on October 6, 2006BUT:
This does not apply for 80% of the taxi drivers. They are the best tourist traps, born to rip tourists off.
If you want to hire a taxi, be it for within town or for overland travel, make sure you have info on the actual prices. Hotels usually can provide you with these.
Dont believe any taxi driver when he tells about high gas prices or any other excuses. Check gas prices, when you pass by a station so that you will always have a counterargument.
Fix the price by writing it on paper, and make sure it is the price you (and your travel party) will pay when getting off.
Do not hand out any money, before you have your entire luggage in your hand.
Have a map in your hand when asking the taxi drivers for directions or to bring you somewhere. Point on the locations so that he knows that you are well aware where you are and where you want to go.
.
Popular games of these oh so nice guys are:
* you have fixed a price of say 3000 sum, and you have fixed this 3000 sum for say all 3 of your party. When you get off, he will claim that the price of 3000 sum is only for one person,
=> give him 3000 sum, and leave.
* even if you have fixed a price, he will tell you another price when getting off, and pretend that this was the only price discussed,
=> give him the amount you have fixed, and leave.
* if you start arguing and your luggage is still in the car, he will get in and be away quicker than you have an idea what is happening,
=> get your luggage first, then hand over the money,
In case, the argumentation does not lead to an end, tell him, you will call the police militatsia.
This WILL bring ANY discussion to an end, in favour of yours !
BTW: in these cases, most of taxi drivers will suddenly understand English very well !
.
Another nice game one of these sweethearts tried, was as follows:
we went into a car, which did not have safety belts. Driver was driving like Michael Schumacher, so we told him to slow down a bit, as we would not like to flow through the window. The window had a small crack.
After some meters, he started to yell and cry and told us, we are responsible for this crack in his window.... We laughed and told him, hahaha..
He suddenly stopped somewhere, some guys gathered around us (= 2 tourists, 5 Uzbeks; not a confidence building ratio...). Big arguments, about us having destroyed his window.
I finally pointed to the outside of the window and asked them how we should manage to break the window on the outside, whilst sitting inside.... ?
Argument continued. I said, well, goodbye then, grabbed the daypack and wanted to leave.
Argument stopped, suddenly one of them spoke proper English and said, yes, the driver understood that it was not us who broke the window.
We continued to our final destination... and suddenly that SOB wanted additional 20 USD for the window. I smiled my most gruesome smile, said militatsia and went.
He gave up.
on October 30, 2004
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