I have to admit that I probably take too many taxi journeys in Hong Kong. And the only justification I really have is that they are a very easy and cheap way to get around town. I know that they are not the most environmentally friendly alternative – although even in Hong Kong there are now a few Prius taxis, and that they clog up the highway but I still take them.
They work and that’s very important. And not only that, as I have discovered taxi’s are a great way of learning a bit about a different culture.
Like taxi’s all over the world the way the Hong Kong system works remains a mystery to me. Why for instance does a taxi driver need 6 or more phones on the dashboard? Apparently to make sure that they can give a personal number to a preferred client who can call them directly. I suspect no client is ever going to know that someone else is also using the same number but that’s Hong Kong for you.
I am fortunate to live in an area where local taxi drivers tend to park overnight. Great news in the morning if you get your timing right. Hint, leave at 7 to 730am. Get it wrong and you can be waiting for a while. Just don’t think about trying to get a taxi at 4pm as this is shift change time.
And if you’re in Hong Kong I’d really recommend you download the Hong Kong Taxi App which is an absolute lifesaver.
Oh and sit in the back.
In Sydney however sit in the front. It took me a long time to work out why when I got in a taxi the front seat was pushed so far back. Coming from the UK where you actually can’t sit in the front of a black cab I’m afraid I always sit in the back. Which in Sydney is the wrong thing to do. For some reason the driver wants company; and wants to talk to you. Now taxi drivers in London are known for being talkative but I’m afraid are just not in the same league as in Sydney – and I never thought I would say that. So be prepared to talk. And being new to the country and not knowing anything about local politics/sport/celebrities/weather etc. is no excuse for silence.
In Italy, where I have just come back from, sit in the back, put a seatbelt on and if I may suggest, a crash helmet and full body armor. Now I know stereotypes are dangerous but I have not been as scared in the back of a taxi for a long time, nor as close to the car in front. I thought we had actually got into the back of the car in front at one point. I wonder if you order your dents at the same time as you order your car to save the hassle of actually crashing into someone.
New York is of course a completely different experience. You either climb into the back of an old Ford Crown Victoria or the slightly newer Ford Escape. Remarkably both are rubbish which is quite an achievement. The Victoria has no suspension and the Escape (never was a name less deserved) has no room in the back. Literally no room, as the screen that is installed between the front and the back takes up all the room. Cutting your legs off is the only way to fit. And both taxi’s come with a driver who will almost certainly have no idea where you are or where you want to go. In a city like New York that is largely a grid pattern it is a mystery how authorities manage to find so many people with no sense of direction. I really think I should have been paid by the driver in some cases.
However the prize for the best taxi service goes to (drumroll please) Bangalore.
I suspect some might be surprised by this choice but let me elaborate. As service goes picking my bags up from the front desk of the hotel isn’t that uncommon. Nor is getting my cases out of the back when we arrived at the airport. What was slightly unusual was the insistence of the taxi driver to accompany me to the check in desk, and then thru security, and then thru the gate and onto the plane, and finally waving goodbye only after providing me with a glass of champagne. And then only accepting what the meter showed.
Taxi’s teach you something about a country and its people. If you want to know more get a bus. But that’s a whole different story.
Let me know your taxi experiences
The Burble 
