Today was a relaxation day, one to recharge after all the recent day trips, ready for more tomorrow. Some years ago, Id planned our itinerary for our self tour around Japan, ensuring not a minute was wasted. By the last few days, I was sitting in a park in Tokyo, absolutely exhausted and looking forward to the flight home so I could sit still for hours. It was awful feeling like that, when in a place as exciting as Tokyo, so since Ive always tried to ensure we have chill days. It is meant to be a holiday after all!
So no alarms were set and we didnt leave the until around 10.30! Its a nice enough place, but not somewhere wed want to hang around at all day.My plan was too have a slow wander around the outdoor Museum of Ethnography, where theres lots of old buildings from all over Georgia. Then relax, read and chill at Turtle Lake, maybe take some macro photos of the insects. Good plan eh?
It would be almost a 2 hour walk and public transport appeared to Looking up the cost of a taxi online it was quoted at 11 laris
(around £4) which is good for a 12km trip. We walked to the nearby tourist square and asked a taxi driver how much, he said he had a meter, so I thought that would be ok.
The guy hadnt a clue where it was and I had to show him on my Google maps. He was very friendly, shared his sweets and off we went. I was concerned that I couldnt see the meter, but he was all chatty about how hed been to Spain and asking where we are from. Being a Monday, the traffic was heavy in places, so it ended up taking 35 minutes. I expected it to be more than 11 laris, but I didnt expect it to be 179 laris! The ‘meter was on his phone, and tbh, it could be anything.
Now this was We asked why when it was only 12km and he said it was based on time, not distance. Now his English wasnt very good, so it was hard explaining. But I said it was only 35 minutes, he also claimed because it was a tourist taxi it cost more. I guess we could have just refused to
pay, but part of me wondered if that was true. We found him right outside a place that sells day trips, what if he was part of and it wasnt his car? What if he went back without his fare and got sacked? However, I also thought, this guy is ripping us off with a smile and pretending hes trying to help and this thought in hindsight is the truth.
He offered to wait an hour and take us back for free, but we were going to be a lot longer than that and wanted to relax with no time constraints. We ended up grudgingly giving him 150 laris which is about £46. I should have photographed his car or him. I should have refused to pay and see what happened, but I guess I didnt want any trouble.
Ive been mad at myself for the rest of the day and left a message on TripAdvisor to find out if I was right or not. At least I can warn other tourists, suggest they demand to see the meter if the drivers claim they have one. There are similar stories of other people being ripped off when
getting taxis from the airport, quite a bit more than we did, I should have investigated beforehand or took a bus.
To add salt to the wound, Id also not investigated opening times and the damn museum wasnt open on Mondays. Glyn was very understanding but I felt so rotten, hes organised all the day trips and I couldnt get one day right.Turtle Lake was a 17 minute walk uphill of course. Plus today was the hottest since weve arrived, getting up to 32 degrees.
Turtle Lake was small, with a few open bars, cafes and drink stalls along one side. We had an early lunch and relaxed in the shade.After walking around the lake, we found a square metal frame crossed with ropes that was big enough for two to lie on. In the shade it was nice, the lake wasnt particularly picturesque, but had a few ducks and geese. The scorched shore was littered with cigarette butts and bottle caps. But it was fairly empty, with the sound of slow pumping music from a nearby bar.
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