Nice locals and bad tourists: when locals are afraid of being ripped off by travellers

Masterful travel lesson: the locals are afraid of being ripped off by tourists!

 
Arrival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, very weakened by a cold snap, I allow myself a few days of rest in a nice hotel with thick duvets and soft mattresses. I sleep all my drunk half of the day but go out every day to explore the city a little on foot. 

When I arrive far from my hotel, I get tired and am knocked out cleanly in the early evening. I have to go home and rest…

Too wobbly to throw myself into the metro rush, I catch a taxi on the way home

Mr Taxi, while driving me back to my cotton haven, inquires about my health. He preaches to me that I have walked so far and out of pure kindness, he suggests that I make a diversion by car to the illuminated mosque. He doesn’t ask for money.  I accept. 
I’m in my seat, rocked by my driver’s babbling and watching the city glittering in cinemascope, I find that a tour of the city like this is really what I need before returning home. 
I ask how much he charges for a “full” tour (which will take me far away from the city centre for the view). We agree on the price I will pay on the way back. By car Simone! 
Every time we stop at interesting places, I get out of the taxi to take a few pictures and take my backpack with me. I don’t want to leave it in the car. This nice driver could well leave with it, disappear with a burst of the gas and leave me in the lurch! You never know. Don’t do anything stupid Christine!
 

Strangely enough, every time I get out of the car, the driver accompanies me. He doesn’t let me out of his sight. It hides something…

This attitude makes me a bit on my guard. I don’t understand it. 
It is a little later that I discover that Monsieur chaperones me for three reasons. Firstly, he fears for my safety, a bad thief could take my bag, attack me or God knows what. 
Secondly, I am weak, still sick. I might pass out in the middle of the road. 
Thirdly, and this is the funniest thing, he’s afraid that I might run away without paying the fare! I may be very nice, but there are plenty of stories of thieving tourists in restaurants and taxi-basketball courts here!
 

This taxi driver is afraid of being ripped off by a tourist. But it’s the world upside down! 

And yet it is often like that. The locals are sometimes just as suspicious and scared of tourists as we are of the locals. It is a masterful lesson: the stern looks, the distrustful faces of the locals will now have another possible explanation. 
 

Some countries can have a terrible image of Westerners: thieves, liars, racists and who don’t respect any rules

Their daily diary is full of terrible stories of child assassins in American schools, pickpockets in the Parisian metro, assaults, scams at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and all these stories of facial offenses.
Some foreign friends, before flying to France, ask me the most serious question in the world: how should I react in case of a racist attack? Will the police arrest me because of my skin colour? 
 

Many locals are wary of Westerners travellers… and they sometimes have good reasons for this

Saleswomen are afraid of having their goods stolen or of being confronted with a bad payer. Tour organisers are afraid of the scandal of the disgruntled traveller. For transport, organised tours a last-minute cancellations put them in a difficult financial situation. Prices are sometimes renegotiated 10 times by tourist when the break-even point is zero, rooms are deserted without paying … All these tourists are their daily nightmares. 
On top of that, there are countless disrespectful attitudes towards their traditions… or towards their women. Having sex with a woman from a traditional African or Muslim society does not have the same consequences as for a Western woman. A European sees no offence in leaving a woman with whom he has just spent the night smiling and disappearing forever. In a traditional society it is a disaster, this woman is now disgraced! Terrible consequences can follow.
 

Drunk, noisy and sometimes violent: thugs? No, tourists who party! 

The trip is a party, a way to let off steam, and many travellers or tourists take advantage of it to let off steam. Foreigners who are drunk, drugged, uninhibited or who have lost control of themselves give the locals the impression (with good reason) that Westerners are uneducated, untrustworthy and disrespectful.
 

We are travellers abroad and we are foreigners there 

Bad experiences exist on both sides. At the top of the scams, taxis are champions. So this story can set a bad example. But it was a taxi driver who gave me that first lesson. 
Discover the world, getting rich from it is a delicate mix: stay careful, open, honest, don’t do anything stupid and above all try to behave well towards the inhabitants of the countries we visit. This can change the course of a trip to a faraway land.

Also to be read to avoid problems when travelling

Of course, it’s obvious! Well no, it’s not. Every day travellers find themselves in unfortunate situations due to overconfidence, ignorance, improvidence or intolerance… and that’s stupid!  

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