Summer Trouble

The good thing about Mongolia in the summer time is the weather. Hot without humidity, breezy, and cool in the shade. The bad thing is that Mongolians think you're a tourist and try to con you or rip you off.

A nice example of this is the experience we had Thursday night. We went out for "Quiz Night" at a british pub, and then went to a night club with some friends. At about 3 a.m. we left and caught a cab right outside the building. When we got to our apartment, be tried to tell us it was going to cost over 6 dollars! As a comparison, this ride usually costs about 80 cents. But this guy thought he could rip us off, thinking we were just tourists and didn't know the cab costs. So we said no way! The rate is 300 tugruks per km. He said no, it is 1000 per km. So, we gave him more than what was a fair amount, and got out of the car, Clayt giving him a little hell at the same time. He put the money on the front seat, but the guy got angry and chucked the money out the door onto the ground. Then the guy got out of his car and proceeded to try to fight Clayton. I was trying to collect the scattered bills when another man approached, seeming curious about what was going on. I tried to explain to him what was happening, but he didn't seem interested in helping. Instead, while I was trying to keep an eye on Clayt, he shoved me to the ground and yanked at our camera bag until the strap broke and he took off with it. (I had my purse and camera bag not just over my shoulder, but across my chest, so he wouldn't have gotten it if the strap hadn't broke) I called to Clayt and he took off chasing the guy. The cab driver took this opportunity to get in his car and take off. Then about 5 minutes passed and I had no idea where Clayt was. When he returned, he told me the cab had been waiting on the main road, and the guy who took our camera jumped in and they sped off.

We didn't get a plate number unfortunately, as it all happened so fast, probably less than 5 minutes total. Clayt got a banged up foot, and I got cuts and scrapes on my hand, elbow and back. We were feeling pretty foolish and defeated, and went upstairs to bed. About 15 minutes later, there was a knock on the door. It was 3 policemen and a woman we hadn't seen before. She lives on the third floor and saw the commotion from her window. she called the police and called her son, who speaks really good english. So, at about 4 a.m. we were at the Police station giving statements and trying to describe the guys as best we could. Nothing has come of it so far, except us learning an important lesson: don't take the cabs just sitting outside the tourist destinations late at night. And don't argue about the price, just leave the money and get inside. Next week is the biggest holiday of the year, and also the biggest tourist draw of the year: Naadaam Festival. So, I'm thinking this is a time to be extra careful. It sucks we lost our expensive digital camera - no photos for the blog for a while, until we can buy a new camera.

On a happier note, the woman's son who acted as our translator is in a band and asked clayt to play bass for them at a music festival this afternoon. He described it as the "Mongolian Woodstock." And, now that Clayt has his guitar here (Happy Birthday!) he was able to practice with them yesterday and hopefully will have a great time performing today.