Cab drivers gone wild...

You have no idea how cabs can be in Malaysia... I feared for my life in Penang!!!

I have been charged three times for this month's subscription! I call consumer affairs during business hours and they hang up on me! Outrage!

Horatio

JOSH brother.

Do you have an iPhone/Android device? I use the OpenMaps app, and it has saved me multiple times. It's a free/open-source map program that allows you to download maps to your phone and save them there, instead of the built-in Google Maps app that requires continuous (expensive when traveling) internet connection.

So I mark the places I'll be visiting (airport, hotel, businesses, restaurants, etc) then I can use the built-in GPS with those maps to be sure I'm headed in the right direction. I've corrected cab drivers a couple times when they "missed" a turn.

It does require some work on the front end (even more than writing down the address), but the peace of mind it gives me while in a cab in the rain is priceless.

I grew up in Penang. It was awesome. Arguing with taxi drivers about the fare was the best part. Buses are even more sketchy, you pretty much have to hope that they come.

Hilarious! Perhaps your best post ever. Happens to the best of us. Once in Paris, the taxi driver took me to Le Meridien, as opposed to Le Marriott. It was totally my fault as I was trying to show off my French speaking skills and got the accents all wrong, thus turning a Marriott into a Meridien.

See. I told you not to hotel hop! ;D

Those aggraviating, and sometimes scary, experiences are what makes travel so much fun!! Imagine when you are actually 38 and saying to your kids "Let me tell you about the time in KL....." you will really love all the craziness.

Enjoy!!!

Cab drivers are notorious in big cities. I bet you have no experience in Cairo, after which you will never complain.

God, I love Asia for stuff like this.

Cab Drivers Gone Wild? I don't think it will take off as a successful spin-off to GG Wild.

Dude, you ain't seen nothing till you've been in a Hanoi cab and watched the meter just start skyrocketing faster than our national debt!

I carry my Garmin GPS (backcountry model) with me. You can find OpenSource maps for much of the world, and even if you don't have a local map, you can still watch the 'bread crumbs' on the screen and make sure you're not going in circles.

No way I would go to the developing world without a GPS -- and no, phone-based GPS's don't count. You want something that will let you set waypoints so that you can always get back to your hotel, airport, car, etc.

If you're going to explore the developing world, this is the way to go.

What is FML?

@John. According to Urban Dictionary, there is a small chance that FML means 'Fix My Lighthouse'....

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fml

Wait until you go to Cairo. THAT is fun.

After traveling throughout Asia, I'd have to say that the drivers in KL are the worst. Haven't been to Egypt, so I can't comment on what others have said, but the last cab ride I took in Malaysia consisted of the driver knocking off the side mirrors of three different parked cars, clipping a motorcyclist and then demanding a tip for "speedy service".

38 is your waist size?

Cabs in KL usually will quote a price about 2-3x normal else take a roundabout route.. though it's all fairly cheap still. Best advice I got - get a card from the hotel with a small map and directions in the local language.. else get them to write out in the local language the address of the place. That usually works.. although sometimes even if they know where to go you'll still may be taken a longer route.. gotta add the 'American tax.'

I had to look up FML also... thought it stood for 'Family Medical Leave'...

Lucky's not the nautical type, so I don't think the lighthouse one applies, though his posts are a beacon to many of us.

Just try finding a cab that will go by the metered rate in KL. So frustrating...