Robbery, Guatemala City
Trip Start
Oct 06, 2006
1
33
76
Trip End
Sep 14, 2008
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
After leaving Mariela´s family I went back to Antigua, Guatemala which has become a place that is easy to fall in love with for its beauty and cultural richness. After being back for two days I had to go to the Immigration office in Guatemala City to extend my 3 month visa which had already expired. Mariela told me that I should take one of the organized tourist shuttles to get from Antigua to Guatemala City but I figured that taking the bus would be just as good and only 1/5th of the price of one of these tourist shuttles. Her concern was the safety of taking a trip in the so-called ¨Chicken Buses¨ which are basically old yellow school buses that have been shipped or driven down from the United States after there wasn't any use for them anymore in the US. In Central America, these buses are the blood that runs inside and between cities and get people to even the most remote places. They are beautifully painted, decorated, modified, and painted and sometimes really have their own character, especially when Salsa, Bachata, Merengue or Cumbia music is blasting through the sound system (which seems to be the most up-to-date component of the bus usually). They are called chicken buses because you can often find chickens among other live stock sitting right next to you or under your seat, or maybe even above you :-). The concern with these buses is that they get robbed at times, i.e. armed robberies are not too uncommon from the stories I have heard, or you can just get pick-pocketed by someone on the bus. Of course it's not as bad as it sounds in all the buses, but it happens. That's exactly what happened to me! I was aware of the dangers but still didn't manage to protect my belongings well enough. Without me noticing anything (obviously) one of the passengers, probably the lady sitting right next to me during the 30 minute ride on the way back from the city, cut a nice hole into my jeans about where my right front pocket ends (see pictures), then cut inside the little sack and took out my credit card. Incredible! I have deep pockets so I figured if someone was to enter my pocket to take out my stuff I would notice it, but who would have thought that someone comes from the outside and cuts into my pocket - most likely with something super sharp. My jeans are by no means thin and you'd have to be skilled to do this without getting any attention, but the bus was super crammed with 3 to 4 people sitting in a row where normally 2 school kids sit, so being squeezed tightly between two people, I just didn't notice it. Doh!
Anyways, getting robbed wasn't a big deal and it's something I figured would probably happen at some point. So I called my bank and cancelled my card about 2 hours after the whole thing happened and figured everything would be fine. The next day I check my statement online and guess what? Purchases for more than $975 have been made within 20 minutes of the robbery. Wow ... I couldn't believe it since I always thought Credit Cards were somewhat secure, but I guess not. The thieves figured that to test out my card they'd buy something for $5 at a Pizza Hut to make sure the card works and not raise suspicion, then they went to another fast food restaurant to buy something slightly more expensive, and finally went to some kind of electronics store to make two purchases over $500 and $400 respectively. I still don't know how they did it but they are professionals and it has taught me a lesson. Wear your money belt while traveling and be aware of your surroundings! To make a long story short, my bank gave me no hassles getting the money back because Visa as well as MasterCard protects you against unauthorized purchases. The most important thing is that I am glad nobody physically threatened or hurt me during this pick pocketing action.
Now, that you are a little warmed up after reading about the robbery ... I guess you are ready for the real deal of what has been going down. Stay put!
Comments
Credit Card check...
What is amazing in Guatemala considering the amount of robberies, is that goods and service providers are not required to check ID by the Credit card processing company. This is done all over Lat. Am. can't pay with a credit card if you do not show your passport. makes sense. In Guatemala, what makes sense along those lines is hard to come by.
I wouldn't want to carry my passport with me around Guatemala to show in case of a purchase. I am much more afraid of my passport being stolen then my credit card.