More rules for travel
I came up with two more rules for travel so add these to the list:
1. Never try to get a taxi directly outside a tourist area.
And...
2. If you justify the cost/purchase of an item in a place where everything costs less than at home, then you're not really getting a fair price. There is a slight caveat to this rule though. If both parties come away satisfied with the price (the seller for getting a good price out of you, and you feeling like you got the cheapest price out of the seller.)
We came out of the Summer Palace (on the fringes of Beijing where ne'er a lark nor subway journeyed) at closing time and were approached by our 1st "taxi." (I do use the term loosely as it wasn't really a taxi aside from it was a car and a driver who wanted money. And lots of it.) Upon seeing us come out of the gates he came to meet us, calling out, "Taxi!"
Michael asked how much and he pretended to do some quick calculations and came up with the price of 50 yuan. Since it cost only 12 yuan to get there, we quickly walked on. Around us personal cars and buses were leaving. It was hot, we were tired and had walked all day. 50 yuan? it's like $7.35, but it wasn't worth it. It was (cough) highway robbery. A couple more taxis and all quoted the same price. We walked as no one wanted to use their meter.
Only we did finally find a cab driver who insisted on using the meter (you'd think we'd found an honest guy, but that should've tipped me off that he wasn't). so we hop into his cab, show him on the map where we wanted to go (a subway station a few kilometers down the road that, if you work/live in the area, you SHOULD know) and the cab takes off in the wrong direction.
Sometimes there are driving rules/signs that I miss in times like this so I waited a little while to see where he would go. Then he takes the taxi sign off his roof. Then Deana comments that the flag fall on the meter was 20 yuan when normally it is 10. Then instead of rising 1 yuan per kilometer we hadn't even gone 100 yards before it was up 4 yuan. Then the driver is in a dead end road.
It was enough. I told everyone we were walking. Rachel, Deana and I get out of the car, as Michael attempts to show the driver on the map. You may be surprised that the "taxi" didn't come after us for his fare.
1. Never try to get a taxi directly outside a tourist area.
And...
2. If you justify the cost/purchase of an item in a place where everything costs less than at home, then you're not really getting a fair price. There is a slight caveat to this rule though. If both parties come away satisfied with the price (the seller for getting a good price out of you, and you feeling like you got the cheapest price out of the seller.)
We came out of the Summer Palace (on the fringes of Beijing where ne'er a lark nor subway journeyed) at closing time and were approached by our 1st "taxi." (I do use the term loosely as it wasn't really a taxi aside from it was a car and a driver who wanted money. And lots of it.) Upon seeing us come out of the gates he came to meet us, calling out, "Taxi!"
Michael asked how much and he pretended to do some quick calculations and came up with the price of 50 yuan. Since it cost only 12 yuan to get there, we quickly walked on. Around us personal cars and buses were leaving. It was hot, we were tired and had walked all day. 50 yuan? it's like $7.35, but it wasn't worth it. It was (cough) highway robbery. A couple more taxis and all quoted the same price. We walked as no one wanted to use their meter.
Only we did finally find a cab driver who insisted on using the meter (you'd think we'd found an honest guy, but that should've tipped me off that he wasn't). so we hop into his cab, show him on the map where we wanted to go (a subway station a few kilometers down the road that, if you work/live in the area, you SHOULD know) and the cab takes off in the wrong direction.
Sometimes there are driving rules/signs that I miss in times like this so I waited a little while to see where he would go. Then he takes the taxi sign off his roof. Then Deana comments that the flag fall on the meter was 20 yuan when normally it is 10. Then instead of rising 1 yuan per kilometer we hadn't even gone 100 yards before it was up 4 yuan. Then the driver is in a dead end road.
It was enough. I told everyone we were walking. Rachel, Deana and I get out of the car, as Michael attempts to show the driver on the map. You may be surprised that the "taxi" didn't come after us for his fare.