| Tell Others Your Travel Traps here! | |
|---|---|
| Oct 21, 2007 13:24 | #61   |
 | Hi, Aby, don´t be worried. This is only a thread about things that have gone wrong. I can assure You that if start a thread about fine trips the server would get totally full. Feel free to travel to China, Aby. It is a beautiful country and people are friendly. You will be fine there. Of course must remember the normal things when travel to any place, there are thieves and pickpockets everywhere in the world. And everywhere something can go wrong. In China, not more than some other place. Carlos |
| Oct 22, 2007 01:27 | #62 |
| Dear Aby, No need to change your plans or be afraid, but you do need to be cautious and alert especially if you are travelling alone. Don't flash your gear around, keep it close and in your possession at all times and you should be fine. Try to avoid very crowded places, even walking away if a crowd forms around you for any reason. Make sure you have your bag strap over both your shoulder and your head and in front of you all the time. At least this way there is less chance of it being snatched. China is like every other country. There are thieves looking for opportunities. Don't be one of them!!!!!!! |
| Oct 30, 2007 22:14 | #63 |
| I'm a bit slow, I have only just seen Miranda's posts. I can understand that she and Regent were upset by the comments if they were unjustified, of course - who wouldn't be. While it is not an excuse, we should note that is an example of the 'freedom of the press' that is so highly valued in many western countries. The reality is that Ms Miller has to churn out several articles a week and probably gets paid according to how many people visit the page and how many advertisers' links they click on. You get more hits and make more money if you write something outrageous. This is exactly what much (but not all) of the traditional western press does - scandal sells! |
| Nov 10, 2007 20:08 | #64 |
| *Warning* I tell interesting stories! :) I had a wonderful time in China this summer but I did fall into a 'travel trap' when I arrived at the Guangzhou airport. Just after you pick up your luggage and enter the public greeting area 'taxi drivers' begin to hound you. I wasn't surprised by this and let one in particular walk with me. He insisted on helping me with my luggage. It's not very difficult to roll your luggage on wheels these days but I let him anyhow. I asked him where I could find the airplane ticket purchasing counters. He told me they were upstairs but that they'd be closed at this time (it was around 9 p.m.). I told him I'd still like to go upstairs and check. After walking around for a few minutes and inquiring I did find a counter that was open. It took about 10 minutes or so of waiting, but I did finally purchase the airplane ticket I needed. The reason for the wait was that the ticket seller wasn't sure my U.S. dollars were genuine. We start heading downstairs and I figure, I need a taxi now anyways, why not go with this guy, as he has been so patient with me? We walk outside and up to an unmarked vehicle. No taxi sign, the car is quite beat up (aren't all taxis these days?) the windows are tinted. Not quite what I was expecting, but hey, I'm a foreigner right? I ask the fellow how much the fare will be to my hotel. He says 280 RMB. I ask him how long the drive is. He says about 30 minutes. I do some quick calculating in my head and come up with about $38 U.S. I thought to myself this seemed fairly expensive for a distance like that but it was late, I was really tired, and figured that I might be paying perhaps 80 RMB more than I should be. My luggage is loaded into the trunk and then the fellow who had been with me the whole time starts to talk to another guy and they stand in front of the vehicle. a few seconds later I get into the car and this other guy gets into the driver's seat. The original 'taxi driver' wishes us well and says goodbye! We haven't driven more than ten minutes and the driver pulls over to the side of the road in the dark and stops the car. He asks me to pay for the trip, ...now... |
| Nov 10, 2007 20:08 | #65 |
| What am I going to do at this point? I'm a foreigner right? I told him I only have U.S. dollars. He said that's OK, he could exchange them to RMB. I only had $100 U.S. bills on me. I gave him $100 and he gave me back change in RMB. The exchange rate at the time was around $100 U.S. = 750 RMB. He gave me back around 470 RMB. (750 - 280). So now I'm sitting there thinking in the dark, OK where's our next stop? What's he going to pull next? Are we going to get to the hotel or does he have something else in mind? Are these 470 RMB fake or the real thing (I'd never seen this currency before in my life)? We did finally make it to the hotel. The whole way he never spoke a word to me. Out comes my luggage from the trunk and away he drives into the night. In retrospect I was awfully silly in taking that ‘taxi’. I was lucky I just suffered a monetary loss. It could have been much worse! |
| Nov 11, 2007 13:40 | #66 |
| Canada, we all make mistakes, and always can learn about them. First time I was in Guangzhou with my lao po, easy for me because she happens to speak Chinese ;-) , waiting in taxi line some Chinese man came to talk to her. He offered to take us to our hotel near airport for 180 RMB. He said if take a taxi it would cost 240 RMB. So, we took him. All went fine, he was really friendly and we arrived to our hotel nicely. I had only 100 rmb bills, so I paid him 200. Next time we took taxi from Guangzhou to airport, it was early morning, taxi was official. My lao po and driver got some kind of agreement, so we took him. He did not put the meter on, so I figured it was his "own" drive. When at airport we paid 120 RMB to him. So, Still I don´t know how much official taxi cost from city to airport, but "unofficial official" was definitely the cheapest. I think it is more safe, especially when one doesn´t speak language and doesn´t know about how things go, to take official taxi and pay whatever the meter tells. Carlos |
| Nov 11, 2007 18:00 | #67 |
| >>I think it is more safe, especially when one doesn´t speak language and doesn´t know about how things go, to take official taxi and pay whatever the meter tells.<< You are right Carlos. By the way, during my trip I took a plane from Shanghai back to Guangzhou and had a second opportunity to take a taxi into Guangzhou. I travelled the same distance into the heart of Guangzhou as I did the first time. This time we paid around 40RMB!!! |
| Nov 21, 2007 09:31 | #68 |
| its best and cheaper if one check whther there are airport coach services to your intended hotels' or nearest to it - as in Guangzhou airport, there are airport express buses that goes to most places/hotels in the city. |
| Nov 21, 2007 19:26 | #69 |
| Absolutely! On one of my trips I took a bus coach from my hotel to the airport and it was much cheaper than taking a taxi. The ride was comfortable too and not much longer than a taxi ride. |
| Nov 27, 2007 01:04 | #70 |
| I am so sorry to hear all of these travel traps above. As a Chinese, I feel ashame about that. what I want to say just that: Be more circumspective, like the Mr CANADAGUY! Uncover the trickers as early as you can, then, keep far from them without thinking more~~~!! Good luck to everybody in China!! And, keep on posting your experience here~~them,we will be more cleverer when we're out of home. |
Post a Reply to: Tell Others Your Travel Traps here!
Copyright © 1998-2024 All rights reserved.