I was in Istanbul in June 2011 and was kind of interested in buying a carpet. As you do there. One day I was dragging my wife and friend off to see some carpets I had seen earlier. I got ahead of them and sat down at a local café to have some tea. As you do in “The Bull.” A man nearby came up to me and said “Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi.” I was wearing my Akubura hat so and it had happened before. I laughed and we had a little chat. He was very humble and said how he liked Aussies and how they treated everyone equally. Flattery will get you anywhere I guess. He went on saying how honoured he was that I would talk to him. Meanwhile my wife tripped and fell in reaching me and hobbled up not in a great mood. Wrong again! The kind stranger helped her to a seat and ran and got some ice to put on her sprained ankle. I ordered some more tea for her. The man was very helpful and polite. The chat continued a bit and he did ask what we were doing that day. A natural question and we told him. The conversation moved on and eventually we decided to leave to go see the carpets I wanted to.
Then he made his first move. He said there was a carpet place nearby that was run by someone who once lived in Australia and he was very genuine and liked Aussies. Maybe he could show me? Seems innocent, doesn’t it? It’s not. I agreed to check it out with him and see if my wife, with sprained ankle should bother to go. I am an experienced traveller and thought I had seen most tricks. I walked over with him. A personable guy sitting alone in a small carpet shop down a side alley, in a non touristy area but not far from good hotels and a richer suburb of Istanbul. We chatted and I asked questions about carpets and prices – I have bought them before so I had some idea. He mentioned a suburb of Sydney he had lived in and told me his kids were studying at La Trobe University. Seemed genuine to me and his English was perfect. As he said to me: “Once you buy a carpet from me you are with me for life.” His prices were not bad compared to others, as far as I could tell. Others in my group were really taken for a rid, literally and figuratively, being asked outrageous prices and thinking they had got a bargain when they beat them down by $10,000. But a $1000 carpet bought for $10,000 after an opening price of $20,000 is not much of a bargain. And one guy in the group was going back there for the third time after two previous trips to Istanbull. But they never shipped his carpet before and when he turned up some years later with his receipt they said they had sent it; or no, it was that nasty brother-in-law who did that (or not do that) and this is now a separate company, as they have separated fro this bad man. But they still did not send him the carpet and here he is back again to buy another one for his new wife. Need I say more.
But back to my story. I persuaded my wife and friend to see this shop, so she hobbled over sort of good naturedly. We learned more about carpets and did see some beautiful pieces of art in the form of carpets. My wife was even moved enough by one carpet to even entertain the idea of buying a carpet. There, that is progress. But, after about 30 mins we moved on and he said to us if we could find a better deal for a similar carpet please tell him, as he would like to buy it. Bloody good persuasive tactics. So we left on good terms. Other things happened and we did not get to see the other carpets together that day.
I began to think about the business model of this carpet seller, sitting alone at the back of his shop in a side alley waiting. Waiting for what? A passing tourist or local? He would have to wait a long time and could not afford to send his two kids to La Trobe! So what was going on? Where did that friendly humble guy come from? Did he work nearby? Was he on his way to work? No he did not. He was at work and well trained. Or am I paranoid?
He was part of the ant colony that searches out food to feed the carpet store, where the guy sits in his lair – like a spider in the centre of a a web. I began to think of them in social insect terms, ants. Ants were everywhere but they were parts of different colonies with different Queens or Kings to nurture and feed. We tourists are the food or the fishes waiting to be lured by the fisherman – hence the subtitle of this essay.
After this we were looking out for ants and how they approached food and lured it back to the nest. They were everywhere. In the Hotels. That friendly local guide and assistant in the foyer who can assist you with your shopping. The guy who helps you with directions on the street. The guy that helps you to get to the Mosque, or up some steps, or just smiles and wants to be friendly. “I like you Aussies (Dutch, Americans, Swedes, etc etc.)” “Hey beautiful girl can I help you?” “Aussie Aussie Aussie.” “Hey, Harry Kewell.”
And they dress differently. Some are in suits and ties and appear to be on their way to work. Others are just longing around. Some are young, some are old. I am not sure but not many are women. But hey how do I know. I began to even wonder if the Professors I knew at the local University had “friends in the business.” It might go something like this” “You help me and introduce me to some of the distinguished professors that come to you university and I give you a fee carpet each year.”
The point it that they understand us much better than we under them and much better than we understand ourselves. They use a Westerner’s sense of politeness against them. We try to answer their questions and they reel us in. Q:Hi, are you from (insert a country)? A: No, I am an (name you country). Q: Why are you here? A: I am on holiday (business). Q: Do you like my country? A: It is very nice and the people are very friendly. Q: do you want to buy a postcard (insert anything here). And then it begins.
Lessons learned. Mistakes made. The joys and sorrows of travel. All of it.
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