Sunday, February 21, 2010
Taxi Scams
Taking a taxi in many parts of the world can be a trying task. The drivers aren't always the most honest and can spot a tourist a mile off. Once you're in the cab, they'll take their time, going the long way round the block or driving around in circles a few times, just to make sure the fare's nice and high by the time they drop you off. Sometimes they seem to find a button to make the meter click through twice as fast, and sometimes they switch your money, "Sorry love, you didn't give me a ten, it was only a five."
Doha's different though. It's so small, and everyone is so friendly and honest...
Last night my Karwa taxi driver dropped me off at my friend's house. I gave him a 50.
"Sorry ma'am, it's 14 Riyals," he said holding up a 10.
I hesitated. I was sure I'd given him 50. But was I sure enough?
As I thought about it, Felipe who was unaware of what was going on, handed him another 5...and the taxi vanished, speeding down the road like a bat-out-of-hell.
I looked at my purse again...and pulled out my cash. The driver was really unlucky. I'd just been to the cash machine, and in my purse were two 100 Riyal notes and now only one 50 note. The cash machine doesn't give out 10s. He had just swapped the notes.
The driver was doubly unlucky, as in Doha you can't get away with things so easily. I called Karwa, the taxi firm. Once they'd picked up the phone (which obviously took about 5 minutes, good job I love their hold musak) they were actually really helpful, giving me his name, his Karwa ID and his mobile number!
I called Mr Joseph, and told him he had 10 minutes to get back here and give me my money back, or I was going to the police.
...and 10 minutes later, I was in my friend's house, with the 50 Riyals safely back in my purse.
The days of not being ripped-off by your taxi driver may be over for Doha, but is there anywhere else in the world would I have got my cash back? Probably not.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Confused Cars
The lovely Industrial Area. My favourite place.
My little car is now 3 years old, so it was time to renew the Registration Document. Off to the Industrial Area with me!
I'd been advised to go really early, as the queues can be quite large. I was on the road by 7:10am. For me that is super early. Unfortunately I hit traffic, and didn't move anywhere for half an hour, but soon enough I was in the hell that is the Industrial Area.
I really cannot explain to you how horrific the Industrial Area is. It's a big dusty mess of pot-holed roads, none of it's finished, there are roadworks and lorries everywhere, hesitate at a junction and you'll be run off the road. It all looks the same, and it all looks like this:
What's more, it's absolutely massive. Here's the map I was following, with the Industrial Area circled:
The map looked fairly straight forward. It all went wrong at the end though: There was a big No Entry sign and a bloody great bollard. I tried the next road, but it was a dead end, so I went back to the bollard and ignored the No Entry sign. Bad in most countries, here I was just the 6th car in a row to do so.
The policeman on the gate watched all the cars do this and didn't seem to mind at all. I smiled and said I needed to test my car. He asked for my registration card and said I was in the wrong place. I needed building 2.
Off I toodled to building 2. The man at the front desk said I was in the wrong place. Apparently I wanted building 1...where I'd just come from.
Off I went back to building 1. The policeman looked confused, but smiled and gave me a number to wait in line.
I had planned this part quite well: I was wearing high heels and skirt. If you're female and dress up a little, they try to get you out of the building as fast as humanly possible.
My number was discarded and I was sent to the front.
The lady there said, "No need, no need! New car!"
"But it's 3 years old," I pointed out
"No need! No need! Just police - Go! Building 2!"
The police who issue the new registration cards are at the back of Building 2. As I walked back to Building 2, I noticed the front (where I'd been earlier) was the testing place for truckers. No wonder I looked out of place.
As soon as I walked near building 2, a man grabbed me and took me to the front of the queue, neatly by-passing about 30 people. A lady gave me my new plastic registration card and I left.
I'm still really confused though. My car is over 3 years old, why did it not need a test?!
I asked our External Affairs Office, they said it needs to be tested. In fact everyone I've asked says yes it needs to be tested...but it wasn't.
I have no idea what happened, but one thing's for certain, I'm wearing heels next year too!
Sunday, December 20, 2009
WHAT?!
See if you can make out what this is peering out of the window:
I promise you this is a real photo and I haven't doctored it in any way.I took this yesterday evening on my way home from work. I was stopped at traffic lights when I saw this animal in the passenger seat of the car next to me. I followed it to the next lights where I managed to get a photo of...
...a cheetah!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Potatoes and Suitcases
So, finally...it was time to test my Spanish, time to travel to Argentina to meet my fiance's family.
No pressure then.
After a million hours of travelling, we landed at Resistencia Airport. Felipe's Dad was there to meet us. This was it, first impressions are everything. I opened my arms wide, smiled my sweetest smile and shouted, "Potato!"
Apparently if you say PApa in Spanish (like you would in French) it means Potato. Only with the accent on the second syllable (paPA) does it mean Dad.
Did someone not want to tell me this before I got off the plane?!
The first thing I noticed about Argentina were the cars. It was like I'd travelled back in time:
This one has a blue light on top, so I guess it's classed as a police car:
And something strange was going on in the petrol stations too:
You will probably have to squint to make this one out, but inside (through all the reflections) is me...at a bar...!
The other thing you can't fail to notice was the crazy weather. Resistencia is in the north of the country and one day it was reported in the papers to have a "feel-like temperature of 58C"; It was horribly sticky and hot. The next day it flooded and the day after I was still cold despite my thick winter jumper.
Now the main reason we were in Argentina was to celebrate Felipe's brother's wedding. Here's a rather blurry photo taken at the wedding:
Now the astute amongst you may notice a couple of rather strange hats. Apparently this is traditional in Argentinean weddings. Don't ask me, I've no idea, but when in Rome...
Anyway, other than renaming the man of the house, it all went surprising well with the soon-to-be-in-laws. Communication was a mixture of Spanish, English and Sign-language, which I think is Sign-Spanglish, and they decided I was quite Latino in my mannerisms.
I told my mother and she said, "Yes you are, I suppose."
It must be my dark smoldering looks and excellent Tango skills.
After a few weeks in the tropical north with mosquitos bigger than my hand (and bites even bigger than that) it was time to head to the chilly south.
We had a feeling the penguins were close...
In fact they were everywhere!
Funny things really, the way they scurry around like they have a vitally important mission...and then they'll suddenly lie down:
How random!
Anyway, here are some more photos of penguins. You'll be pleased to know that this is just a small selection, the other 2484572 photos I'll keep to myself...
Anyway, that's probably enough Penguins for now...
The next day we drove about 4 hours to see some other animals. When we arrived, we were greeted by this sight:
We were miles away from the creatures we were supposed to see and Felipe wasn't convinced they were seals. In front of nature-lovers from around the world he shouts out, "They're not seals, they're dead fish! They are! They're big dead fish! Look!"
To be fair, they were seals, they were just seals that were a long, long way away. We had driven 4 hours for this!?
At this point, my sister decided to join us. She was lucky to miss the dead fish.
We took her off into the ocean to meet some whales. At the start of our journey we were all looking lively.
However, then the engine broke:
...and some sealions on the Isle of Wight.
Oh no, my mistake, I mean Patagonia.
Right, enough animals, I should mention suitcases.
When Vicky turned up in Argentina, her suitcase didn't; Iberia chose to leave it in Madrid. It took them 3 days to get it to Trelew. Unlike other airlines, they refused to courier it to our hotel and we had to contact the airport ourselves.
As no one ever answered the phone at Trelew airport, we had to drive there to see if the case had shown up. That was torture. The airport was a 70 kilometers away, and the scenery was all like this:
In the end I drove there 5 times. That's a total of 700 kilometers with no scenery. Each time they said the case hadn't arrived, I started to sob.
It did eventually turn up...just as we were leaving for Mendoza! ...and when we landed in Mendoza, this time it was me who didn't have a suitcase!
Statistically, that's 67% of travellers to Argentina who lose their suitcase. At least Aerolineas Argentinas were much better than Iberia - they sent my suitcase directly to our hotel.
Mendoza is the wine-growing region of Argentina, but most of the vineyards are shut on Sunday, so we decided to check out Chile. We took a coach to Santiago, stayed there for approximately 5 hours, and then set off for Mendoza again.
This might sound slightly mad, but the coach from Mendoza to Santiago goes over the Andes and the scenery is stunning:
The Andes in Argentina
The Andes in Chile!
Once back in Mendoza, it was finally time to taste their famous wine. Firstly we went to a lesson to tell us what to look for:
Then we went on a field experiment to see what really happened.
There were fields of grapes...
...and fields of olives...
But oddly enough, not a potato to be seen.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Platinum Tripod
Another year, another Tripod holiday. This one was called the "Platinum Tripod" in honour of my newly engaged status, but more in a later posting...
This year's destination was Copenhaaaaagen.
The day before the holiday I mentioned to a friend where I was going.
"Copenhagan?! Why Copenhagen? I went there a few years ago...for 2 days, and that was 2 days too long. It's rubbish. There's nothing to do there."
How to crush someone's holiday spirit.
Then he added, "Oh and it's one of the most expensive places in the world."
Thanks for that.
I met the other 2 Tripodian's at Heathrow, and off we went to find out for ourselves.
We decided that we could get over one of the hurdles very easily. Denmark isn't in the Euro, it's uses the Krone. If we don't ever find out what the exchange rate is, we'll never worry about it being too expensive.
Job done.
To this day I still have no idea what the exchange rate is, but I am now dodging calls from my Bank Manager.
As for boring, we definitely had a laugh, but you do have to search for sights. It's not like Sydney where there's a bloody great Opera House shouting at you, or the Harbour Bridge asking for a climb. Tivoli Gardens were shut and the Little Mermaid was disappointingly little.
The closest we got to Tivoli Gardens.
The Little Mermaid. Little being the operative word.
However, a boat trip round the city was good.
as was a trip on the London Eye...I mean the Copenhagen Wheel...
The Ice Bar...now that was fun!
You dress like Papa Smurf
The glasses are made of ice,
and so are the tables and chairs
Dilster just sat on an ice chair
...but the highlight had to be a trip up the tower. As you know, I am a complete wuss with heights and the idea of climbing a building which had the stairs on the outside didn't really appeal.
Initially I had to be dragged to the building (where we tried to gatecrash a child's Christening before we realised the entrance to the tower was round the corner)
But at the top, I turned into the champion!
Much happier on the way down:
Back on terra firma. They still look rather shaky:
Hopefully this will have discouraged them from dragging me up and more towers in the near future!!Sunday, September 13, 2009
Choo Choo!
A new metro system has just opened in Dubai.
Me looking strangely excited about the new metro system
It opened on Thursday, so really is brand-spanking new. One passenger was quoted in a Doha newspaper as saying, "I'm very impressed. It's very clean."
"Clean?"
Of course it's clean, it's new! Was this really the nicest thing they could find to say about it?!
We went along to use it on Friday. It was one whole day old...but already 3 out of 4 of the ticket machines had broken and so had the trains.
Not-so-functional ticket machines
However, they kept this a secret. They let you buy a ticket and go down to the platform until you got bored and asked where the trains were. Apparently they were sleeping.
Bored people waiting for a train
So Day One was unsuccessful.
No longer so excited about the trains
The only small issue was that they didn't tell us which stations were open. We were hoping to go to Dubai Mall, but as we whizzed by, it transpired that this one wasn't open...nor was the next....or the next...in fact the next station that was open was the Mall of the Emirates, which is about a million miles away. By the time we got there, we'd gone further than our tickets allowed us, so we had to buy a new one when we got to the other end...!
Still, despite all of this, it is very cool: The trains weave above and below the city, they're roomy, air-conditioned...and they are very clean...
