The Tbilisi Taxi Debate

Judging a taxi by it's exterior to determine if you'll be overcharged is a topic of debate among local expats. Yesterday I took a very leisurely lunch with a journalist colleague and two bankers specialising in small loans and finance. From 'downtown' I selected a Mercedes taxi in the familiar cream livery of German taxis. The driver confirmed it was in fact an old German Merc taxi. Grinning at my expense when I uttered "Oh my God" as we drove towards oncoming traffic, the driver was of the normal Tbilisi driving school where speed rules and might is right. However, once we arrived at our destination - a screaming match began between my colleague and the driver. He refused to budge from charging 10 lari (about US$5) for the trip when normally about 7 lari would do and he wouldn't give back the right change. My colleague refused to leave the cab. I looked perplexed and felt a little inadequate that I couldn't mediate in Georgian. The cabbie then drove off with us still inside. 50 metres on he stopped and then appealing to me as a male, suggested with by some sort of jaw-like hand charade that my colleague was a greedy woman. And then in english said: "You not good girl." Apparently his behaviour confirmed suspicions that Mercedes taxi charge more. But the debate is still out among expats if the red Toyota taxis overcharge too or if it's just better to jump into one of the hundreds of ex-Soviet conveyances that pass themselves off for cars. Some taxis in Tbilisi would not look out of place in Mad Max.