True Stories: Ripped off in Montego Bay (Part One)
If you want to learn about True Stories, it’s tag and what it represents, then please see my previous post.
What you are about to read is a True Story, and everything has been kept intact with what my memory holds.
July 1998
Life was good and I was working a contract for Airtours, the tour company who subsequently became MyTravel, and then were eaten by Thomas Cook in 2007. We all know what happened to that company recently.
They needed to add some modems to a couple of airports for remote access purposes, one in Bridgetown, Barbados and another in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
I was unlucky enough to have been selected for the trip and sulkily agreed to 3 days in each resort with paid accommodation and food at the local Hilton hotels.
I insisted on 3 full days at each location for contingency purposes, and the company stupidly agreed.
Installing a modem was extremely complicated after all taking around 30 minutes to perform, end to end.
Things started badly with the administration clowns organising my trip sending me to Kingston by mistake; I arrived during early evening.
Source
The town I saw was a scary place of ruins, run-down shanty houses and what looked like gangs of thugs. I tried to keep a low profile huddled in the back of a taxi while being escorted to the Kingston Hilton for the night.
Is the place really that bad or did the driver take me through a particularly bad area?
The next morning after a short airplane journey north and over some mountains to Montego Bay, things went more smoothly, and I was soon in a hotel that was not a ‘Hilton' but somewhere east of the main town with a McDonalds in walking distance.
A Jamaican porter took my luggage in the lobby and while walking the stairs to my room tried to sell me some ‘ganja'. I figured this to be normal behaviour as the island does have a reputation but politely declined.
The same day I contacted the airport, jumped in a taxi and installed the modem. After contacting Airtours in the UK to make sure it communicated, all was good and well.
As I had estimated, it was 30 minutes' work and I was done with what I had come to do.
So there I was with 2.5 days left to kill. It was mid-summer, fantastic weather and the 1998 World Cup was culminating to its climax.
Brazil was to play France and I would be watching it sipping Pina Colada, and slung in a hammock while being paid!
There something quite unique about the sea in Jamaica; it’s a true green colour and I have never seen anything like it elsewhere in the world.
That afternoon I decided to take a walk through Montego Bay. I needed little money and so took just 20 US Dollars with me.
Currently, 1 USD is worth 234 Jamaican dollars but if I remember correctly USD is accepted pretty much everywhere. I had decided not to convert my USD to the local currency.
I was on business and though the business was finished and completed, what happened next could have turned out very differently had I chosen to go ahead with what I initially signed up for.
The image is still clear in my head. I was walking down a bustling street with a combination of tourists and locals when I was hailed by a young local dude.
He had an enormous smile, impossibly white teeth that were enhanced by the colour of his very dark skin and was well dressed.
The stranger almost ran over to me and held out his hand. Taken aback, I involuntary took the hand and shook it.
He hailed me into a nearby bar and I found myself buying drinks for both myself and this charismatic chattering being.
What we talked about I can barely remember, just that I could not keep myself from talking back, interacting and worst of all spending my US Dollars on beer that I didn't want to drink for both of us.
Things moved quickly and next minute, he was inviting me to visit his Ganja farm which was somewhere inland and away from the bustle of tourism.
‘There’s other tourists there’, he was saying. ‘Just not the masses you get in Montego Bay’. He managed to spin a tale on me that sounded great.
Jamaica was the home of Ganja, mix in a little reggae and relax, so why not?
We finished the drinks and he ushered me out of the bar straight into a car. Mobile phones were used in 1998 but were not mainstream, there had been no calls on his part so what fuck was happening?
I mean it was literally one foot out of the bar, next foot into the backseat of this car. Mr. White Smiling Teeth did not get in with me but closed the door firmly behind and the driver took off.
To be continued...
All images are cited and are free to use, or in the public domain.
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Died laughing at that.
Wrong move bro, unlike Negril or Ocho-Rios; MoBay and Kingston are not the type of places you want to go walking through, like New York City or Mexico for example; there are just some places you should stay in the tourist areas. In MoBay stay near the 'hip-strip' and in Kingston, anywhere outside of downtown is pretty safe. Shit, anywhere outside of downtown Kingston and in-town Montego Bay is safe in Jamaica provided it's not a dark lonely lane at night.
lol it's ~$134 bro, the highest it's ever been. Fairly stable recently too
Red flags, red flags everywhere bro... con artists dress (unusually) well and try that handshake inception globally :)
OMG. Sooo sorry!!!! Can't believe that happened, but you are here blogging with us now so I'm hoping this ends with a positive twist in the follow-up. In 1998 chances are they would have to hide Ganja tours but still that must of been scary AF.
Cheers bro, can't wait to hear the conclusion
!BEER
Thanks for the big reply. I was hoping someone would give me some answers, though most of the questions posed are in part 2.
MoBay I guess then was a tourist attraction but these days Negril is what I see in the glossy catalogues. Is it no longer a place to go?
I was young then and stupid. It wouldn't happen today even with the best of spells woven on to me.
The suspense shall now kill me. Thanks.
Ah.. apologies, the whole draft was over 2000 words. A little long for one post methinks. It is all ready.., the second part being longer than this.
Long form content is the wave of the future! I enjoy it.
I only have so many of these up my sleeve. Most of my life has been eternally boring, but I'll see what other snippets I can pull out of my head.
Some of my best stories from long ago just make look like a thug. I usually pick my more embarrassing moments to write about.
Thug stories sounds awseome, you can always twist them to so you don't look like the bad bad guy.
Jamaica can be a nice mix of aggressiveness and chill vibes. Staying tuned....
Would love to go back, only to see that sea again, it was lovely.
@slobberchops, Somethings happens in life which don't have any definition with it but it just happens. Stay blessed.
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I remember it well, some things don't leave my head very easily!
I remember it
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- slobberchops
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Good to know that. Have a great time ahead. 🙂
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Oh, to be continued, you bad bastard!!!
Ah yes.. apologies, but it was far too long for a single post. The good lady wont read it until I post part 2. She wont watch series either due to non-conclusive ends!
Hehe, I actually do like a good cliffhanger just totally wasn't expecting one!
I seem to do a lot of these lately, the thing is.. you start typing and before you know it there's 1000 words.., it's too long.. what do they say.. TL;DR.
Oh, I know that feeling!!!
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A. Got really high and missed your flight home
B. Got robbed and had to convince some driver to take you back to your hotel
C. You lost your 'viriginity'
D. All of the above
Your partially on the right track, but I wont tell... yet!
Can't wait for the next chapter.... :)
Yes, there's a little more to come. No spoilers... ;)
I do know for sure you survived ;)