ISTANBUL, TURKEY

I was planning on going to Turkey but I chose not to for two reasons:

1 - I have spoken to some people and evidently it’s not much different from other places I have been and at this point subtle differences aren’t worth going too far out of my way for, especially considering…

2 – Those bastards in Turkey require a visa from many nationalities and particularly for Americans there is a $100 fee for the thing!

Places like the U.S., Canada, and Australia charge visa fees from some poor countries to help keep the riff-raff out and some of them try to retaliate by charging the same fee right back even though it makes no sense. Admittedly, I paid the $115 visa fee to get into Brazil, but Brazil is very unique and the visa is actually good for 5 years so there is a decent chance I will be able to use it again. I also spent 12 nights in Brazil, but I was only considering 3 or maybe 4 in Turkey. Chile charges $100 to Americans and that is why I skipped Santiago while I was in South America.

In general, if a country is named after a food then assume they will try to rip you off with an entry visa.

Screw you, Turkey!