Wholesale When Coco met Hatice - Ancient Wisdom - Giftware and Aromatherapy Supplier

Hola and Greetings from Spain..

It's nice to be home, and wonderful to see my favorite team (in Spain).. I just arrived so not much to report yet..

But it's crazy hot here, the air is unmoving and humid, like being in a sauna without complimentary cucumber slices.. the sweat is running down the back of my neck as I type this with my sweaty sticky fingers..

Last week I was in Istanbul with my wife (and your China agent) Coco having an absolutely amazing time.. (more below) and I was telling you about our last days on Crete and the journey to Istanbul, if you missed it you can catch up here. The weather in Istanbul was hot, but not uncomfortable and with pleasant breezes and beautiful sunsets.

Now Coco is back in China and I'm in Spain. We spent our last few days together in Istanbul. Regular readers will know that I have made a few trips to Turkey in the last year sourcing a new range of products and developing relationships with the locals. I really wanted Coco to see Istanbul and instead of business do the touristy things. We did however spend one day with our lovely agent Hatice.. you will remember after the terrible earthquake, the money we raised we gave to Hatice to distribute to the most needy people she knew. We stay in the same hotel that me and Tomas stay in, The Story Hotel, a small boutique hotel in the utter heart of Istanbul. In a side street, just off the main walking street, behind the huge Russian embassy and opposite the best back-packers cafe (Varuna Gezgin Cafe) there is. I would highly recommend it if you go there.

We met Hatice in the cafe for breakfast.. and then she took us to the grand Bazaar and around the wholesale area. So Coco met Hatice.. Our star China agent meets our newish Turkish agent.. She taught us how to use local public transport, and l we had a really good day exploring the shops and identifying plenty of potential Turkish products that might just sell like crazy in your shop. That's the plan!

When Coco met Hatice.

Turkey is kind of crazy right now.. last time I was there there was 20 TL to £1.. this time it is 33TL to £1.... in theory that should open up all sorts of importing opportunities. But inflation is also out of control. And Hatice told us, for ordinary Turkish people this is no joke. Bitcoin and Crypto I can tell you are alive and well and booming in Turkey, slick adverts for platforms everywhere, booths on every street corner selling crypto as a potential hedge against the collapsing currency. Istanbul city is absolutely booming, the streets are crammed with tourists and the restaurants fully booked.. but there is danger in the air, as though something terrible could happen any time.

We were doing some shopping in the main street, when out of nowhere a pro-democracy protest formed right in front of Zara.. all these gentle looking folk holding up red flowers above their heads.. The next minute a battalion of riot police, some with machine guns, are piling out of an armoured bus. Coco is so excited.. I'm saying let's get out of here.. they have guns.. she is weaving through the crowd trying to live stream what's happening on her Chinese social media (not surprisingly immediately blocked). There were scuffles with some media people and things started to get a bit hairy.. It wasn't easy but I managed to drag Coco away..

That was our little, slightly stressful adventure in Istanbul.. and I still didn't find out exactly what was happening.. Later, walking through a park near Taksim square, we found an encampment of riot police hidden in the trees already prepared for the next public descent. Scary place really.

I flew Turkish airways back to Malaga, and Coco flew Egypt air to Cairo and on to Guangzhou. Parting in Istanbul airport after 3 months of epic traveling.. we shared a glass of champagne in the business lounge, hugged and said goodbye.. so hard. But hopefully not for long.. On landing in China Coco was put in a queue to be questioned, on what she was doing while out of China, had to fill forms and upload them.. before getting to passport control. The world is all a little crazy..

Dear reader, here's a huge heads up.. Well we have a CRAZY Summer sale right now.. The stuff that sells good in the Summer such as: Fragranced Hand & Body Lotion, Shower Steamers, Tropical Paradise Coco Bath Bombs.

I hope your world is calm and peaceful, hope you are not hot and bothered.. wishing you a great and wonderful weekend.

By next week I should have the next travel plan.. details then.

Take care

David