Grand Bazaar is, well, GRAND!

No one should leave Istanbul without visiting the famous covered market called Kapalıçarşı (aka the Grand Bazaar) - full of every imaginable thing in the world - including Aladdin and his monkey friend Abu! The bazaar is Turkiye's equivalent to a swap meet, except it's a lot more physically and emotionally exhausting.

First of all, there are about 4000 vendors on 82 different streets. It's a labyrinth. A few turns here, a few steps there, you can end up walking for miles and never find your way out.

And if you do get lost, don't even think about asking someone to help you find your way out - espcially the store owners. The vendors are highly cunning and manipulative - they will do anything, say anything to get you to buy something. They may even ask you to step into their shop to show you an item, perhaps offer you tea, then (in some cases) close the door and refuse to let you leave until you make a purchase. What do you expect, it's a tourist trap and these guys have to make a living!

Also, bargaining is the name of the game. Never, never pay for anything without bargaining your price down to, at least 50% of what they ask. The first, second, and third offers are always too expensive, you're guaranteed to find something less expensive around the corner. You haven't experienced the true essence of buying from the bazaar until you've bargained your way out!

I captured some video of the bazaar below, so you can get a highlight of the scene. But I couldn't grab too many photo ops because 1) you can find better pics on the net, and 2) any more, I would have been harrassed by them vendors. Because nothing says 'tourist' like a white chick with a camera.



After capturing my media, I put away my camera and put my sunglasses on (it's helpful in avoiding eye contact with the vendors). I walked briskly and got out of there as quickly as possible. I'll definitely go back though - there were a couple of things that caught my eye...

NOTE: Never go into a bazaar for casual window shopping... to have a successful bazaar experience, you must go in with a focus (know what you want to buy), an "I'm-calling-the-shots" attitude, and a time limit. This way, you're bound to get what you want, at the price you want it, in less than an hour. :)

Me... I'm going take the easy way out and go there with my mom, instead. I know... I'm lame! But she's very effective when it comes to bargin shopping and shop bargaining. (And you would totally understand if you saw the purse I saw and just had to have it... LOL!)