught up in while traveling in Turkey. I would like it to be strictly about scams of hussles in Turkey. Thanks for sharing and I hope we all learn something here. 1. In Alanya...on 3 different occasions while waiting for change at different shops the owners engaged me in conversation. Half way out the door I realized I did not have my change and went back. On all occasions the owners acted as if they had simply forgot. THe first time yes/maybe...but the second two times... 2. Taxis never have proper change and feel comfortable telling you to forget about your 12-15 liras in change. I also discovered that they suddenly had poor math skills when counting out the change due back! 3. And my favorite one...the credit card machine didn´t work the first time because it did not print a receipt. So let me run your card again! Where after leaving you discover that you received a double charge. All of these incidences occured in Turkeky. Let me know what you discovered.

hahahhaa i know this very well from when i was there in 2009. im going back after 3 months and this time im prepard!!! bring it u thiefsssssssssssss

in the last 3 years I have travelled alone, 2 times/ years, to Istanbul,  visiting my friends from there. I have stayed at hotel every time, because my friends` family is very big and I dont want to disturb them, even that everytime they told me to come and stay in their home. I know, it is a kind of respect  to accept and stay in their home but I felt myself more confortable by staying in hotel. but everytime when I walked alone I felt myself very safe. indeed, everytime I have spoke  turkish and, even if, sometimes, some of natives ask me where are you from, because my  accent maybe, they treat me very very well. indeed, it is a small risk to walk as alone woman through historical part of Istanbul, because there are a lot of turistic agencies`members who try to offer you many opportunities for holiday. but if you try to talk to them in turkish, using a neutral voice, like a non - turist, they will leave you alone; everytime when I enter in restaurant or shop I use to speak in turkish from the beginning; even the waiter or seller are talking, first, in english - with usually ´hello,  welcome" I respond in turkish and all turn into the safest mode...of course, even my Turkish is not perfect, even my accent is not a Turkish one, even I am not look like a Turkish woman, I speak turkish as much as I can and..no problem for me..no scams..

I have been going to Turkey every year since 1987 and two or three times a year since I retired 8 years ago and have not had any problems. I have been to most of the holiday resorts in southwest Turkey. I have also visited Kapadokya and spent time in Ankara,Konya, Izmir, Bursa and Istanbul. I have tried to learn as much Turkish as my brain cells allow. It is only courteous to make the effort. I have always found that most of the Turkish people are kind and helpful. You get dodgy characters in every country.

I recently spent about 2 months in Turkey with my Girlfriend. Amazing country, I loved the place and intend to head back next time im in Europe. However we were ripped off by about $1000 USD in Kusadasi while we were there. After about 2 weeks we did manage to get our  money back though! which was a big relief, since we may have had to cut the trip short if we had lost that cash. I actually write a trael blog and have written 2 posts about scams in Turkey that I hope other people will find useful, including detailed information on how we got our money back. Here they are, hope someone else finds these handy! 

Post 1: Scams in Turkey 

Post 2: Scams in Turkey - Getting Your Money Back