cocodrilo
Joined: 12 Apr 2004
Posts: 494
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Sat May 22, 2004 4:12 am Post subject: Things to Look Out For |
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When you travel on your own(as opposed to joining a tour), you are much more vulnerable to getting robbed, cheated and attacked. But don't let this scare you out of your urge to travel- if you exercise a little common sense, things can usually go smoothly. There are three things in particular I like to warn my friends about, when they're quizzing me on what they should expect on a trip abroad.
1. Local hooch. For all you fresh-out-of-college party animals out there hoping to enjoy the sun & sin on islands in the mediterranean, look out for the locally-produced alcohol. I have heard countless stories of people, having knowingly drunk the stuff as it is cheap, then passing out and having their belongings stolen, or worse yet, women being taken advantage of. There are other, more shocking stories where people have passed out, ended up in the hospital wondering what the heck had happened. Their kidney had been removed, and there was a large incision mark left! I am not making this up! I have heard about it happening in Indonesia, where organ-trading is big, and other beach resorts as well. Guys, when you go to those raves on the beach, drink stuff from a bottle and don't EVER leave your drink unattended.
2. Buying jewelry. Best advice is, if you don't know anything about gemstones, don't buy them! Again, countless stories of friends shelling out thousands of dollars to buy sapphires/rubies in Thailand, only to get home and, upon having this stuff appraised, finding it's worth only half what they'd paid for it. I know gems, but would not buy a sapphire or a diamond at a jewlery market! I would go to a proper dealer in the city.
And if you DO want to buy gems, particularly in Southeast Asia, haggle like crazy for them!
3. Taxi drivers. Probably the worst cheats in the tourist industry, every country has scheming taxi drivers. I will say with the exception of Japan, whose taxis are all metered, but you end up feeling ripped off anyhow as it's so bloody expensive to take a cab in Japan(set foot in one and it's $5 or more). What to do? Before getting in a cab, agree on a price with the driver. Don't do this and you will be haggling like crazy at your destination. For any of you who might be visiting Athens for the Olympics, let me warn you "slimy" is an understatement when referrring to the taxi drivers there. Make sure you know approximately how much the fare is BEFORE you arrive in the country. You can do this by reading a good guide book(I like the Lonely Planet series) or by asking the person at the hotel when you make reservations. DO know that cabs going to /from the airport charge a bit more and that if you arrive on a late-night flight the fare is higher. One guy wanted to charge me $100 when I got out of his cab at my hotel in downtown Athens. I had exchanged $50 at the airport(banks give better rates) and the hotel guy said not to pay more than $30, so I put only $30 in my wallet. After I balked, the driver said "I have to charge you this because it is the late-night fee." I said "It's 6:30am, buddy!!!" I then showed my wallet to the antsy taxi driver and said "Look, all I HAVE is $30!!! Take it or leave it! He grunted, took the cash & that was that. Happens EVERY time I am in Athens!!! :lol: |
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