It seemed like every tourist shop and every restaurant in Bodrum and Gumbet thought the best way to get business was to hassle passers by and browsers.
Don't know what I mean?
Imagine this - you're hungry so you want to walk down a street with ten restaurants, hoping to read the menus and pick one to eat in. Now imagine every single restaurant has someone standing outside who wants to know where you're from to draw you into conversation, who talks through the entire menu without being invited, who won't let you browse in peace, who tries to extract promises that you'll go into their restaurant, who tries to bribe you with free wine and sometimes even tries to lead you by the arm into the restaurant. Now imagine it's not just ten restaurants but practically every single one in the whole of Bodrum / Gumbet and that they serve nearly identical cheap tourist fare.
The same goes for shops. Forget casual browsing or window shopping. Walk into a shop and you will be pounced on and not given a moments peace.
And if you're a unaccompanied female, woe betide you. My girlfriend was literally groped and harangued by shop keepers trying to get a sale and possibly a date too when shopping on her own.
Frankly it's sickening and it ruined the whole holiday. Do not go to Bodrum or Gumbet if you want to have a relaxing time. By the end of it you will be crossing the street to avoid touts.
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on Jul 28, 2003
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