Con Artists: The Bane Of Travelers

I've been a regular international traveler since 2001, because my biggest passion in life is travel. Being a diplomat's son, I spent a large part of my childhood abroad (in Bulgaria, Bhutan, Yugoslavia and Austria), and that's probably what gave me the travel bug. Every year excepting 2002, I have traveled internationally and have covered close to 200 locations in over 40 countries and I have had amazing experiences exploring cities, cathedrals, palaces, castles, city streets, central squares, art museums and places of natural beauty. I have developed a keen interest in photography during my various travels, and I also enjoy collecting books on travel as well as souvenirs from the places I visit. In short, travel has been something that has really enriched my life and given me a purpose.

Though I have covered most continents, Europe has been a favourite travel destination, and over the years, I have managed to cover most countries in Europe. Despite Europe being very tourist friendly, traveling there isn't always without its share of risks. Travelers tend to be a little vulnerable, often not knowing the local language or where to go during times of trouble, and con artists can take full advantage of this. Though it hasn't dampened my enthusiasm for travel, I have had my share of unfortunate experiences which have shaken me up, but still not come in the way of my passion.

In 2004, I spent 5 days in Madrid, Spain. I absolutely loved the city. Highlights of my visit included the Prado Museum (with its amazing collection of paintings by El Greco, Rubens, Velazquez and Goya), the Reina Sofia Museum (which features Picasso's famous Guernica, depicting the horrors of the Spanish Civil War), Plaza Mayor (the city's main square), the Royal Palace and Almudena Cathedral. One evening, I came out of Almudena Cathedral, right in the heart of the city, and a man came and banged into me. He apologized, and I politely said it was no problem at all. Then another man came up to him, slapped him, and turned to me and said "I am a police officer. This man is a drug dealer. I saw him talking to you. You must be a customer. I must search you." For a moment, I got into a total panic. What if the man had slipped drugs into my pockets when he banged into me? I put my hands into my pockets and luckily, there was nothing. I breathed a sigh of relief and told him I had no drugs on me. He said maybe I had put the drugs into my wallet, so he would have to search my wallet. I opened my wallet and showed him there were no drugs. He told me to hand over my wallet so he could search it properly. I got suspicious and asked for his identification. He took out an ID card, which was another police officer's ID card. I said "You're not from the police. I am going to the police." In a moment, both men ran as fast as the wind and disappeared into the crowd. What a narrow escape that was! Their idea had been simple - I would hand over my wallet, and they would run!

In 2012, my wife and I spent 6 days in Lisbon, Portugal. It was a beautiful trip, and for me, the sites that really stood out were Jeronimos Monastery, Santa Engracia (the National Pantheon), the National Museum Of Ancient Art, the Tower Of Belem and the Monument To The Discoveries. On our last day in Lisbon, we had a nightmare of an experience. We went to the Santa Apolonia Railway Station to board an overnight train. We boarded the train half an hour before the scheduled departure time. We kept our big suitcases in the luggage rack at the back of the train. We were settling into our seats along with our small bags, when I saw a man removing one of our big suitcases from the luggage rack. I rushed towards him. He said in broken English that there seemed to be a hole in our suitcase and money was falling out. He then showed me a large number of 1 Euro coins lying on the floor. I was puzzled because that suitcase didn't have any of our money in it. He signaled to my wife and asked her to rush to us. Not knowing what the chaos was about, my wife started walking towards us. I realised she shouldn't be coming because all our small bags were on our seats. We both dashed back to our seats to make sure everything was OK. All of this took just about 5 seconds, and in those 5 seconds, my pouch disappeared, and with it went our passports, about 1,500 Euros in cash, my mobile phone, all my credit cards, our Eurail passes and my expensive camera lens!! The man vanished in a jiffy, and so did his accomplices. We went to the police station and filed a complaint, but nothing came of it. We had to cut short our trip after that incident. We went to the Indian Embassy and got Emergency Travel Certificates which allowed us to travel back to India. My wife's mobile phone and one credit card were not there in that pouch of mine, and those two things were life savers for us, because we had to spend a full day in Lisbon before we could get our act together and return to India. We came back to India, badly rattled! Of course, the following year, we were on our travels again!

Santa Engacia,
one of my favourite sites in Lisbon

In 2019, my wife, my five year old son and I spent 3 days in Sofia, Bulgaria. I had lived there for 2 years as a small child, so it was an emotional trip for me as I was there after more than 4 decades. Sofia exceeded our expectations in every way, and I really enjoyed visiting Alexandur Nevski Memorial Church, Church Of Sveta Nedelya, Church Of Sveti Sofia, the Archaeological Museum and the National Art Gallery, to name just a few of the attractions. After visiting the Central Market Hall, we walked to Sofia Synagogue. There, our bags were frisked by a security officer. A moment later, when I opened my bag to buy our entrance tickets, I found that my wallet was missing. We searched everywhere, and returned to the Central Market Hall, where we went to the security office and even managed to see the CCTV recording, but my wallet was never found. We never discovered whether someone stole my wallet at the crowded Central Market Hall, or if my wallet fell out during one of the many occasions when I took my camera out of my bag, or if the security officer at Sofia Synagogue stole it. Having learned from past experience, I didn't have too much money in my wallet, bu I still lost about 200 Euros, a credit card and a debit card.

So yes, one has to be particularly careful while traveling. After all these incidents, if I am in a foreign land and I am accosted by a stranger who tries to strike up a conversation, I sometimes answer in Hindi and pretend I can't speak in English, because one never knows who may be a con artist. It's a pity that one has to be guarded like that, but it's better to be safe than sorry, especially when one has had one's share of travel misfortunes in the past! But like I said, the passion for travel remains, and once the Corona Virus scare is behind us, we hope to be on the move again, having had to cancel our Scandinavia summer plans because of this unforeseen pandemic!