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Rickshaw update

I said in an earlier post that I was determined to hail a rickshaw in London, just to see how it all worked. Well, tonight was the night. I went up to a ricky rank near Aldwych and asked the price to Waterloo station.

The guy asked if it would just be me travelling. The smart-arse answer would have been "No, I have a party of OAPs just around the corner that I'm accompanying on a tour. I asked them to hide temporarily, just to confuse you. Can you seat 31?" Instead, I simply confirmed that it would be a solo journey.

He told me it would be £12.

When I expressed the view that this was a tad steep for a route that I could walk in ten minutes, I was given a lesson in haggling worthy of an induction to a Moroccan souk.

Him: "How much do you want to pay?"

Me: "Er... I think I'll leave it thanks...."

Him: "£8?"

Me: "No, er.. it's ok..."

Him: "£6?"

At this point, I did a runner. And got there faster than he probably would have done anyway.

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