Welcome to Shanghai.
Heading out of immigration after picking up my bags, I'm approached by a young woman in an airport uniform asking where I was headed to. She brings me over to the airport transport desk and arranges for a taxi ride into town. The taxi seemed expensive - but I was in a new place, and just wanted to get to my hostel and get settled.
Now the thing about Shanghai taxis is the drivers don't use GPS - they rely on having years of knowledge to get you to where you want to go. Which works reasonably well if you have a knowledgable taxi driver! My taxi driver took two hours to find my hostel - which is right next to a metro station. Turns out he wasn't very knowledgable.
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| Luckily it was a scenic ride. |
ProTip: Don't use the transport counter at the airport - just head out front to the taxi stand - or even better find the Metro system and catch the train or the Maglev into town. If you must use the transport counter, make sure you negotiate a fixed price first. My ride would have been ridiculously expensive if I was riding on the meter.
Pro tip: Never take a taxi ride from someone who approaches you in an airport :) Same all over Asia.
ReplyDeleteI would have thought it was safe to use the official airport transport desk. Same thing happened in Hanoi airport -> Airport desk quotes you 650,000VD for Shuttlebus, walk out door, ask driver, he quotes you 100,000VD. Bastards.
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