Sultanahmet, the old section of town, where the Golden Horn and the Bosporus swing down into the Sea of Marmara, is the home of many of Istanbul's greatest attractions. It's also swarming with touts, scam artists, and salesman, all ready to go to great lengths to get money out of tourists. Some of them are quite obvious, but many others are patiently insidious, pretending to be friendly or helpful while waiting for their chance to strike. It's a world of false smiles and meaningless promises.

A typical example is the Japan Cafe, a small, cozy looking coffee shop just off the Hippodrome. They run a variation of the "friendly Greek" scam, only in this case it is the friendly Japan-loving Turk. They send people out to look for tourists, primarily Japanese, and bring them back to the cafe. Inside it is all smiles and little kids and a many friendly words about Japan. Turkish treats are brought to the general tables (mostly eaten by the owners' kids) and drinks appear without orders. In the end, the hired tout who roped them in disappears and the tourist is stuck with an inflated bill, but still plenty of smiles.

Sometimes, these slimeballs can get nasty. I met a poor French guy who was befriended by two locals. They hung out with him all afternoon, talking about jazz music and soccer. They all went to several places for a few drinks. Finally they got the French guy into one of their lairs and slipped a mickey into his drink that knocked him out after a few sips. They took his wallet and passport, leaving him to deal with both the Turkish and French bureaucracies (yikes!) in order to get money and passport for a trip back to France, his vacation killed before it got started.

The Istanbul attractions are generally wonderful, but sometimes even they can leave a bad aftertaste. The Topkapi Palace is well worth a visit, but it has an unusually high entrance fee for foreigners and separate charges to see the treasury and harum. Nearby, a caretaker runs a scam on a church that looks grand on the outside, but after his collects his fee for a "tour", this guy leads you around a completly gutted interior and mumbles a few words in Turkish for about five minutes. Because of this, I almost skipped the nearby Arkeoloji Muzeleri, as parts of it were closed and I feared another scam. However, I eventually did go in and found it excellent (the displays of the sarcophogi from the Necropolis of Side are simply amazing) and the best bargain in town. Likewise, the Museum of Islamic and Turkish Arts, and the Blue and Suleymaniye Mosques are all great visits and very cheap. Other sites such as the Underground Sistern, Aya Sophia museum, and the Galataca Bridge are priced at what you would expect for famous attactions.

Outside of Sultanahmet (and the Grand Bazaar) Istanbul is just like any other place and tourists are not generally exploited. I even buy a souvenir here, my first of this trip, when I go shopping for a double Turkish tea kettle. The shopkeepers I dealt with, not far from the Egyptian Bazaar, were generally very fair. Of course you still have to bargain, as that is the norm here, but they weren't trying to take advantage of me.