I’m sorry, have you seen my wits?
So far there have been the standard ups and downs on this trip. For everyone I might add, but I can only really delve into mine in other posts, yes? I think most of it deals with not knowing what’s going on (It can happen anywhere from jobs to foreign countries, so it’s not really a big surprise). But more often than not patience is spread thin and it doesn’t take much to become annoyed. I try to keep it to a minimum, but I’m sure others can quickly sense me reaching my limit. Other times, perhaps people can sense my stupidity.
What I mean is that I finally got scammed.
But it was bound to happen at some point, yes?
In my defense I was tired, my feet hurt and everyone was desperate to get back to the hotel. That was mistake #1: Don’t try to shop the street hawkers if you’re too tired. I saw a gift that was perfect for a friend, so I asked how much to begin the bargaining and talked him down to a price I was willing to pay. Only I didn’t have exact change and only had 100 Yuan notes (about $15). Mistake #2: If you’re going to bargain, have exact change. I already knew this from bargaining in Egypt-the land of no change at all. We would hoard all our one pound notes because we didn’t know when we’d get more or not be able to get change. So I handed over the 100 Yuan note and looked away at which point he switched it for a counterfeit bill. Then he told me he didn’t want this bill because the corner was torn off and whined for another one. It was such a ridiculous excuse that I should’ve figured out what was going on then and called in Michael for back up. I looked at the bill, but WTF do I know about fake money? (well, okay I’ve since learned) and didn’t see a problem (I saw a watermark and the security thread running through it). I felt something was wrong, but it wasn’t like I marked my bill for comparison.
So my goal is to find a complete jerk to try and pawn this bill off on. If not, then I have a story to tell (at my expense (snicker. Literally)) and a souvenir anyway.
I would’ve like to have gone back to look for this guy but we flew into Guilin the next day. It’s a place where we have been warned by so many sources of taxi drivers and touts trying to rip you off and no sooner than we were in the cab the driver tried to get us to pay the toll. One member of our party reached for a wallet before we shouted out a big “no!” and to our chagrin and annoyance, the driver flashed a sign and didn’t have to pay the toll to get out of the airport. We suspect he has a deal with the toll operator to split profits on ignorant tourists.
But since it almost worked once, it might work a second time. We came up to another toll booth as we got to town and once again he asked for money to pay the toll. With repeated requests and repeated denials we rolled up to the booth where he paid to go through (actual money exchanged hands). You’d think it’d stop, right?
Or perhaps he’d try a third time.
So I tried to pawn of the fake money, but he looked at it and knew what to look for and gave it back. I gave him another hundred and waited for my change, but he came up short the 10 Yuan for the toll, but the glare and a beckoning finger seemed to help persuade him to give me all my change.
So really. When you travel. It does wonders to keep your wits about you, look like you know what you’re doing (even when you don’t (I do it all the time and yet people still trust me with directions. Suckers.)), and don’t take any crap that doesn’t seem right. But also remember that not everyone is out to get you. The jerks I encounter out there in the mean mad world are far less significant than the truly great warm and friendly people I’ve met and stayed in contact with. Sometimes I have to remind myself of that and luckily it wasn’t even 24 hours before I got to experience friendly people.
What I mean is that I finally got scammed.
But it was bound to happen at some point, yes?
In my defense I was tired, my feet hurt and everyone was desperate to get back to the hotel. That was mistake #1: Don’t try to shop the street hawkers if you’re too tired. I saw a gift that was perfect for a friend, so I asked how much to begin the bargaining and talked him down to a price I was willing to pay. Only I didn’t have exact change and only had 100 Yuan notes (about $15). Mistake #2: If you’re going to bargain, have exact change. I already knew this from bargaining in Egypt-the land of no change at all. We would hoard all our one pound notes because we didn’t know when we’d get more or not be able to get change. So I handed over the 100 Yuan note and looked away at which point he switched it for a counterfeit bill. Then he told me he didn’t want this bill because the corner was torn off and whined for another one. It was such a ridiculous excuse that I should’ve figured out what was going on then and called in Michael for back up. I looked at the bill, but WTF do I know about fake money? (well, okay I’ve since learned) and didn’t see a problem (I saw a watermark and the security thread running through it). I felt something was wrong, but it wasn’t like I marked my bill for comparison.
So my goal is to find a complete jerk to try and pawn this bill off on. If not, then I have a story to tell (at my expense (snicker. Literally)) and a souvenir anyway.
I would’ve like to have gone back to look for this guy but we flew into Guilin the next day. It’s a place where we have been warned by so many sources of taxi drivers and touts trying to rip you off and no sooner than we were in the cab the driver tried to get us to pay the toll. One member of our party reached for a wallet before we shouted out a big “no!” and to our chagrin and annoyance, the driver flashed a sign and didn’t have to pay the toll to get out of the airport. We suspect he has a deal with the toll operator to split profits on ignorant tourists.
But since it almost worked once, it might work a second time. We came up to another toll booth as we got to town and once again he asked for money to pay the toll. With repeated requests and repeated denials we rolled up to the booth where he paid to go through (actual money exchanged hands). You’d think it’d stop, right?
Or perhaps he’d try a third time.
So I tried to pawn of the fake money, but he looked at it and knew what to look for and gave it back. I gave him another hundred and waited for my change, but he came up short the 10 Yuan for the toll, but the glare and a beckoning finger seemed to help persuade him to give me all my change.
So really. When you travel. It does wonders to keep your wits about you, look like you know what you’re doing (even when you don’t (I do it all the time and yet people still trust me with directions. Suckers.)), and don’t take any crap that doesn’t seem right. But also remember that not everyone is out to get you. The jerks I encounter out there in the mean mad world are far less significant than the truly great warm and friendly people I’ve met and stayed in contact with. Sometimes I have to remind myself of that and luckily it wasn’t even 24 hours before I got to experience friendly people.