Traveling abroad is fun. It broadens your perspective in life. It tells you that the world is amazing and huge. It gives you a feeling that people differ – in terms of culture, beliefs, and traditions.
But wherever you go, you will encounter problems; some are trivial, others are simply nightmarish. When riding a taxi or buying some things, there are always those rip-offs – or scams for that matter! – which cannot be avoided.
But experience, as they say, is the best teacher. So, if ever you are planning to go abroad, here are some true-to-life stories which can give you some glimpse of what happens when you are out there. History, so goes another saying, repeats itself.
Eric Santos, former editor of an international health magazine, once visited Malaysia. “During a trip to Penang, a taxi driver charged us an extremely exorbitant fare of 30 ringgit. We only discovered that we’d been ripped-off when a Malaysian colleague later took us out for dinner and she haggled down our taxi fare to five ringgit – and the trip was about twice as long as the one we paid 30 ringgits for. The unscrupulous taxi driver must have easily figured out that my friend and I were tourists!”
The 17th edition of All-Asia Travel Guide also shares this bit of information: “Probably the most common complaint (in Malaysia) is about overcharging by taxi drivers who either ‘forget’ to put on their meters or claim they are broken.”
Veteran British journalist John Rowley has few rip-off experiences, despite his work that entails him to travel here and there. One such experience happened in India. “One of the corniest I can recall was in Connaught Square in Delhi. I had on a new pair of hush puppy shoes, and was walking across the square when an Indian man stopped me and pointed to one of my shoes, which had a large splurge of dirt or paint on it. ‘Don't worry, he said, I can clean it for you.’ At which point he produced his shoe cleaning kit and asked for my shoe. Once he had this, he cleaned the shoe and demanded a large amount of rupees. Of course, he was unwilling to return the shoe until I had paid him.”
If you’re planning to go to Hong Kong, read this story shared to me by Erlinda Bolido, my former science editor and mentor. “The only place where I really have to constantly be on guard is Hong Kong. Generally, I avoid Hong Kong and only go there if work requires me to.”
