Directions

During my 2001 trip to Turkey, I had to give directions to a taxi driver from a wedding party to my hotel in old Istanbul. He spoke only Turkish. Though I was a little tipsy from the wedding party, I managed to direct the driver to my hotel with only 3 Turkish words:

• sol: left
• sağ: right
• doğru: straight

Of course, it helped that I had paid attention to landmarks during the 6 days of my visit prior to the wedding party.

Lesson learned: Pay attention to your surroundings and learn at least a few key words of your host country.

Other direction words:

• Go straight.: Doğru gidin.
• Go back.: Geri gidin.
• Stop here.: Burada durun.
• I'm lost.: Kayboldum.
• Where?: Nerede?
• To where?: Nereye?
• Where am I?: Neredeyim?
• Where is the road to Konya?: Konya yolu nerede?
• Do you know where Arjantin Avenue is?: Arjantin Caddesi nerede biliyor musunuz?
• Where are you going? Nereye gidiyorsunuz?
• We want to go to this address.: Bu adrese gitmek istiyoruz.
• Is it near? Yakın mı?
• It is near.: Yakın.
• Is it far?: Uzak mı?
• It is very far.: Çok uzak.