Gay & Lesbian
Rene Ames on Istanbul’s Gay Walking Tours
Even with the crashing economies the world over, when the value of the dollar is shrinking faster than the waning influence of a lame-duck Bush Presidency and the Euro is suddenly halted in its marauding dominance over other currencies due to the rising cost of petrol, the number of gay tourists in this city has discernibly increased. Which speaks well of Istanbul’s appeal as a destination in light of its place as European Capital of Culture 2010.
Of course, you’d suspect that the reason these tourists flock to our city is not just the cultural things that we have in abundance. As anywhere, gay travellers with their pink disposable incomes are known to combine anything they seek out in life with a hedonistic bent. And Derya Koro#lu, the proprietor of PRIDE Travel Agency – Turkey’s first and only travel company catering to the needs of the so-called rainbow community - would readily confirm this due to the fact that the volume of business they’re doing this year has improved considerably. In addition, some of the services they offer have marked increases in frequency as a result. One in particular - the Gay Walking Tours - is now available daily all year round to anyone interested in an in-depth introduction to the city’s gay scenes.
A guided walking tour is often the best way to find your way around in a city where the local language is generally beyond anyone’s linguistic capacity to pick up randomly. Turkish after all is without doubt one of the hardest languages to learn and its attendant phonetic intricacies - the pronunciation of certain letters - can be daunting to Latin-based language speakers. Those phrases from books you thought would serve you well to crack a response from the natives? Forget it. Chances are, you’re mangling the sounds and you’ll only get that look of askance.
Specially for somebody who’s only here for a week or ten days at most - to take in the obligatory historical landmarks and museums - but who intends to proceed to a night on the town; he can’t do better than hanging on to the words and wisdom of a knowledgeable local guide immediately on his day of arrival. In a city like Istanbul where some of the popular venues are tucked on the top floor of nondescript buildings or located in a dark, seemingly foreboding alley with tiny signs to announce their presence, you definitely need to be told of the locations to physically visit them or to gauge how they are. This way you’ll find the way to go back with confidence in the next days if you want.
The PRIDE guides who conduct the tours start by giving out a helpful welcome packet that consists of an overview of the Turkish GLBT scene, some dos and don’ts regarding local customs and personal precautions, and a list of recommended venues of every taste. The tour staff is made up of 2 lesbians and 4 gay guys with Ismail as the lead guide. He’s a 30-year-old Istanbullu who speaks English and Arabic proficiently. And he knows the city like the proverbial palm of his hand.
Here is the menu of PRIDE Travel tours for gay tourists and what they entail. Please note that the fees do not include consumption of drinks and food in a locale and are to be shouldered by the customer(s).
Early Walking Tour
(8:30pm-11:30pm)
The participants are picked up from their respective hotels and brought to Taksim where they are shown the various venues (restaurants, cafes, bars, clubs and the lone gay sauna ) and explained the differences of the clientele a place generally caters to or its individual ambiance. After this familiarization phase, the group can elect to visit any number of these venues as time allows and may continue the evening on their own after the guide departs.
Fee: 60 Euros for one person; 70 Euros for two; 100 Euros for a group of three to ten persons.
Clubbing Tour
(11/11:30pm-3am)
This tour starts as above - from the hotels to Taksim to the different venues - then the guide takes the customer or the group to their club(s) of choice where he or they would have the security of having somebody to show them around the premises, make some introductions and orders by way of translation if need be and pretty much make sure that the utmost fun can be had by one and all. In other words, in this case the guide acts as a personal party nanny.
Fee: 60 Euros for one person; 70 Euros for two; 100 Euros for a group of three to ten persons.
Combination Tour (9:30pm-3am)
As the name implies, it combines the early program with the clubbing and therefore it is covers more grounds. It also gives some leeway to include a late dinner for some participants in a gay-friendly restaurant if not to spend time in the more subdued setting of a gay café and observe the local gays and lezzies in their downtime. This is before setting off to be overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of a club or two.
Fee: 80 Euros for one person; 90 Euros for two; 120 Euros for a group of three to ten persons.
Gay tourists not into an evening of carousing or dancing might inquire into the other services of this agency, such as the guided visits to the hamams (traditional Turkish baths) or the Sultanahmet daytime tours of major sites in that area that include the Aya Sofia, the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, the Grand Bazaar. You know, the usual tourist spots.
Fee for 10am-2pm Information Tour (without lunch): 30 Euros per person; 10am-4pm Grand Tour (with lunch and museum fees included): 70 Euros per person.
PRIDE Travel Agency
İncili Çavuş Sokak 33/11, Ateş Pasajı Kat 2, Sultanahmet. (0212) 527 0671
www.travelagencyturkey.com
***Derya and staff promise to provide a complimentary copy of the latest issue of Time Out Istanbul to anyone signing up for any of their tours while informing them beforehand that they learned about it from this magazine. ***
PRIDE Travel would like to be clear that during the tours, under no circumstances, will the guide act as or be expected to be procuring the services of rent boys. If there’s an interest from the customer(s), he can point out the places where these boys normally hang out (and are available) and he may act as translator for the parties concerned. But that’s the extent of his involvement.
Walk don't run
Writer: Rene Ames
Rene Ames on Istanbul’s Gay Walking Tours
Even with the crashing economies the world over, when the value of the dollar is shrinking faster than the waning influence of a lame-duck Bush Presidency and the Euro is suddenly halted in its marauding dominance over other currencies due to the rising cost of petrol, the number of gay tourists in this city has discernibly increased. Which speaks well of Istanbul’s appeal as a destination in light of its place as European Capital of Culture 2010.
Of course, you’d suspect that the reason these tourists flock to our city is not just the cultural things that we have in abundance. As anywhere, gay travellers with their pink disposable incomes are known to combine anything they seek out in life with a hedonistic bent. And Derya Koro#lu, the proprietor of PRIDE Travel Agency – Turkey’s first and only travel company catering to the needs of the so-called rainbow community - would readily confirm this due to the fact that the volume of business they’re doing this year has improved considerably. In addition, some of the services they offer have marked increases in frequency as a result. One in particular - the Gay Walking Tours - is now available daily all year round to anyone interested in an in-depth introduction to the city’s gay scenes.
A guided walking tour is often the best way to find your way around in a city where the local language is generally beyond anyone’s linguistic capacity to pick up randomly. Turkish after all is without doubt one of the hardest languages to learn and its attendant phonetic intricacies - the pronunciation of certain letters - can be daunting to Latin-based language speakers. Those phrases from books you thought would serve you well to crack a response from the natives? Forget it. Chances are, you’re mangling the sounds and you’ll only get that look of askance.
Specially for somebody who’s only here for a week or ten days at most - to take in the obligatory historical landmarks and museums - but who intends to proceed to a night on the town; he can’t do better than hanging on to the words and wisdom of a knowledgeable local guide immediately on his day of arrival. In a city like Istanbul where some of the popular venues are tucked on the top floor of nondescript buildings or located in a dark, seemingly foreboding alley with tiny signs to announce their presence, you definitely need to be told of the locations to physically visit them or to gauge how they are. This way you’ll find the way to go back with confidence in the next days if you want.
The PRIDE guides who conduct the tours start by giving out a helpful welcome packet that consists of an overview of the Turkish GLBT scene, some dos and don’ts regarding local customs and personal precautions, and a list of recommended venues of every taste. The tour staff is made up of 2 lesbians and 4 gay guys with Ismail as the lead guide. He’s a 30-year-old Istanbullu who speaks English and Arabic proficiently. And he knows the city like the proverbial palm of his hand.
Here is the menu of PRIDE Travel tours for gay tourists and what they entail. Please note that the fees do not include consumption of drinks and food in a locale and are to be shouldered by the customer(s).
Early Walking Tour
(8:30pm-11:30pm)
The participants are picked up from their respective hotels and brought to Taksim where they are shown the various venues (restaurants, cafes, bars, clubs and the lone gay sauna ) and explained the differences of the clientele a place generally caters to or its individual ambiance. After this familiarization phase, the group can elect to visit any number of these venues as time allows and may continue the evening on their own after the guide departs.
Fee: 60 Euros for one person; 70 Euros for two; 100 Euros for a group of three to ten persons.
Clubbing Tour
(11/11:30pm-3am)
This tour starts as above - from the hotels to Taksim to the different venues - then the guide takes the customer or the group to their club(s) of choice where he or they would have the security of having somebody to show them around the premises, make some introductions and orders by way of translation if need be and pretty much make sure that the utmost fun can be had by one and all. In other words, in this case the guide acts as a personal party nanny.
Fee: 60 Euros for one person; 70 Euros for two; 100 Euros for a group of three to ten persons.
Combination Tour (9:30pm-3am)
As the name implies, it combines the early program with the clubbing and therefore it is covers more grounds. It also gives some leeway to include a late dinner for some participants in a gay-friendly restaurant if not to spend time in the more subdued setting of a gay café and observe the local gays and lezzies in their downtime. This is before setting off to be overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of a club or two.
Fee: 80 Euros for one person; 90 Euros for two; 120 Euros for a group of three to ten persons.
Gay tourists not into an evening of carousing or dancing might inquire into the other services of this agency, such as the guided visits to the hamams (traditional Turkish baths) or the Sultanahmet daytime tours of major sites in that area that include the Aya Sofia, the Blue Mosque, the Hippodrome, the Grand Bazaar. You know, the usual tourist spots.
Fee for 10am-2pm Information Tour (without lunch): 30 Euros per person; 10am-4pm Grand Tour (with lunch and museum fees included): 70 Euros per person.
PRIDE Travel Agency
İncili Çavuş Sokak 33/11, Ateş Pasajı Kat 2, Sultanahmet. (0212) 527 0671
www.travelagencyturkey.com
***Derya and staff promise to provide a complimentary copy of the latest issue of Time Out Istanbul to anyone signing up for any of their tours while informing them beforehand that they learned about it from this magazine. ***
PRIDE Travel would like to be clear that during the tours, under no circumstances, will the guide act as or be expected to be procuring the services of rent boys. If there’s an interest from the customer(s), he can point out the places where these boys normally hang out (and are available) and he may act as translator for the parties concerned. But that’s the extent of his involvement.