Bodrum Local Custom Tips by andrea.d Top 5 Page for this destination

About Turkish people

I would say that local custom in Turkey is that all the Turkish people are extremely polite, nice and very helpful when it comes to tourists. For example, near our hotel there was one small shop (on the pic) where you could buy newspapers, and the owners were so nice and always with a smile on their faces! It’s just something that you don’t see every day!

Tukish tea

Tea is national drink of Turkish people. They drink tea daily in their lives both in breakfast and in evening. Turkish people are famous in hospitality and enjoy to serve tea to their guests. About 160.000 tons of black tea are consumed in Turkey every year.

Evil eye

Nazar Bonjuk is a Turkish good-luck "evil eye" charm.
The Nazar Bonjuk was born of the age-old "evil eye" superstition that one person can cast a spell on another. To prevent this, form millennia Anatolian artisans have created blue glass "eyes" that "look" straight back at the spell-caster as if to say "I see what you're doing, and you can't get away with it!"
Nazar Bonjuk evil eye charms are hand-crafted of blown glass in Turkey, and appear in many shapes and sizes.

Turkish coffee

While in Turkey you must try Turkish coffee! It is made of a roasted and the minced coffee beans. The taste of turkish coffee is really strong!
Now, here are the instructions for making a perfect cup of turkish coffee:
1. For every cup of coffee you require, pour an equal amount of cold water into a cold ibrik (ibrik is that small pot on the pic in which you make the coffee).
2. For every cup required, add two coffee spoons of our Turkish coffee.
3. Most people prefer Turkish coffee with sugar, although it can be drunk without (sade). Add two coffee spoons of sugar to the ibrik for every cup required to make a medium sweet brew. Adjust to suit your individual taste.
4. Mix the water, sugar and coffee in the ibrik once with the coffee spoon.
5. Place the ibrik onto the top of a stove and cook on the lowest possible flame.
6. As the mixture begins to simmer, the surface of the mixture will begin to foam up. As it appears, pour it (the foam, and only the foam) in equal measures into each cup.
7. Continue the above instruction until all the mixture has gone (2 boils should be enough).
8. The coffee should be allowed to settle for a minute or two before drinking to allow the sediments to settle.
9. Turkish coffee is traditionally accompanied with a glass of cold water.