Country Counting

I’m Terry and I love to travel.

How to shop for gold in Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar — or any other bazaar, for that matter

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Buying gold in a foreign country may seem a bit daunting, but believe me it’s about the most fun I can imagine.

Two summers ago, I came down with a terrible case of kidney stones when Kelly and I were in Istanbul. I had planned to buy some 22 kt. earrings for a friend and in the middle of bargaining at the Grand Bazaar, I had an attack and had to spend the next two days in bed.

On our recent trip to Egypt, I saw that my flight was going through Istanbul and I thought, “well, why not stop there for a day or two and get those earrings?”

By the time the trip came around, I had a list of items friends and family wanted and a few items for myself.

The Grand Bazaar is huge. Take your time, look, shop and bargain!

Here are my six tips for buying gold.

1. Be ready to spend some time shopping. This is not a quick in and out. You will need to wander around the bazaar – which is huge — and look in windows to see what you want.

2. Bargaining is required. You are not going to pay the price they first quote. You need to chat, smooze and haggle. Don’t be intimidated.  It’s really fun and a great way to get to know the culture of the bazaar. You will find some nice folks, some sleezy salesmen and some people you will want to come back to trip after trip. And yes, they are mostly men.

3. When you find something you like, ask for one of the store’s cards, have them weigh the piece and give you a price. Write that on the card and take a picture of the piece. Then you can shop from store to store and compare what you like. All the pricing is based on weight, no matter what they tell you. So use what you learn as you shop to compare equal weights.

4. Find out the karat gold. You’ll find 14 kt, 18 kt, 22 kt and 24 kt. Of course prices will get more expensive as the karat goes up. So compare like to like.

5. When bargaining, be kind, firm and smile. It is a bit of a dance and the sellers enjoy the game. So work them.

6. Don’t limit your shopping to the main corridors of the bazaar. Some of the best bargains are at the smaller stores located off the main drag. I found a great “wholesale” chain guy there. I had been shopping for a chain in several of the bigger stores and finally when I couldn’t find anything, I was referred to the chain guy. My salesman took me directly to the store and I found what I wanted – a 40” chain — for about a third what I would have paid in the States.

I had a full day at the bazaar, came back to the hotel and texted my sister a pix of what I bought. She saw the chain and said, “was it pricey?” I said, “no, do you want one?” And back to the bazaar I went to buy one for her. When I got there, I knew I’d never find the chain guy on my own, so I went back to the original store and asked them to take me to the chain guy. They did and another purchase was made.

An interesting aside, while shopping for gold, I found two miniature paintings I bought for $200. I asked the shopkeeper for his card. Since he had just moved into his shop, he didn’t have any. So I gave him my email address so he could send me contact information. When I got back to the hotel between runs, he had emailed me and told me I overpaid him by $50. (I had given him crisp $50 bills and one had stuck to another.)

He wanted to give me my $50 back.

How often does that happen? So this guy is a keeper and I eventually found my way back to his store and got my $50 bill back.

Of the 125 I’ve visited, here are my three favorite countries

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I’ve been to 125 countries so far and a good friend recently asked me, “what are your top countries?” So, here you go. These are my favorites — so far!

Cambodia. There aren’t many places in the world where you can still visit inexpensively, stay in wonderful historic hotels and meet people who are kind, joyful and friendly. This is Cambodia. I’ve been there four times and each time, I came away in awe of the people. When you consider all they have been through (think Khmer Rouge) and the suffering they have experienced, it is unbelievable that they have kept their welcoming and kind spirit.

What do you do there? In Siem Reap, tour Angkor Wat. Hire a cyclo driver to get you around. Go out for a morning tour. Wear good walking shoes. Come back to your hotel for lunch, take a rest and then go out in the afternoon for another tour. You can easily spend 2-3 days exploring the ruins and you can still get close to everything, with very little roped off or off limits. Food is delicious. We love the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor, a historic hotel that has lovely rooms, a beautiful bar and several restaurants. Spend time roaming the streets and buy some of the beautiful crafts (scarfs, clothing, linens, pottery, lacquerware).

Turkey. It took me a while to make my way to Turkey, but I fell in love with this country the minute I arrived. Istanbul is geographically gorgeous – located in the most scenic spot with the Black Sea to the north and the Marmara Sea to the south. The monuments, mosques, churches and architecture are spectacular. But the shopping here is world class. I am going back in two months, simply to spend a day at the Grand Bazaar on my way home from Egypt. (I had a kidney stone attack while there two summers ago and missed my day of shopping. But that is a story for another blog.) Wonderful food, charming little hotels and lots of cobbled streets to explore. In the center of Turkey, Cappadocia is other-worldly. This region looks like the surface of the moon – covered with painted caves and fairy chimneys. It is a must-see area. We stayed in a cave hotel that was fabulous. I haven’t explored the rest of Turkey, but if you have the time, plan for 2-3 weeks there. You won’t regret it.

Vietnam. Ken and I went to Vietnam for the first time right after Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton made their first visit to Vietnam in 2000– the first visit of any president since the Vietnam War. We spent time in Hanoi and Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City as it is called now. In Hanoi, stay at the Metropole Hotel. Located close to the city center lake, it is a charming hotel with old and new sections. We’ve stayed in both and love them equally. The hotel has beautiful restaurants and friendly and helpful staff who can arrange tours and shopping expeditions to the many shops. Most of the people in Vietnam now are under 30, so the war is part of their history but not their personal experience.

Our first guide in Hanoi was a former Viet Cong soldier. When I asked him how he felt seeing all these Americans in his country after he had fought us, he was direct. “I was 17 when I went to war. My parents didn’t want me to go and I didn’t want to go. I welcome you with open arms,” he said. Who wouldn’t tear up at that?

 

How to deal with airline schedule changes

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Dealing with airline changes can be a nightmare. But on my last trip to Curacao for Thanksgiving, I found out a startling good bit of information.

Here’s what happened. Our original trip was scheduled from Gainesville to Miami on Monday with an overnight in Miami so we could meet up with a friend and have dinner at Joe’s Stone Crab (my favorite all-time restaurant). We would then fly to Curacao Tuesday morning and meet up with my family who arrived on Monday.

Somehow my niece didn’t get the information that we would be a day late and she booked a day trip to Bonaire on Monday. When we found out about that, she tried to change the Bonaire flight online to no avail. So I told her, don’t worry, if you can’t change it when you get there, I’ll just miss that portion of the trip or reschedule for another day.

The night before I was to leave, I went online to check-in for my flight and saw a link online labeled “change flight.” I had never noticed that before, so clicked on the link and found that the flight my family was taking out of Miami was available to me by changing to an earlier flight out of Gainesville – all at no charge.

So, I clicked away, rescheduled the trip, called my friend in Miami to cancel our dinner at Joe’s, cancelled the hotel in Miami and was able to get to Curacao in time to take the Bonaire flight with my family.

I’ve since checked with American Airlines and found you can change flights for no fee if one of the following criteria is met.

  • You have an unrestricted Economy Class (Y fare), Business or First Class tickets
  • You have American Airlines AAdvantage®Executive Platinum status and companions in the same record
  • You are an AirPass member (that’s the lifetime free airline ticket that was once sold for $250,000)
  • You are using First and Business Class award tickets
  • You are using MileSAAver & AAnytime award tickets
  • You have booked Choice Plus fares

In this case, I had booked my ticket withward miles, so I qualified for a same-day ticket charge at no cost.

For a $75 fee on flights between the 50 United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, and the Caribbean, or $150 on flights between and connecting through New York JFK and London Heathrow, you can confirm an available seat on an earlier or later flight as long as the alternate flight:

  • Has the same origin and destination
  • Is for the same calendar day of departure
  • Is marketed and operated by American Airlines or American Eagle

You cannot change your itinerary to a city with multiple airports or to a different connecting city.

This is a tidbit of information that may come in handy, so remember to check that “same-day flight change” link when you are checking in for your flight. Delta and other airlines have similar same-day change programs with varying fees. Check online under “same-day ticket change and the name of the airline” and you may be able to make last-minute changes for free or a low fee. Happy flying.

 

Here’s an easy way to get a free airline ticket to Europe and back

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If you love getting free airline tickets like I do, you gotta’ take advantage of this deal.

Sign up for the new Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card, spend $4000 in the first three months and you qualify for 100,000 miles! That’s enough to get you a roundtrip ticket to Europe and back in business class. Check out the details on one of my favorite sites: www.thepointsguy.com.

And while you’re at it, get another card for your spouse/partner and you’ll score an easy 200,000 points. I usually put my points in United, but there are a number of other airlines to which you can transfer points.

The card costs $450 per year, but you will get $300 in credit, once you spend on hotels or any other travel. That makes the card cost just $150. This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime deals, so don’t miss it. The most I’ve ever gotten on a credit card deal is 60,000 miles, so be sure to nab this one.