---
type: Country
title: Turkey
description: Harry's observations from Turkey — coffee brewed in hot sand, the world's most thorough barbers, hammams running since the 1700s, and a country that drinks more tea per head than anywhere else.
tags: [turkey, istanbul, middle-east, europe, food, barbers, hammam]
timestamp: 2026-08-05T12:00:00Z
---

# Turkey

Harry's Turkey material is all [Istanbul](/places/istanbul.md), across two
visits. The consistent theme is craft: barbers, coffee, baklava and bathhouses
all done with a level of practised attention he doesn't find elsewhere.

## Observations

### From [I Visited Istanbul With No Plan 🇹🇷](/videos/TsmdmNws5Fo.md)

- **Turkish people are the most extroverted he has met.** All-day sitting and
  talking, dinners that run for hours, and open passion about football, food and
  their own work.
- **Turkish coffee is brewed in hot sand**, which heats the pot in about a
  minute. It's strong, unfiltered, and an acquired taste; the grounds at the
  bottom are the part Harry doesn't like.
- **The glass of water beside it has two meanings.** It cleans the palate, and it
  rehydrates you after a coffee that dehydrates — but from Ottoman times,
  drinking the water *first* signalled that you were hungry, and the kitchen
  would start preparing food.
- **Turkish barbers deserve the reputation.** The full service is a shave,
  eyebrows, facial, cut, nose wax, ear hair burned off with a flame, ear
  candling, tonic, head massage, styling and cologne — about $20.
- **Döner is a cooking method, not a meat.** Chicken, lamb, beef and vegetable
  döner all exist, which Harry says he hadn't realised.
- **Turkey drinks more tea per head than any country in the world.**
- **The hammam is a live tradition, not just a tourist product**, and comes in
  two forms — the traditional version, where a large man scrubs you, and the
  modern spa version.
- **The Grand Bazaar's sellers often refuse to be filmed.** Harry's reading is
  that much of the stock is counterfeit and filming creates a problem for them —
  and that some people simply don't want a camera, which is fine.

*Obs: this trip was a free press visit hosted by the Turkish tourism board, and
the video also carries a separate sponsor. Only the travel content is recorded
here.*

### From [I Tried Insane 5 Star Treatments in Istanbul, Turkey 🇹🇷](/videos/OsQ5OvEtnIE.md)

- **Turkey is a global centre for medical and cosmetic treatment.** Harry's
  figure is over a million people flying in every year, and a hair transplant at
  about $3,000 against roughly £10,000 in the West.
- **The industry is built for foreigners**: clinics put you in a nearby hotel,
  provide translators because not all staff speak English, and run the whole
  thing in a day or two.
- **The hammam comes in two grades**, and he draws the line explicitly — rough
  local bathhouses, and luxury versions with extras the traditional ones don't
  do.
- **Winter in Istanbul is cold and wet**, which he compares to England.
- **Licensed firearms and army surplus are sold in ordinary markets**, which
  surprised him.
- **Istanbul has two airports on opposite sides of the city** — the most useful
  practical line in the video.

*Obs: this second video is commercial throughout. Every clinic in it is linked in
the description and it carries a separate card sponsor. Only what the procedures
involve and cost is recorded.*

## Places

- [Istanbul](/places/istanbul.md)