In Botswana I got caught speeding. I drove through a village. I didn't see any buildings to the left and right for 500m already and so I thought I must have missed a sign and accelerated. A few 100m later I rode around a bend and saw a police officer with a tripod and behind him the sign I was looking for. They stopped me and took my documents and demanded around 80$ for going 80 in a 60 zone.(Little fuzzy on the exact numbers, bear with me)

I claimed to not have that much money so the chief who was waiting in in his car with the AC on told me to go back into the village to withdraw cash. I did so, with an old card that didn't work, made sure that the bank employees noticed me and had a quick chat with them in case they knew the police, headed back to the check point and told them my story ofter hiding my excess cash in my luggage.

In the meantime they caught a pair of tourists with the same problem and so we formed a little convoy and headed to the police station.

There the haggling started. I made it clear that I can't withdraw any cash, and hinted that I would be open to alternative solutions to this problem. The chief seemed to be very pleased to pardon me in exchange for a small contribution(15$ maybe?) gave me a receipt, which I wanted in case something would come up when leaving Botswana, and after a heartily handshake I headed towards ZA.

In hindsight it was a dick move from me. I was speeding, I had the cash and even if I hadn't I could have withdrawn enough.

But at this point I was already to fed up with officials wanting some form of favour or another that I didn't want to give any money if I didn't have to.


Points where I sat around for a long time where some exchange of currency could have accelerated things:

- Entering and exiting Mauritania. For the entry from Morocco I was with 5 other people on bikes and we hired a fixer, still took hours to get the paperwork done, but we paid around 5$ each and would have been utterly lost without the fixer so it wasn't that much of a loss. When leaving towards Senegal we sat around a lot at the Mauri and Senegal side. I think one of the others handed over 10$ but I remember the at Zebrabar better to be honest.

- All of Nigeria. It started at a traffic police roadblock 25km after the border, lost around 90min there because apparently I should have shipped my saddle bags to Abuja instead of overloading my bike. They even arranged a guy with a mobile ATM. Besides the charge being bogus, that seemed sketchy to me so I refused to pay 100$. After the 90min one guy said that I could leave because the chief pardoned me. I went to the chief and gave him a firm handshake and thanked him enthusiastically for the Nigerian generosity. Then there were multiple other roadblocks where the "officials"(don't know if they even were officials, most didn't wear uniforms because they would get dirty) made it quite clear that the process could be shortened. On the outskirts of Abuja I ran into a military roadblock, maybe the 10th that day, and grew quite impatient. Because of that I didn't lick any boots as I usually did which angered an officer and so I had to unpack my bike and had my whole luggage searched. I then travelled towards Cameroon with Argo, he did the talking. We arrived at the Cameroonian border quite late and the officers didn't want to let us pass despite me negotiating in French. Argo took over and, in his words, started "talking African". We left customs within 5min.

- The Cameroon RoC border was interesting. The Cameroonian side wanted to buy my bike, the Congolese side wanted money. First the police, then immigration and finally some health inspector. I played dumb, smiled a lot and spoke worse French with every minute. It took me 90min I think, but I left without paying. It's noteworthy that the police took the least time to get past and in both subsequent attempts intervened on my behalf.

- DRC was a mess with all kinds of institutions. I was handed a DGM form around 5 times, and was charged either 50 or 100$. Every time I claimed that the ambassador said the formalities would be free of charge, and the last DGM officer didn't charge anything anyway. It worked, but I lost at least 30min each time. This is where I finally lost my patience with officials and became bolder with my statements, which led to the situation in Botswana.

After that it was rather smooth sailing.

Imagine the salary of those officials, and then the costs of living, this dosen´t match.
When I went into Kirgistan, I was welcomed by a bunch of special forces, fully masked with rapid fire guns, violently pushed into my chair when I wanted to leave. For not stopping at a stop sign which was covered by a bus, they even had a video of it. I only had a 50€ bill which was then gone. It tought me the lesson to always have a bribe purse. In Elista/Russia, I was asked by a police officer "do you speak english?" I said "yes", and he replied to himself in russian "but I don´t, dawai, dawai." When I crossed into Kazakhstan from Kirgistan, I had a german chocolat bar on top in my Top Case (which was always the first to be checked.) The fat one got greedy for it and stopped the slim one from searching me, as soon as I gave the chocolate bar to him.
In Marocco I was once given back the 30€ bribe, because of my heartwarming story about my time in North Africa as a child, which never happend. My french is excellent, it prevented me from paying a bribe on the same trip. But I don´t care if the fine, which I pay for mistakes I make goes into any private pocket. It´s an individual thing, whenever your violating the traffic laws, feel free to pay the just fine, even if it goes into the private pocket...why does anyone want to be the teacher of those people, without knowing the whole story. Maybe he has no other choice, or has to take the chance. If you run a navigation system, you´ll have a proof of your v-max (put the reset button in sight ;-) )if you have an action cam (not even running), you just tell them you have a video of the last half hour. It worked everytime.

It´s easy maths: Corruption will vanish as soon as the officials get enough wages for their living, but then we will have to pay the same prices for everything as at home. In Albania a judge in Tirana owns around 700 €, a flat will cost 400 - 500€...
So here is may plead to every traveller: please do not intend to teach the locals what is right and what is wrong, without knowing thr the whole story, no one likes that not even a welsh ;-) and it´s the same all over the world. The secret is blending in, even if you have a different opinion...just my 2 cent.

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KurvenfiebersReisen.blogspot.de

Oh yeah, I know what you’re talking about: I lived the same situations in Central Asia, but the funny fact was that they always trying to get money not from me, but ALWAYS from the guy I was traveling with. Next time there I will surely be alone, and I’m curious to know what they will do with a solo female traveller.

An interesting question for sure. When I've traveled with women I've always noticed that the pickpockets ignore them and come straight for me--not sure whether that's based on an assumption that as the male I'll be in charge of carrying all the money, or maybe it's squeamishness (or fear) about touching a woman.

Any other insights into this?

Oh, you already have been ill in Central Africa or Asia? No doc will have a look at you before you pay the bribe, then better die and not pay?
I have first hand insight in the efforts of getting rid of the corruption in Albania. If noone pays the bribes for the judges, they won´t be able to afford their life, what happens next: there will be no more judges, and if this happens corruption will be be bigger than before. Every week they kick out at least one judge or high rankinking official. How do you know the next one isn´t as corrupt as the kicked one? The present situation is, that there are regional parliaments which cannot work, because of a lack of members (they are all kicked out). Note that corruption is more than mere paying money for someone to do the job. Your onsight is very "black and white" and lacks of knowledge. "a lot of opinion, for this litte knowledge!"

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KurvenfiebersReisen.blogspot.de

Maybe you simply have no idea what corruption means. Or how a nation should work without officials...this is nonsense. Maybe have a look at nations without much corruption to understand better. The income must match the prices for living, if there´s no balance, the doors for corruption are open. and yes, you can´t teach the locals about corruption, but that´s what you suggest by not paying bribes at all. And for doctors to have a look at you, you first have to pay an "entry fee" in many countries. No matter what insurances you have. Most insurances pay your bills after you paid them on the spot, most doctors, hospitals or other medical services don´t accept a payment by any insurance, they just don´t want to have all the paperwork, this also happend to me in the U.S. And you pay just to be accepted as a patient, not in the EU or US, but in many other countries. The medical service is extra, you don´t seem to have much experiences with this topic. I do! So please don´t give advice about it. And absolutely YES to avoid paying bribes if possible.

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KurvenfiebersReisen.blogspot.de

I very much agree with NA's sentiments. Over many years, I've ridden many miles in many countries and only recall paying a bribe once: Peru in 2001. Speeding (95kmh in a 35 zone... ) Guilty as charged! Paid 12usd sin factura instead of the much larger amount con factura. Another time in Kazakhstan the cnutstable wanted payment for no reason too. I wasn't in a good mood and told him and his mate they were fat pigs and should get some exercise. Luckily neither understood English.

Imho, it helps to have a chilled outlook, avoid believing the hype (ultra extreme hardcore adventure ring antenna etc...) on social media and take the trail/road less travelled. Also smile a lot (not always possible) if you do actually get stopped. In Latin America do try the "no fumar Espanol" line (without laughing!!).

I'm going try being a deaf/mute next time some excuse for a human in uniform stops me if I haven't genuinely committed any misdemeanor.

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CURRENT RR WITH REGULAR UPDATES: The Wife Takes on Chlamydia: A South American Retrospective

I believe that being asked for bribes depends a lot on your look and attitude... I've not been travelling everywhere (far from that) : I've been a few times to north africa and central asia. When travelling, I don't really look like the rich westerner : 2 months beard, same shirt for a week, a shower once in a week and so on... In areas with a fair amount of foreigners, I guess I look like a hard job in comparison to other travelers (and I try to be). As a result, I've really rarely been asked for money.
Compare that to a middle-aged swiss couple I met in Kirghizstan : They drive a rental land cruiser (just the two of them in it, a rare sight in the Pamir!), they are clean, they got all the brand new gear and look impressed by every man in a hat they see... If I was to ask for bribes, I'll go straight to them, not for the broke looking bearded dude who smile like a retard.

I doubt my look is my only safe-conduct : I try to be nice to the officers (after all, they are just doing their jobs), shake their hands, never refuse to give a cigarette when asked (even though I quit smoking, I keep a pack for this purpose) and ask them questions about them (If they are from the area, if they like it here, if they know my home country, etc...)

Anyway, I think we can all agree that smiling and playing dumb is the basic here !

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The best way to deal with bribery is to hope no one sees you taking the money, shove in in your back pocket and get the hell out of Dodge.

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Hear the challenge, learn the lesson, pay the cost.

I've heard this before, but I'm not sure I agree.

I think to another Westerner you probably do look like 'a broke looking bearded dude', just barely getting by and not worth trying to steal from.

But I suspect that to the local Mexican, Peruvian or Tajik, you look like a person who doesn't need to work, who doesn't ever worry about getting enough to eat, and who seems to be free from the yoke of their government. A person who, when things get bad, can just go to the airport and fly away.

Everywhere I go, I smile a lot. People think I'm friendly and approachable- but I know they're looking at my teeth and thinking I'm rich because my teeth are in good shape. They're looking at my motorbike and thinking about how much it must cost.

At home I'm not a rich man, but out in the world, no matter how I dress, and where I eat: people know that I've got a lot more than they do.

............shu

Yup. There may be a marginal differences between how one or another of us is viewed, but basically we're all rich outsiders. The local people know it, and they're perfectly correct.

I've seen ratty Western tourists mobbed by crowds of scammers and touts, while others are left alone. The people who hassle you (or don't) are responding to your comfort, confidence, and ability to withstand their pressure--not to how you're dressed or what kind of bike you ride. A flicker of uncertainty in the eyes is all the signal they need.

That's been my experience, anyway--both as the object of hassles and as an observer. As a teenager I learned how to project a kind of confidence which kept me safe on the street in New York; as an adult, I learned how to do that in different countries and cultures. I used to look like prey, but now, when I've actually got a lot more to lose, I apparently don't.

But: YMMV.

Mark

You guys are absolutely right : even if I really want it, I'll never be able to blend in when traveling overland. I do look like the guy that has money and doesn't need to worry or whatever compared to the locals. But, in comparison with other travelers, I'm sure I don't. What I say is : I try not to be the easiest and most profitable guy to steal from. Thtat's why I emphasized "in comparison". And I feel like the attitude is a big part of this as well.
I try to be as hard of a target as I can when it comes to bribery. Wasting their time and smiling and not understanding while being kind is what I do. It is not failproof tho. Especially if they have nothing else to do and no other easier prey in sight !