It's late and I don't feel like writing much, but I just had the most interesting taxi experiences. So here I am at 9:30 on a school night sitting here writing instead of sleeping. Yes, I understand 9:30 doesn't seem late, but when one wakes up at 5:20 anything past 9:00 is pushing it. I would dare to challenge anyone who might say otherwise.
I went to a friends house tonight and as it got late I asked her portero to order me a taxi. I waited a few minutes in the lobby and before I knew it my lovely yellow cab pulled up. As I walked to the car, the taxi driver had reached his hang back and opened the door for me. I smiled. I got in the taxi and told him the neighborhood I lived in and what my building was called. He knew the general location, so off we went.
At this point everything is still normal. He cuts right at the Mimos ice cream shop (a shortcut I've become acacquainted with) and began to snake left to my road when all of a sudden we realized the road was blocked. What? Oh, no big deal, just a street dance on a Tuesday night. Seems like reason enough to close down the one way street we needed. Only in Colombia. The next block up was a parallel street, but it was a one-way going the wrong direction. So what does my taxi driver do? Turn around? Nope, too logical. Instead he puts the car in reverse and starts going backward down the one way street. Ha! He looks at me and tells me "Pretty interesting ride, right reina (queen)?". I just laugh and turn around to make sure no cars are coming. Coast is clear and we're still driving in reverse. We get to the next intersection and he asks me if my building is down that road. Nope. Next he whips the car around and declares, "Screw it. We're going backwards down the one way."
Reality check: he didn't really say screw it. I don't even know how to say that in Spanish...maybe I'll ask my kids tomorrow. Either way, he did turn us around and we zoomed up the one way.
Before long the street turned back into a 2 way and we were in the clear. Ha! Awesome. That street dance has nothing on daring taxi drivers! Well, I gave him directions to my apartment and not long after I arrived safely in front of my building. Getting out I just grinned. What a great way to end the night. He charged me the standard $4800. I paid him $5000 and told him to keep the change. He told me he'd enjoy a nice cup of coffee!
Taxi rides prove to be interesting in Colombia.
I went to a friends house tonight and as it got late I asked her portero to order me a taxi. I waited a few minutes in the lobby and before I knew it my lovely yellow cab pulled up. As I walked to the car, the taxi driver had reached his hang back and opened the door for me. I smiled. I got in the taxi and told him the neighborhood I lived in and what my building was called. He knew the general location, so off we went.
At this point everything is still normal. He cuts right at the Mimos ice cream shop (a shortcut I've become acacquainted with) and began to snake left to my road when all of a sudden we realized the road was blocked. What? Oh, no big deal, just a street dance on a Tuesday night. Seems like reason enough to close down the one way street we needed. Only in Colombia. The next block up was a parallel street, but it was a one-way going the wrong direction. So what does my taxi driver do? Turn around? Nope, too logical. Instead he puts the car in reverse and starts going backward down the one way street. Ha! He looks at me and tells me "Pretty interesting ride, right reina (queen)?". I just laugh and turn around to make sure no cars are coming. Coast is clear and we're still driving in reverse. We get to the next intersection and he asks me if my building is down that road. Nope. Next he whips the car around and declares, "Screw it. We're going backwards down the one way."
Reality check: he didn't really say screw it. I don't even know how to say that in Spanish...maybe I'll ask my kids tomorrow. Either way, he did turn us around and we zoomed up the one way.
Before long the street turned back into a 2 way and we were in the clear. Ha! Awesome. That street dance has nothing on daring taxi drivers! Well, I gave him directions to my apartment and not long after I arrived safely in front of my building. Getting out I just grinned. What a great way to end the night. He charged me the standard $4800. I paid him $5000 and told him to keep the change. He told me he'd enjoy a nice cup of coffee!
Taxi rides prove to be interesting in Colombia.
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