28 August 2006 - dodgy taxis in La Paz

We have just got home from 5 weeks in Peru and Bolivia with some advice for others.

When you get off the bus in La Paz don't get in any friendly taxis.... particularly if the driver starts talking about the weather and where you have come from and how long you have been in Bolivia. Our taxi driver pretended to be confused as to where he was driving, going round the block a few times and asking people if the road was closed. Then he got out to inspect his tyres, before picking up a Mexican woman who wanted to go to the bus terminal. Then two minutes later he had a phone call and started asking the women if she had her passport. Within another minute some brown suited Bolivian with mirror glasses comes to the window and gets her to move into the back with us. He then shows us some fake police ID card and tells us he is looking for tourists involved with drug smuggling, particularly any French people.... of course by this point the taxi driver had got his memory back on how to drive further than round the block and we were taken out of the town centre and off into the night. When the fake policeman started to loudly sniff everything in the womans bag looking for cocaine we would have loved to laugh at the stupidness, but we were slightly scared that he may also have a weapon ready to use on us. So we went along with his questions but refused to show him our passports, instead giving him a photocopy to look at. I also let him look in my bag, although told him we had no money in there, which he stupidly missed when searching through my sunglasses, crisps and sketchbook. He even made some funny comment about my lunch and nice sunglasses. When he started insisting that we get our credit cards out to show him, we managed to convince him that we had lost them, and needed to look in our bags in the boot. This would have been our chance to escape as the taxi driver opened the boot and we had all our stuff there ready to run. But there was nowhere to run to... so we got back in the taxi and did a lot of staring at each other trying to communicate our new plan. However my husband finally came up with a good one, and when the fake policeman eventually got a credit card off me to type the number into his mobile phone, my husband starting shouting to be taken to the police station. Within seconds they stopped the taxi, opened the boot and we ran out grabbing our bags and off down the street. The next taxi by had me running out in front of it shouting the name of our hotel... and although he thought we were dodging paying the last taxi, a quick look out our s./20 note convinced him to take us back into town. We were not sure if the woman was in on it all with the two men, as she looked pretty scared too, but we would like to think she was. It was too much of a coincidence that she was there with us. It has definitely taught us a lesson about spending too long travelling and then trusting everyone you meet. If it happens to you then shout out the windows for the police before the men can drive you out of the city, never give them your passports and credit cards. and never let another passenger into the taxi.