How to get a taxi for dummies

Today I felt in the mood of writing about Yangon taxis. And it's simply because I met a super nice taxi driver. But all from the start.

So transportation system here sucks. There is a kind of system of public buses and trucks, but first of all they all look awfully dirty and crowded, second - bus numbers and route names are written in Burmese, so it makes it difficult to figure out where does the bus go. Third, there is no really a schedule for the buses. The only advantage of the bus - it's cheap. 10 times cheaper than taxi. Costs about 100 - 200 kyat which is 10-20 USD. Average taxi ride is about 1,5-2 USD and more depending on the distance. 

Busy junction next to my office. 

Anyway, being white European and having more or less decent salary I can afford to go by taxi. They are much better than buses; nevertheless still quite dirty and without airco. Sometimes it feels that the car will fall apart :) But people say that since couple of years situation improved and more new taxi cars operate. 

Taxis are everywhere. They drive around the city in search for clients since there is no service of taxi on call. You simply go out on the street and get one. You rarely need to wait more than 3-5 minutes. Maybe longer during the night sometimes.

Taxi drivers love foreign looking people - because those are mostly tourist who don't know the real price for a taxi ride. Locals expect all white foreigners to have money therefore they don't feel guilty so much to ask for a higher rate. Since taxis do not use meter (although it's installed in most of the cars) they can charge whatever they want. And if you don't know how to bargain you will be ripped off.

Since we arrived in Yangon, we learned some ground rules on how to get cheaper taxi. Especially when you need to use taxi everyday for work or going out. 

Rule #1 Never look too desperate 

Just walk along the street as you don't need a taxi at all. Taxis will start honking trying to get your attention. Which means they ARE desperate to get a customer. You need to approach those. Or you can approach a taxi which is parked. They are lazy to search for customers and won't be too stingy.

Rule #2 Be specific

Know where you go. Preferably have an address written in Burmese or have a Google map ready. Taxis do not have GPS so they need to understand where the place is. Sometimes it helps to know a famous place in the area where you go - landmark, or shopping mall, or hotel, even school. 

Rule #3 Do not be too fancy

If you want a cheaper ride do not approach fancy looking cars. If the car is new or has airco, most probably the driver will ask for more. If your ride is just 10 min you don't need all that - open window will be sufficient enough to survive the heat :)

Rule #4 Know your price and always bargain

Before going for a ride ask your friends how much that kind of ride will cost. It's important to know the price in advance so then you know what is a real value for the ride. Usually taxi drivers will ask at least 500 kyat higher than normal price, or even 1000 kyat. 

Before getting into the car ask How much is for the ride? They will tell you their price and then you will tell yours. If they don't agree to the price, just say you're not interested and pretend to walk away. Be firm in telling your price, otherwise they will see you hesitation. In 90% of the cases they will agree on your price once they see you leaving. Otherwise you can always wait few min for the next car :) 

Important to note that during rush and night hours the price will be usually slighly higher. You can try to bargain, but it will be really difficult. 

Rule #5 Be fair

Do not go with your price too low - drivers will feel cheated too and just drive away. Burmese people are proud. Besides, you will most probably never ever get a local price unless you go with a local person. 

Rule #6 Have exact payment

It's important to have small money with you as sometimes the drivers do not have change or pretend not to have one :)

So that were the rules we've created from our own experience and they do work. We still didn't try the bus though... Hopefully soon we will have enough courage :) 

Ah yes, today for the first time I met a very nice and polite taxi driver. The car looked clean and new. When I asked him how much he charges, he told 'How much you can give'. I told the normal price I pay and he agreed without hesitation. The car inside was clean too, no airco though. But the music was very lovely and I made him a compliment about it. The driver seemed to be happy. Apparently there are exceptions to the rules :)