The Grand Bazaar and Istanbul:

Main Entrance.

I was born in the countryside and although I have spent a lot of years living in and around different cities, I am still a country person at heart. I am most at home in the countryside, preferably when there are a few mountains, lakes, forests or even the ocean in the background. Maybe it’s a liking for the outdoors or fresh air or an appreciation of beautiful scenery. Whichever, I can never see the point of visiting museums or even cities just for the sake of seeing them. People rave about Paris and Rome but I’ve never ‘got it.’ Yes, many of the buildings are beautiful and they have magnificent architecture but at the end of the day, they are just buildings. Give me the Wicklow Mountains any day.

And yet, one of my favourite places in the world is the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. But it’s just a building you say. Ah yes, but it’s much more than that. To use the slogan of a long departed English Sunday newspaper, ‘all human life is there.’ I’ve been lucky to have visited Istanbul many times over the years, both for work and pleasure. The highlight of each visit is invariably the Grand Bazaar. Sometimes I haven’t even bought anything, although I usually do; it’s just the experience of the place - the sights, the sounds, the smells; you can add the other two senses also as you will always be invited to touch and taste. It’s the atmosphere - as another slogan goes, ‘nothing beats being there.’

On reflection, to say all human life is there could be to greatly underestimate a place that it's very difficult to describe - you really have to go there and experience it for yourself. But a little bit of background - the Bazaar is basically a market; a very big market. As far as I know, there are similar markets all over Turkey. I have visited them in Izmir and Bodrum and Marmaris. They are also very large and multifaceted but the one in Istanbul is just out on its own. I haven't seen all of it because even though I've been going here for many years, it’s so large and covers such a vast area. Then there are all sorts of ancillary bits of it that are just street after street after street of small shops and markets. It seems to me to go on forever. They will sell you everything under the sun. Literally anything from a needle to an anchor, as the expression goes. If they don’t have it, they know someone who has and they’ll get it for you. Just give them a few minutes. Some sections of it are arranged logically, for example, there are about two acres of shops/stands selling baby clothes; the same for shoes; same for men’s clothing; same for household items and so on. For women’s clothing, it’s about ten acres.

It’s closed on Sundays but is open on the other six days from around 10am to 6pm, although some traders open longer. If you want to shop or browse in some form of relative peace, try to get there early. Most of the rest of the time, the Bazaar is thronged with people. It's a crazy mishmash of tourists, locals, people trying to encourage you to come in, people trying to sell you something, people asking you what price you paid for something, people offering you free sweets or anything to entice you to come in and look at the goods on offer.

Some people find it intrusive and head wrecking but it's pure entertainment for me. I love shops anyway and I love seeing what's on offer and what's available. So I actually love the place. I get a buzz from it even if I go in there and spend half the day in it and buy nothing. I hasten to add that the vendors are not pushy or oppressive. They are universally polite. They can be persistent if they feel they have you but are never rude.

Dolmabahce Palace, home to the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire - another Istanbul must-see.

Time to digress here and to veer off into politics. I grew up in Ireland in the 1960’s and I remember there was a dispute between Greece and Turkey over Cyprus. Ireland actually sent peacekeeping troops to the island. There was eventually a peace agreement and the island was split into two parts. Even though geographically, Cyprus (and many other Greek islands) are far closer to Turkey than to mainland Greece, they have been Greek territory for many years. At the time of the dispute over Cyprus, I remember the media narrative being – Greeks good/Turks bad. It was nonsense of course and I never believed it but many did and some still do. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact there are a lot of commonalities in Greek and Turkish cultures and both peoples get on extremely well. Both are very polite and friendly and they share the same love for all animals.

Unfortunately, politics often overrides the will of peoples and creates disputes where there are none. I have made friends with Greek and Turkish people and all are the essence of politeness. This, in a roundabout way, brings us back to the Grand Bazaar, because while I spoke about the traders of the market in a Turkish context, most of them are technically not Turks at all. They are Kurds. As far as I know, there are around 45 million Kurdish people in the world. They are divided between Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Sadly, they have never had their own homeland, which probably makes them the largest ethnic group on earth without their own country. While there have on occasion been some attempts at militancy to seek their own homeland, Kurds in general are a peaceful people and are quite resourceful. In Turkey, there are 15 million of them and many of them are to be found in the retail and catering businesses. As a result, I would say that the majority of traders in the Grand Bazaar are actually Kurdish. So are many of the people in my own business and many whom I have befriended.

Interior of the famous Hagia Sophia.

Any I have met are quite happy to be living in Turkey. Some of them will say, ‘well, I'm not Turkish, I’m Kurdish and I would love to see a Kurdish homeland but I realise it isn’t going to happen any time soon.’ Being Irish, and aware of my own country’s experience of the dominance of a more powerful neighbour, they have my sympathy but this is a very complex question.

But let’s get back to the Bazaar. I realise that people in Ireland or the UK and many reading this article will have their image of a market trader as someone like Dell Trotter from the ‘Only Fools and Horses’ sitcom. I’m fairly sure that the guys in the Bazaar would give Del a run for his money, but in reality they are far more sophisticated. For a start, most speak a minimum of three languages, Turkish, Kurdish and English. Many speak far more. I know one guy who speaks seven. What they do have in common with Del is that the first price quoted is never the price you pay. In fact it’s usually a fraction of it. But this is the culture and you have to play their game. Be careful that you don’t overpay for something though. A lot of the products for sale are fakes but the traders will readily admit this. In fact, there are entire different groups of markets involved in producing fakes of varying quality. So, if you get offered a Chanel Handbag for $100, it’s definitely a fake. If you want the same item in an indistinguishable fake, it’ll probably cost you $500. The original retails for ten times that. The traders are aware that many people who buy high priced items are just buying a label – most high priced fashion products can be had for a fraction of the price and to the same quality in the Bazaar. But look carefully, there may be some unscrupulous traders.

I have seen tourists overpaying for products here. I have probably done so myself on the odd occasion when I fancied something. The traders are all armed with blindingly accurate radar – if you like something, they can pick it up. However, one of the things I have learned over the years is that you can walk away because you will invariably find the same product with another trader if you look hard enough.

One thing I would advise against. If you are a man reading this, don’t go to the Bazaar with your wife or partner. The traders will persecute you insisting you buy something for the lady. If you’re a woman reading this, the advice is not to look too eager or not to look as if you like something. Overall, don’t get engaged in conversation unless you specifically want to. If you stop to browse at a shop or a stall, every trader will ask you where you are from. This is fine. It's polite, and it's friendly. But after a while it becomes a little bit wearing when everybody asks you the same question and it’s just a preamble to a conversation where the trader expects to sell you something. After the where you're from, they wait, if you've already picked something up, they think maybe you want the item. If you haven't picked something up, they'll try and pick up something and show it to you and try to interest you in it. But let's say you've you've selected something and you ask them ‘what's the price of this?’ They may ask you ‘what’s your price’ – don’t give them one. They may try to deflect by asking you are you paying in dollars or euro or in Turkish Lira or a credit card. All cards are accepted. If they eventually give you a price and it sounds outrageous, just leave. It’s not considered impolite. The trader may follow you and say they made a mistake and offer an alternative, realistic price. Then the bargaining can begin. If they don’t, go somewhere else. There’s endless choice.

The famous 'Blue' Mosque - interior must be seen.

The Bazaar has only a limited range of foodstuffs but basically has everything else you will ever need. To my mind, it’s like live theatre and is one of the most entertaining places you can go into. When you agree a price with a trader, they will always acknowledge the transaction with a handshake and will thank you profusely. You effectively have a friend for life. It can be crowded and noisy and seem impossibly disorganized, but don’t be fooled – it’s quite the opposite and works very efficiently. It’s one of the gems of Istanbul, to my mind far more interesting than some of the more popular tourist sites and well worth a visit, even if you don’t make a purchase.