Bali Cops Corral ‘Gypsy’ Cabs – So When Will The ‘Regulars’ Charge Fair Fares?

More odd news from Bali’s Ngurah Rai Airport!

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It seems the police in bali are staging a crack-down on so-called ‘gypsy’ taxis.

I’m not sure what the term means, but presumably they’re after ordinary Balinese who reckon they can make a fast buck by picking up arrivals.

I honestly have never been approached by cars without some sort of cab sign, but many a time – as reported previously – I have done the sensible thing and walked out through the gates of the airport compound. The aim of that short stroll is always to avoid the outrageous fares quoted by the rip-off drivers allowed to lurk at the building’s exit where tourists and other travellers emerge after deplaning.

Any poor pilgrim who has too many bags, or kiddies, to walk a hundred yards or two, will get taken for a hundred thousand just to get taken to Kuta, or Legian.

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• The cabbies beyond the perimeter will happily settle for Rp.50K.

A no-brainer.

If you are unencumbered, you take the walk and pay half what the others pay.

So..?

I’m not saying visitors to the Isle of the Gods ought to jump into any old vehicle that rattles up hopefully. When last in London, I heard some ghastly stories of ‘pirate’ cabs there, whose drivers committed serious crimes against innocents who boarded them.

Common sense is something you shouldn’t leave at home when you go on vacation.

But it would be nice if the cops, or some authority interested in the welfare of the thousands of people who fly into Bali every week, would bust the racket which allows grossly unfair fares to be charged as soon as those people step out of Ngurah Rai’s automatic doors. 

http://www.balidiscovery.com.

 

Leaving On a Jet Plane – Reflections On An Over-Cast Morning

Having just got home late arvo yesterday, I’ve now got to figure out how to observe the next bout of festivities.

But first a moment of reflection on the 162 people who didn’t make it to their destination, the Air Asia passengers and crew for whom the search is about to resume this overcast morning.

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 Ngurah Rai Airport

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• I’d no idea whilst waiting at Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali that anything was amiss in the skies through which I was about to fly. Only once aboard did I learn from the Arab guy sitting in the adjacent seat that a plane was lost, and only last night, once settled in my familiar surroundings in Jakarta, did the horrific reality become clear.

My heart goes out to them, and all those who saw off loved ones at Surabaya, or were waiting for them  at Singapore. After a week in Legian with the nearest and dearest, I can only imagine what they’re going through.

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I used Lion Air, and although I was in complaining mode at the late departure (having experienced similar inconvenience when I went down there) I certainly don’t feel like complaining now! Putting problems into perspective, as they say…

The briefly bumpy spell halfway through the flight – no great fan of air travel, me, to be frank – had me pausing in my perusal of the kindle-book I was enjoying. Little did I know what those other passengers on that other plane must have experienced when their weather turned bumpy.

As hopes dwindle for them, my normal eagerness to face the day is subdued this morning.