$40 Pigeon lunch, Uzbekistan
My last day in Uzbekistan squeaks by without police run-ins, but I´m not spared from a little excitement at lunch. Jeff, an Ohioan staying at the same guesthouse as me head off to old town to find a place to eat. We hear you can show up at lunchtime and families will offer to feed you a traditional meal for a couple bucks. Sure enough, two guys are waiting and seconds later we´re sitting down in a quiet courtyard house under a plum tree. The food that comes out is exceptional. Plov (pilaf) with salted pork medallions and sausage stuffed pigeon is a welcome surprise. I´m expecting simpler fare.
Then the bill comes and the meal costs $40. Realize that most meals here cost less then three dollars so this price is so absurd we just laugh in his face. Usually these kind of strategies are used to extort half or even a quarter of the asking price, but this guy seems adamant about the $40. I´ve only got $10 on me. We decide that $4 each seems fair. It was great food and this is double what you would usually pay for a meal.
We get up, head to the door which they are starting to close, and elbow our way to the street. Jeff offers them the 10,000sum but they won´t take it and he sets it down on the ground. We start walking away but these rather big dudes block our way. It finally ends with us screaming mileetsya (police) loud enough for the neighbors to take notice and the guys get embarrassed and give up.
This is a trend I´ve seen a couple times in the ‘stans. Some people who still have a communist outlook see foreigners as walking millionaires, so a $40 lunch is absolutely nothing to us, as if we´re totally oblivious to prices in their country or even our own. I´ve never paid $40 for a lunch in any country.
A taxi driver who delivered me 15km from the Almaty airport to my hotel tried to charge me $90. I hit the hoof and was so angry I wouldn´t give him more than $15. If he had asked for $40 or $50 like I was expecting he might have pried $20 or $30 out of me. But when the first price is so out of line I want to give him nothing.
If the lunch had cost $20 we´d still be a bit sticker shocked but more likely to pay half rather than the $4 he got out of us. Capitalism is a tricky business and obviously after 16 years many folks have a lot to learn.
Tags: Eurasia: Marco Polo-in' it, Uzbekistan
Administrator
You are a smart tourist!
I was picked a terrible price in each place.
They exploit the foreigner who is faintheartedness.
Your resolute manner is excellent.
Please continue a trip with care.