Taxi and other Major Ripoff's
Irish Lad,
You are absolutely right. There are many " independent " ripoff taxi drivers, sometimes charging 5 to 10 times the fare depending on how confused the foreigner/külföldi ( as translated into Hungarian) appears to be.
By far the most efficient, cheap and honest taxi firm is Citytaxi. Beckitt's only call Citytaxi and that is the taxi you used in your first trip. Their number, if using an international mobile is +36 1 211 1111. Their operators speak perfect English.
Whilst writing about ripoffs, there are 2 golden rules in Hungary. Do not buy girls drinks in topless bars, ( in fact I would advise staying clear of most of them, accept Marylins, which is more American style with regular prices ) and do not be persuaded by any girls on Vaci utca, the main walking street, to go with them to a bar. This is a scam and there are many accounts of foreign men being charged between $500 - $1000 for drinks with these ladies. When arguing over the bill " security arrives " to accompany you to a cash machine. This warning has been written about many times. ( Forest, because of your worldlywise experience, you had a lucky escape ). Check out this advice from the US Embassy in Budapest, in case you think I am exaggerating.
[url]http://www.usembassy.hu/conseng/announcements.html#advisory[/url]
Budapest is generally safe and you can have a good time and you can find really great and sexy girls. Just follow the above basic rules.
The best sex to be had is with girls you are able to pull yourself or from the reputable Escort Agencies, Forest has mentioned two of the best in my opinion ( for value and service ).
Forest, I really appreciate your reports. I look forward to your final installment!!
Dialing mobile phone numbers in Hungary
For me calling from Europe to Hungary we drop the 06 prefix. Jast dial the international country number (+36) and then the mobile number with out the 06 prefix. This works from all European countries I have tried, (Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Czech Republic).
Good luck
Diamond Club: Kidnapping, Extortion, and Assualt
After a positive recommendation from "User 2992" who said: "One correct club was the Diamond Club in Pest;" Big Nana and I decided we would see what a Budapest Strip club was like. I truly believe that USER 2992 must be a shill for the Diamond Club, or have his head so far up his ass that he is licking his own prostate, because here is what happened.
Outside was a big sign which said "FREE ENTRY". There was a posted menu showing beer for the equivalent of $10 (2000 florin), and Water for $5 (1000 florin). There were no other prices on the menu or disclaimers. It was OK, because there was a strip show going on inside. So we went in, ordered a beer and a water.
Immediately we were hit upon to buy lady drinks, but politely refused, saying we were just there for the show. The girls were persistent, but funny, but we were also equally persistent about no ladydrinks.
A couple of topless dancers later, when the girls were getting annoying, I asked for the check. It showed 58,000 florin ($280 US). That seemed a bit excessive for a beer and a water. We said 'No Way' and headed toward the door. You know what happened then. Two huge goons appeared, muscular, tall, heavy, bald headed, and dressed in black. They blocked the door, keeping us captive within.
A scary eyed hag of a bartendriss approached us, showing us the menu which said "50,000 florin minimum bill"; (the old classic menu switch). She was screaming at us to pay our bill. We refused, although I did hand her the 3000 florin we expected to pay. The thugs had the door completely blocked, and when we probed toward the door, they strengthened their resistance. The woman kept screaming, trying every ruse to break our stony resolve not to be ripped off. We just waited, standing by the door, smiling, occasionally telling them to let us go, occasionally probing the resistance of the goons. Another woman approached, tried to crack us by insulting our physiques, ethnicity and any other road to get our emotions to take over.
Actually, after about an hour of this, I could see the women becomming emotionally distraught as we stood there by the door, smiling and asking to leave. I could also sense a quiet respect growing with the goons, and the dancer girls, who were absorbed by the whole scene. There was no dancing going on, and Big Nana and I noticed that no customers were entering. He told the woman that we could stay here all night if necessary, but would not give in to their extortion demands. She told us that she was staying till 6AM anyway, but we could sense that it was going on a bit too long for her, and that they were missing out on other potential customers (victims).
An hour and a half into it, a third goon, who was fresh, arrived on to the scene. We continued to patiently ask to be let out, smile, probe the defenses and deflect the women's attempts to make us lose our mental equilibrium.
Finally she lost her emotional wits, spat at Big Nana's face (hey guys, he took one for the team), and in the commotion that ensued, he was able to crack the door open. Seeing this as our best chance of escape, he forced his way through, with me helping by pushing him out, and then I slid through as well. We scurried away to the next bar, where Big Nana washed his face and we asked them to call a cab for us; our adventure was over.
There was just no way in hell we were going to let them rip us off.
In the debriefing we had afterward with each other, we realized a couple of things. First, it didnt seem that they were going to hurt us. They could have beaten and robbed us at any time. Probably they are allowed by the cops to shake down customers as long as they don't beat the crap out of them. With that as a given, our strategy of being patient, unemotional, unwavering won in the long run. Even though they said that they had all the time in the world, it was we who had more time than them to wait it out. However, had we laid a hand on them, to get out, the result would have probably been broken bones and empty pockets for us. Non-violence confuses those bastards.
All our other experiences in Hungary were great. Use the Tutti Fruity Party magazine and call the ads.
Peace out.