The filming continues like wildfire and it’s been absolutely amazing meeting so many people, both visitors and residents alike, with their informative and interesting opinions on Romania and life here in this unique country.

Sadly, one of the people we interviewed brought up a problem I’ve heard many times before, which is that taxi drivers in Bucharest (the capital) often tend to be crooks, scam artists and rip off or “sting” visitors to this country, especially those who don’t speak the language.

While I’ve never been ripped off by a Bucharest taxi driver, I have had many angry confrontations with them. Some of them are quite surly and refuse to take you somewhere if they don’t “like” where you want to go. Others have made mean-spirited comments about people from other parts of Romania. Still others have argued about which route to take, even when I’ve specified it.

I’m not sure what can be done about it but it’s a real tragedy that often the first people a visitor to Romania meets IS their taxi driver, and so many of them present a bad face to this country.

Filmed a couple of days ago, below is Kieren (sp?) from England, describing his experience with taxi drivers in Bucharest:

If you’ve read my book, you know how to avoid any problems or scams with riding in taxis. For those of you who haven’t read my book (bad! :P), here is my post from over a year ago on how to have a safe, pleasant and trouble-free journey in a cab here in Romania.