Heh, do you use that word in reference to the Persian word or the Emperor from Dune?
Heh, do you use that word in reference to the Persian word or the Emperor from Dune?
It was of course the official title of the Sultan in ottoman Turkish.
Congratulations America
Dread, you do realize that almost every non-English word in Dune was taken from Semitic languages (Arabic, Hebrew). He borrowed heavily from various Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures, and very consciously so. For example, the 'Zensunni' were an obvious amalgam of Sunni Islam and Zen Buddhism. The 'Kwisatz Haderach' is a poor transliteration of the Hebrew phrase קפיצת הדרך, which literally means a shortcut, or 'shortening of the way', as he translated it. Yadda yadda yadda.
(He also borrowed some from Greek mythology, but the languages were mostly Arabic with a smattering of Hebrew, Latin, and other bits.)
Of course, I just wanted to know if Hazir was making a Dune reference comparing Edogan to Shaddam Corrino IV or a more literal reference to a sultan.
Anyway, Hazir were you referring to this? http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013...urkey-protests
Did you miss his first post in the thread?Originally Posted by Dreadnaught
Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"
OT but seems pointless to create a new thread. Somebody told me the Foreign Office were now advising against non-essential travel to Turkey. Seems to be BS the FCO website warns against one province in the north east and the borders to Iraq/Syria but that seems to be it.
We're flying for our Honeymoon on Thursday to a resort near Antalya and Side. Seems like there's been some protests near Antalya but I doubt it's anything we need to worry about. Hazir or anyone else, know of anything we should do or visit while there?
Yes.
I would not worry too much, just be aware a bit of the fact that problems might arise. If you don't have a transfer already booked you might have a bit of a harder time to get to your hotel because of disrupted traffic flows, but other than that I wouldn't expect much trouble. Just go about your honeymoon as planned, but get out of the way FAST if you see any situation that could develop into a clash between protesters and the police. Some emergency cash might be a good idea; euros are best. Have the number of the British consulate handy, in the extreme unlikely event that things take a radical turn for the worse. If everything goes entirely crazy, head for Kas and take the ferry to Kastellorizo, which will put you in Greek territory. You may do that as a day trip too anyway.
You know you get a visa on arrival in Antalya airport? You pay for the stamp before you go through immigration. You will be able to pay in sterling, probably 15 a head. It will be valid for 90 days in a 180 day period, so if you decide to do some Island hopping, you'll be able to use the visa multiple times.
Do NOT buy Turkish Lira's in the UK or at the airport. There are tons of ATM's where your cards will work and Visa and Mastercard are accepted pretty much everywhere.
Congratulations America
Do the ATMs have any charges? I would have thought to get some lira from here and then use Visa/MasterCard most of the time.
In general, when traveling I have a separate debit card just for travel and I use it at local ATMs to get cash. The rates (even with ATM charges) tend to be much better than any rates you could get "buying cash" from a currency broker. But I keep those transaction on that separate debit card just to isolate my main accounts and keep me on a budget. Plus I recently got a world credit card with no international charges for deployment that I use whenever I can/need to.
Some do, some don't, but they tell you before you actually withdraw money. Of course your bank alone can tell you what they charge if you withdraw money outside the UK. I'd check if your card will work in Turkey before you leave.
Congratulations America
Well I have both a Visa and a MasterCard for Credit Cards and my debit card is a Visa Debit so I imagine that won't be an issue. Just never sure what's better value for money.
I normally get cash from Tesco's before I travel. They (like most other exchange places here) say they charge no commission but the catch with all is the differing exchange rates depending upon if you're buying or selling. Tesco's seems to have less of a differential than other companies.
I believe using my Visa cards overseas (my Mastercard is new never used it overseas) there seems to be ~2.5% charge but that seems to be much of a muchness with the exchange differential.
I've always used a credit card with no foreign transaction fee for the vast majority of my purchases; I've found the exchange rate they give you is very close to the market rate, so far better than what you'd get for a cash-to-cash exchange. For my cash needs, I use local ATMs (again, almost always better exchange rate), but the hitch is the 'outside of network' fees. In many countries that is not an issue, since I have a debit/ATM card from a huge bank with a global alliance system that covers many developed countries. When that doesn't work, there's potentially two sources of fees: a fee from the ATM for an out-of-network transaction and a fee from my bank. So, to minimize costs I just use an ATM once (the fee is fixed, not variable based on the size of transaction) and use that cash and my credit card exclusively. Easy and straightforward, and gives me a generally good exchange rate.
Indeed, withdrawing cash from ATMs abroad using a debit card generally works out better than exchanging before travel.
That would be stupid for me, I get much better conditions from my main debit card (no fees on getting money on other banks or abroad) than from a second debit card. I need to have at least a certain amount of money on the account to get the better conditions.
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
Turkey is well enough integrated in the international banking system to go about it like this; have cash for things like taxifare, places that don't accept credit cards (of which there are surprisingly few in Turkey). Since I typically use a Turkish HSBC debit card at HSBC ATM's or a dutch Rabobank card that doesn't charge me extra for withdrawals in Turkey and gives me a reasonable rate I don't have to worry to much about extra charges. But those really depend on your own bank and the bank where you use the ATM. Your bank can tell you in advance, the Turkish Bank will tell you as you are going through the process.
Congratulations America
Psssst.. he's a bit anal about keeping accounts.
Congratulations America
Turkish Lira's don't travel well; that means you will get ridiculous exchange rates if you try to buy them abroad. You won't see it in a fee maybe, but your money will buy you a lot less lira's than if you do the exchange in Turkey (never at the airport) in cash or through the ATM's
Congratulations America
Seconding what Hazir is saying (again).
Hazir is right in his response here too, I am anal.
Yeah, but if that card gets stolen then the bank account would have to be changed for my mortgage, electrical bill, paycheck deposit, etc. That's a a major inconvenience. My bank will give me a second bank account for no fee, which works fine. And keeps me on budget.
Nothing against being anal, or having multiple bank accounts (I do too, but for different reasons), but a lost or stolen card only requires a new card, you wouldn't have to change anything else.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
Well, is that like a second account from the same bank that is coupled to your first (kind of a set of accounts) and inherits the conditions from the first? Well I can get those too.
But as Flixy said, you will get replacement for your card on the same account. It's not like you have to change your car if you've lost your drivers licence card.
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
What crazy system is that? I have lost many many cards over the years and am still using the same bank account I used for the monthly allowance I got as a 12 year old.Seconding what Hazir is saying (again).
Hazir is right in his response here too, I am anal.
Yeah, but if that card gets stolen then the bank account would have to be changed for my mortgage, electrical bill, paycheck deposit, etc. That's a a major inconvenience. My bank will give me a second bank account for no fee, which works fine. And keeps me on budget.
Congratulations America
I have no idea what Dread is talking about. I've lost a card or two, same account, new card.
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It's a precaution sometimes taken when a card is lost; not mandatory.
But, actually, the annoying thing is switching credit cards if one gets lost or a card's number gets compromised while traveling. Plenty is tied to the card number too, which is why I prefer to segment everything (bank account, card number, etc) into a "travel" account/card/balance.
Oh, that's different. I have multiple accounts as well.
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LOL, you're worse than anal; I literally lost hundreds of cards and never changed my account.
Congratulations America
Hundreds of cards? Dread may be anal, but you're pretty careless.
At first I read that as "cardless" and was going to give you a congratulatory groan for the pun.
Last night as I lay in bed, looking up at the stars, I thought, “Where the hell is my ceiling?"
Hehe, I'm not normally that bad. Give me some credit.
Really, LF? No comment? I was pretty proud of that one.
Actually your card (if like here, debit cards only not credit) does contain enough info to draw some money out of the account even if the card gets cancelled. Cards here at least include your account number and sort code which can be used to set up a Direct Debit. Upon cancelling your lost card you'll get a new card number but those account details stay the same.
A few years ago a government file got lost including lots of people's account and sort code and there was much hysteria about it - Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson wrote an article in the paper saying that the hysteria was stupid as those weren't enough to get access to cash and to prove his point he included in the article his own account details. Which someone promptly used to make a donation to a charity. Oops and lol.
So it is quite anal, but while unlikely it's theoretically possible that a lost card even cancelled can cause problems. As far as I know a lost credit card won't cause such issues.
EDIT: Googled the story after writing this and got this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7174760.stm
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