okay it was my first day in Colombo, Sri Lanka. I'd just left my hotel in the
Colombo Fort area and I'm out doing a wee bit video blogging, when this happened.
No not the Chinese posing for photos, that's pretty normal.
I'm talking about the beggar that's in front of me. He shouts something as he
sees me coming. How are you sir. Now as I walked past them you can see a
man and a red polo shirt walking in the opposite direction. As soon as I pass him
he does a sharp U-turn and gives a thumbs up to the beggar, who doubt has just
alerted him to my presence. So, unaware to me at the time, he starts
following me. I walk pretty fast so I know if somebody's walking at the same
pace as me it's no coincidence, that guy wants something. So I'm out exploring with a
general direction in mind of where I want to go and I think I'll turn round this
corner. Oh and so does he. I think I'll change my mind and cross this road.
Oh and so does he. So I run across the road. And so does he.
Yeah I'm fast it's no problem for me mate. I'm a fast one.
Anyway, I'd finished saying what I wanted to say to my GoPro and stop recording and put it down and
it was at that point that the fella started talking to me so I sneakily hit
the record button again and just kept the camera down at my waist so it didn't
look like I was filming because I kind of knew that this is going to be some
kind of scam or something like that. Nobody approaches a tourist in this
kind of manner, speaking perfect English like this it
just never happens without it being a scam so I kinda knew straight away
When you come to Sri Lanka, today? ah yes but I've been here before
Other side more beautiful. You go other side. Why? Take a photograph.
There's nothing there. There's more beautiful, uh? This place, Red Mosque, Tsunami Temple.
The Red Mosque, yeah I'll take a look, yeah. When you came Sri Lanka, today?
Today but I've been before. It's the second time. Ahhhh, Sri Lanka.
Okay, so he starts by asking if it's my first day in Sri Lanka and if I've been here before.
Basically what he's asking me is, "how much of a noob are you?" "How easy is it gonna be for me to scam you right now"?
Very beautiful. Go this one.
No I want to walk around this way. This way nothing here. It's OK, I just want to walk around, I have a lot of time.
So straight away he's enthusiastically trying to coax me in
some other direction by telling me about oh a beautiful temple that you need to
go and see. Unfortunately for him I'm not a sheep. I'm not that easily led and also
I'm not really interested and visiting some random temple. I mean I've seen
enough temples in my life that I could easily go the rest of my life without
ever seeing another one and being quite happy about it.
If you told me there was a place over there giving away free ice
cream, or there's a place where really hot girls hang out or there's a
retro Nintendo Museum or something like that he may have got my interest but
some temple, nah, not interested mate.
Where you stay? Where do I stay?
In Galle Face road. Ahh, you second time Sri Lanka.
Yeah, second time, yeah. And you? What's your job here? In the port harbour. Port harbour?
What you doing there? Container discharging loading, discharging loading.
Ahh, okay, you do this all day, yeah? Yeah today I'm on leave.
Ahh because it's Saturday, uh? Saturday off day.
So I asked this guy "what is your job here?" and he's trying to tell me
that he works at the port in some kind of labour job, loading and unloading
containers or something like that some kind of job where the effort is really
high but the pay is really low and he likes to spend his one day off per
week, not resting, not at home with his family but wandering the streets of
Colombo approaching tourists with his perfect English. Yes, the story does not check out.
You came how many years before? Before two years ago. I go to Ella, Hatton.
Hatton, Kandy and Negombo and Galle Negombo, I'm living in Negombo. You're living in Negombo? and you come
here for work every day, yeah? Every day yeah. Negombo is very good in the beach.
This, you're working here? Other side.
Ahh, okay, I'm going to walk this wat Nice to meet you, I see you next time.
You seen already Red Mosque? Yeah, I will see.
So right there I tried to get rid of him. I kind of let him walk ahead a little bit to see where he
was going and then I decided to cross the road to the right.
Ohhh, but still he's coming with me. Still he's following me.
This one Red Mosque. Yeah, I know.
Two years before, you came, you see new one?
What they changed it, they paint? Ohh, a new one.
Look this. Yeah I see.
Yes two years before make this already finished here. Okay, I walk there now.
You want to see Tsunami Temple? 2004 December 26th, tsunami came.
Yeah I know the tsunami, this very bad. Very bad, 3,900 people dying and the temple,
look at the biggest one, *something* temple.
So if this was a genuine interaction with a genuine Sri Lankan citizen
and they suggested that you should go and see some kind of
attraction and you just told them you weren't interested that would be the end
of part of the conversation. They wouldn't suggest it again but this guy he's
walking in the opposite direction of where he was originally going and follow
me through all the streets to try and convince me I have to go and see this
place. Yeah it's pretty obvious he's trying to lead me to something that's
gonna end up with me parting with cash.
Seen this temple. You never seen, never been to here?
No, first I will walk across to the Red Mosque.
You seen *something*, Buddhist temple? No.
Ah I don't I don't like to visit the temple, not interesting for me.
Not big on religion, so temple not really interesting for me.
Temple no interesting? Yeah, not interesting for me.
Okay, so he's engaging with me in a bit of chitchat about Sri Lanka and different places are good to
see but still he's trying to steer the conversation in the direction of
suggesting that this beautiful temple is a place that I must go and see despite
me outright telling him that I've got zero interest in temples.
Yeah I like the architecture, the old buildings
from the Portuguese and the Dutch and the British
They build some nice buildings in Sri Lanka, uh? Sri Lanka, yeah.
They build some nice-looking buildings. You go Dutch building, Dutch.
Yeah, the Dutch, they build the buildings 300, 400 years ago and still, still here
still here, not fall down after three, four hundred years. 300 years before, Dutch Church, 1749.
The Dutch Church. Dutch buildings good. Only Dutch.
You came, you want to see Dutch colonial building? Yeah, I see in Galle they have
many Dutch building everywhere, uh? Yeah that's a Dutch port, Galle is a Dutch port.
Yeah, yeah. And the Negombo, British people make Negombo.
Now it's hot sir. Yeah for me especially because I'm not from here.
Okay nice to meet you, I'm going to walk on my own. You go Tsunami Temple, Tsunami Temple
I'm going to walk to the Red Mosque now. Yeah okay, nice to meet you. You go Tsunami Temple, never seen?
Maybe later I go. Building, building. Maybe later I go. It was nice to meet you.
Okay nice to meet you, have a nice day.
Woah, woah, woah, woah.
okay so I finally got rid of him, but not without a desperate attempt from
him to try and convince me to go to see this Tsunami Temple. You can see the
desperation on his face there as he just has one last attempt as he knows that I'm
leaving. oh but you don't want to go see the Tsunami Temple, oh you Tsunami
Temple, Tsunami Temple, I don't care mate, I don't care, see you later.
Right, so that fella was walking with me for like 5 minutes.
But hey, that's not the end to the story. The fella,
look at him, behind me, he's on his phone now, and a tuk-tuk stops beside him
to pick him up. He didn't wave it down or anything
this tuk-tuk's just stopped and let him in and so basically that tuk-tuk's his
friend and that tuk-tuk must have been stalking us the whole time, like
driving behind us, like maybe like 10 meters behind just following us so
that's part of the scam.
So what is this scam? Well I did a bit of googling
afterwards and the only reference I could find to a Tsunami Temple in
Colombo was on somebody's blog saying that they got scammed funnily enough so
I've read that and the way it works is this. Okay, the scammer approaches the
tourists, and convinces them to visit the Tsunami Temple, this beautiful Tsunami
Temple that's nearby. His friend's in a tuk-tuk and he sees them and offers them
a free ride, because, he's offering it for free, why would you offered it for free?
oh because you want to go and see the memorial to our good people who died in
the tsunami, I'll take you there for free. So the scammer, the tuk-tuk and the
victims go to the Tsunami Temple, that ends up being like 15 minutes away, so
apparently not that nearby after all. Anyway it turns out just to be some
ordinary temple, not beautiful, just as beautiful as temples are. It's just
some ordinary temple that are ten-a-penny in Sri Lanka, you know. So the
victim spend like a couple of minutes there at best, don't take any photos and just ask
the tuk-tuk to drive them back to the Colombo Fort area so they get in
the tuk-tuk, they get back to Colombo Fort and that's
when the tuk-tuk starts demanding massive amounts of money from them.
Apparently all the only the ride to the temple was free, not the ride back so
that's the scam. The tuk-tuk's just giving up all this time
and everything and now he's asking for the money for taking him there and
knowing that it's probably their first day in Sri Lanka they don't know how much a tuk-tuk
costs, so he's asking for whatever, like $20, $30 I presume
anyway in the blog I read, the victims had an argument with this tuk-tuk and
just threw him a 500 rupee note and told them to take it or leave it so they
took it and they drove off shouting abuse at the victims, with their money in their
pocket, so there you have it, that's quite elaborate scam just to get an
overpriced tuk-tuk fare out of some victims. I feel like if these people can come up with such a
scam such an elaborate scheme that they can use that kind of ingenuity to create
some kind of entrepreneurial business, but I don't know, I guess they just find
it easier to be dirty scammers than entrepreneurs.
Well, congratulations scumbags.
You may earn an easy 500 or 1000 rupees now and again from some stupid
tourists but know this and know it clear, foreign visitors hate you, your own Sri
Lankan people despise you for disgracing their country.
So enjoy your life
of stealing from people for petty cash, for chump change, while being hated by
absolutely everyone. Enjoy that life, while it lasts, hopefully not for too long.
Okay, so please give this video a thumbs up, it'll help more people see
it and if only 1 person sees this and then avoids wasting their time and money on
this kind of scam then is worthwhile isn't it? So until next time guys please
consider subscribing more Sri Lankan videos are coming soon, but until next
time, cheerio for now and I will see you on
the next one.