土耳其在我心中一直是一個神秘的國家，它的神秘是因為對它幾乎毫無認識（如果真是一點都不認識那就是陌生而不是神秘了），對它的印象只有橫跨歐亞和清真寺… 還有土耳其浴這個名詞。其實這是對伊斯坦堡而不是土耳其的認識。 Turkey has always been a mysterious country to me, it’s because I knew almost nothing about it (had I know nothing at all, then it would only be a strange country to me, not mysterious…). The only things I knew about Turkey were it situated over Asia and Europe, its mosques and of course the term Turkish bath. In fact it’s more like an impression of Istanbul, I think… 一手交錢一手交貨的簽證/ Nice to do business with Turkish visa official 因為土耳其並非歐盟國家，所以用英國護照進入土耳其是需要簽證的。後來得知香港的特區護照是免簽，可想言知我的心情… It’s because Turkey isn’t part of EU, it isn’t cover by Schengen Agreement. Therefore British passports holder are required to have a visa for entry. I later found out there’s no visa requirement for Hong Kong SAR passport holder; I was well gutted… 出發前同事告訢我在土耳其辦落地簽證需要10英鎊現金手續費，所以我留了一些英鎊在錢包中以作準備。 My colleagues reminded me to bring some British pounds as a landing visa costs £10 in cash, so I did. 下機後跟其他乘客步行前往入境通道。突然見到入境通道前有個寫著Visa的窗口，其他乘客中沒有人排這個窗口，所以我是第一個。在裹面的職員問我「Tourist visa？」，我說「Yes」，他跟著說「Passport! 」，我把 passport交給他之後，他在我的passport上貼了一張貼紙，然後對我說「10 pound！」， 當我遞上10 pound後，他把passport交回給我。我打開passport一看，那張貼紙寫著Multiple Entry Visa, 原來落地簽證是這麼樣辦的… After I got off the plane, I walked with other passengers to passport control. On the way there, I saw there’s a counter with the sign ‘Visa’, everyone just walked past it without stopping, so I didn’t have to queue. The official said to me “Tourist visa?” and I said “Yes”. He then said “Passport!” and I handed the passport over to him. He then put a sticker on and said “10 pound!”. I gave him £10 cash and he gave me my passport back. I looked at my passport; the sticker says Multiple Entry Visa. “I see”, I said to myself “that’s how you do landing visa, nice to do business with you.” 然後在排入境通道時，有不少遊客被送反去排Visa窗口，結果我只排兩次隊（實際上只排了一次），而一大部份的其他遊客則排了三次(passport control, visa, passport control)，原來慢慢行是有「著數」的。 Later on when I queued for passport control, I saw many tourists were sent back for visas, so they ended up queuing 3 times (passport control, visa, passport control) where as I only queued twice (actually just once, as I didn’t have to queue for my visa), it seems there’re perks in taking my time. 十英鎊「買」的簽證 / The £10 visa 我是肥羊？/Gary the “mark”？ 由Sabiha Gökçen機場搭巴士去到Taksim Square(位於新城區)，再搭電車到Sultanahmet(位於舊城區)，太約用了兩小時。因為是夜機，所以去到Sultanahmet時已經是晚上大約十時半。由電車站到我訂的hostel那短短十分鐘的路程，我三次被「好客」的土耳其人邀請我去飲酒，以下是我們的標準對答： 土耳其人：「你從那裹來？」 我：「從香港／英國來。(看心情而定)」 土耳其人：「真巧！我在韓國Daewood打工／我都有英國朋友／我都是遊客，從希臘來的。」 我：「是嗎？」 土耳其人：「當然，我的朋友。既然這麼巧，不如一起去喝酒吧／我朋友的party！對了，你做什麼工作的？多少錢一個月？」 我：「Sorry，我需要去hostel，趕時間。」 土耳其人：「不打緊，我可以在hostel門口等你。」 我：「…」 The journey from Sabiha Gökçen Airport to Taksim Squire (in new town) then to Sultanahmet (in the old town) took about 2 hours, because it’s a late flight, by the time I got there it was around 10.30 at night. During the 10 minutes walk from the tram stop at Sultanahmet to my hostel, I was approached by “friendly” Turkish man 3 times separately, inviting me to go for drinks. The conversations went something like this: Turkish man: “Where are you from?” Me: “Hong Kong/England (depending on how I feel)” Turkish man: “Oh, me too. I’m working for Daewood in Korean/I have English friends/I’m also a tourist, I come from Greece” Me: “Really?” Turkish man: “Of course, my friend. Why don’t we go for drinks/my friend’s party? Oh, what is your job? How much do you earn?” Me: “Sorry, I need to get to my hostel, I’m in a hurry.” Turkish man: “It’s ok, I can wait for you outside your hostel, then go for a drink.” Me: “…” 可能是我以小人之心度君子之腹，但以上的對話令我感覺自己是一只可以任意屠宰的大肥羊，很糟糕的一種感覺。 據說這是一個很普遍的騙局，騙子和酒吧老闆一伙，請陌生遊客去酒吧喝酒，然後送上一張特貴的帳單（可達€400!!）。 騙子告訴你這是正常價，然後和你一人付一半。當你走了之後騙子和老闆對分那€200。 我堅持自己去hostel,「好客」的土耳其人可能認為我不太友善，最後離我而去，而我亦落得耳根清靜。我相信直覺，況且「好客的」實在太可疑… Might be I’m just being suspicious, but it just felt wrong, I felt like I was a huge “mark” in the eye of a conman, a pretty rubbish feeling. Apparently it’s a pretty common con, the conman and bar owner are in it together. Con man invites an unsuspected tourist for drinks, and the bar owner sends a massive bill (can be up to €400!!). The conman then tells you it’s the normal price, and splits the bill with you. Once you’re gone, conman and bar own splits the €200 they got out of you. I insisted I was going to my hostel, perhaps they thought I wasn’t that friendly, so they left me alone. I still don’t know if they were just friendly people or conmen, but I trust my feeling and am not sure I really want to find out anyway… ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 網絡新手，第一次寫博客，紀錄我的遊行和經歷，歡迎來光臨我的博客 - http://garysmap.blogspot.co.uk 我的Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/garysmap ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
