I saw your post on Istanbul but didn't have time to comment then. As for being stared at by people, it's usual in countries from the Third World, especially for western women in Muslim countries or in countries where women aren't as free as we are. In India, not only they stare but they also wnat to take pictures of you as if you were some creature in a zoo!
It's annoying, I know. I even remember an evening in Istanbul where a bunch of young men we ran into (we were 4 women walking the streets past 10 pm)asked us "How much is it?" in Turkish (I could understand it then). I was furious.
But to be honest, when I was in Egypt I was also a bit shocked by certain outfits worn by European women, as if those tourists didn't want to acknowledge where they were just beacuse they were on holiday.
There's a balance to find for both the locals and the tourists.
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Date: 2006-04-21 03:34 pm (UTC)I saw your post on Istanbul but didn't have time to comment then. As for being stared at by people, it's usual in countries from the Third World, especially for western women in Muslim countries or in countries where women aren't as free as we are. In India, not only they stare but they also wnat to take pictures of you as if you were some creature in a zoo!
It's annoying, I know. I even remember an evening in Istanbul where a bunch of young men we ran into (we were 4 women walking the streets past 10 pm)asked us "How much is it?" in Turkish (I could understand it then). I was furious.
But to be honest, when I was in Egypt I was also a bit shocked by certain outfits worn by European women, as if those tourists didn't want to acknowledge where they were just beacuse they were on holiday.
There's a balance to find for both the locals and the tourists.