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Popular Warnings or Dangers | Miscellaneous Warnings or Dangers Tips | All Tips (204)  | |  |  | Mustard on the shoe scam | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
I always read about these crazy scams that people think up to part tourists from their money but this is the first time one has ever happened to me. We were walking down one of the major streets in Ipanema, but it was pouring buckets of rain for most of the morning and it was a Sunday so few people were out. A guy starts gesturing madly at my shoe, were my shoe laces untied or was I in danger of stepping in a large pile of dog crap? Nope. So I ignored him and then I looked again and where the heck did that mustard come from???? This wasn't your run of the mill yellow mustard, no this was fancy Grey Poupon mustard, right smack in the middle of my tennis shoe. So I look at this guy, who is still gesturing at me and I notice he's got a shoe shine box and I think must be a really slow day if you're squirting mustard on tennis shoes, you see these weren't fancy white leather tennis shoes but mesh tennis shoes. I just kept walking and eventually he went away and I found a nice big puddle on the sidewalk and a couple of hops and *poof*, the mustard was gone (don't think the mustard would enhance the taste of the shoe much anyway). Guess it could have been worse, I could have been hit by the dog crap shoe scam that I read about in Travelers Tales or it could have been yellow mustard or even worse yet, what if I had been wearing sandals? I've also read they use mustard as a distraction and use it to part you from your wallet, my advice is to not stop, eventually they will go away Leave a Comment
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Just be careful when running around Rio at night. It's easy to get lost as a tourist and there are many places that locals don't run around at night. All and all, I found Rio to be far safer then everyone says. Oh, and if you rent a car, stop lights are optional at night. Look to make sure there is no traffic (it basically becomes a yield sign) and go. A lot of car theft used to be done at stop lights at night. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Safety in Rio de Janeiro | Tip Rating: | | | | |
It is quite safe to walk around in Rio. I was staying in Copacabana for 2 weeks during the Carnival, went around Rio but had no unfortunate incidents. Contrary to what I have read, searched and gathered from asking tourist forums Rio is quite safe in my opinion. I blended with the people in the street (the Cariocas) so that didn't separate me from the crowd. I have my still camera in my pocket and my video camera was wrapped in a thick plastic bag then I put it inside a grocery bag. I went around with the grocery bag and when I wanted to take a picture or videotape I looked for a crowded spot most of the time near, beside or across from the police at the street corner. Almost every corner in town, on the beach side there is a presence of police. Military police or police in short, men and women. When I need to take a picture I just quickly snapshoot it or videotaped then put it back into my pocket or bag. Places like Corcovado, Sugar Loaf where there are a lot of tourists are good places to expose camera. Take this advise: do not carry a lot of cash and be on constant watchful eye of your belongings. I would say that in Copacabana, Leblon and Ipanema, tourists are safer than anywhere else, but there is no guarantee that anywhere in Rio is the same. Try to use your credit card as often as you could. Take note a cash advance from the bank machine or any banks can cost you hefty cash advance charges. For cash advance I used HSBC as it carries Cirrus, Visa and Master Card, Visa Plus symbols. Local banks like Bradesco, Banco do Brasil do not entertain foreign debit and credit cards. As much as possible use these machines daytime to avoid any temptations from muggers that lurk from the dark (although I never encountered any of this sort). Take precautions to cover your fingers when keying PIN. Keep your machine receipt and reconcile with bank statements when you arrive home from vacation. Your balance may not be available right away after withdrawal in the machine. Leave a Comment Website: http://www.tenhon.ca/rio/safety.html
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