Nlingenfel

Thank you for your post. All of these are important to keep us informed.

hunnym

Talk about blaming the victim! Not impressive.

Why does that always happen on this board? There always seem to be "I'm a better traveler than you" comments that emerge whenever someone is just trying to be helpful by cautioning others...

Thanks again, Royboy, for the heads up.

sylviam

My husband traveled to Russia one year while it was still under the old regime. Cabs would not pick anyone up at the airports because the drivers were paid regardless of working. Finally my husband secured a cab and the driver offered to exchange US dollars for him at a "great rate". Of course my husband thought he could use the extra Russian cash. When he went to purchase something at the hotel he was told that US tourists/business can only use US currency. He couldn't even get rid of the Russian currency so he left it for the maid.

Royboy

Oh, yes, in retrospect it was really stupid of me, to show my money. I had known that you should say that you want to go to the police station. All of that. And I felt some compassion for the accused man, who I felt I should support. But it was such a rush of anxiety, and in a rather remote area, that all of that was forgotten.
I am thankful that it was not much worse than it turned out to be.