BEST TOURIST ITEMS TO BUY IN TURKEY

Some places remain unscathed by tourist-trampled mediocrity. Eastern Turkey is one of them. If adventure and profit appeal, don't just dream of the Silk Road--take it.

It's ideal for a dabble into suitcase importing. To be frank, you should forget Istanbul. (But allow a couple of days there to soak up the sights.) The farther east into Asian Turkey you go, the better prices get.

Take empty suitcases. So what if you smell a bit freaky after a few days on the road? You won't win any fashion prizes, but you can kit yourself out for less than $18 in the bazaars. Just buy a new shirt and pants, or a top and long skirt. Then dump the relics you traveled in.

Here are some of the best delights we found that are ideal for resale in the U.S. market:

• For silks, visit Bursa. Take a hydrofoil across the Sea of Marmara from Istanbul and you'll be there in 90 minutes. In its silk bazaar, last season's designs sell at deep discounts. Pure silk ties for $8.60; pillow slips for $4; gloriously patterned scarves the size of shawls from $16.

• Embroidered towels. Bursa is a happy hunting ground for these, too. 100% cotton hand towels, wonderfully absorbent, start at just $2.50. (Without haggling.) These sell on U.S. websites for at least $10.

• SMall flat-weave kilims and sumaks, embroidered kilims. They're light--they needed to be for the nomadic lifestyle. You'll easily fit half a dozen in a backpack. Best prices I found were in Sanliurfa, in southeast Anatolia. Bargain hard, and you'll get regional wool kilims for $30, sumaks for $78.

• Copperware. Hand-engraved sugar bowls and trays from $8.60, cezves (Turkish coffee pots) from $4.50. Investigate the bazaars of Gazaintep and Sanliurfa.

• Mother-of-pearl inlay. Small jewelry boxes made of walnut wood and inlaid with mother-of-pearl start at around $8.50. Another reason to scout around Gaziantep's bazaar is for the saddle blankets. How much would a horse-lover pay for a distinctive saddle blanket crafted from leather and a bright woolen kilim? Probably far more than $17. Yet that's what you'll find them for in Diyarkabir, the main city of Kurdish Turkey.

• Kilim caps. In Kayseri, a man makes "baker's boy" caps from kilim fragments. He sells them to Cappadocia merchants for just 84 cents. They mark them up to $2.50. Just think what you could charge. I'll bet kilim baseball caps would sell well, too. Lilac-colored cotton shawls embroidered with silver sequins and thread. I promise, you'll go crazy for these. They're worn as headgear by both men and women in Sanliurfa. Price: around $4.30.

• Hand-painted tiles are among Turkey's oldest art forms. You'll find 4-by-4-inch reproduction tiles of the stupendous quartz Iznik tiles adorning Istanbul's Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace sell for at least $22 Stateside. I saw them for $5 apiece in Istanbul, and 8-by-8-inch ones from $7. I never got to the town where they're made on this trip, but you could. If you are a tile fan, you should put Kutahya in your notebook.

• Yemeni slippers. These soft leather shoes have uppers from tanned goatskin, insides from sheep leather, soles from water buffalo leather. All hand-sewn. You'll be able to bargain them down to $17 (maybe less) in Gaziantep.

Never heard of Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, or any of these locations?  Well just google either one, but be sure to add Turkey.  Such as Sanlirufa, Turkey.