Pickpocketed in the hole that is Belize City
Trip Start
Dec 12, 2006
1
43
55
Trip End
Mar 09, 2007
Orange Walk,
Belize
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
We took a cab from the water terminal to the bus terminal. When we got out of the taxis, I took my wallet out to pay the driver. There were a bunch of kids there asking where we wanted to go (ages 12 to 17 about) and one grabbed my hand and started pulling me to the bus that we need to be on. We got on the bus and off we were.
When I went to pay for my bus fare (about 20 minutes into the ride), I immediately realized that my wallet was gone and no where to be found. FUCK! It was totally those little kids at the bus terminal. I had always thought I would notice immediately if it was gone or that I would feel the bump that they do to distract you. But I felt absolutely nothing. I have a new found respect for pick pockets. I didn't expect the little kids and I didn't feel a thing, I was super impressed with how well they did it. I wish I had a video of it so that I could see who it was and how it went down.
So I was pretty bummed and definitely had the wind taken out of my sails. They got away with about 60 US bucks, my credit and ATM cards, my student IDs, and my drivers license. The worst thing they got away with was my actual wallet. That wallet is the only wallet I have ever owned, I've had that since sometime in middle school. It was totally falling apart and was extremely worn in. It was probably the best 15 bucks I have ever spent in my life. And now the poor guy is sitting in some dumpy alley in the hole that is Belize City.
The whole stealing of my wallet sucked. What saved me is that I had my left over bank account from when I lived in Austin and I decided to keep some emergency money in it and keep the ATM card for it in a separate spot. So I was able to get cash and still function, so I felt pretty good to have that going for me. I would highly recommend anyone that is traveling for awhile to do that, it totally saved me a lot of extra hassle and gave me a bit more freedom.
By the way, Belize City is not a nice city, its a dump and its actually quite dangerous. This is what we all thought of even before I got robbed, after I got robbed we had even less of an opinion of it. Don't bother spending any time there.
All things considering, we got to Orange Walk ok. There were some really cute kids that sat with Jeremy and I on the bus. We took some funny pictures with them.
Not much in Orange Walk, just came here to do the Lamanai Ruins tomorrow. We went up to Corozal to check it out later on in the day and there is even less up there. The plan is to see the ruins and get out as fast as possible.
Comments
Belize
I have to agree with your sentiments. I served in Belize with the British Army and unless there have been major,and I mean major improvements then all I can say is that any potential tourist could be in for a shock. Most of the Cayes are over crowded and Sand Flies abound and there is always someone ready to rip you off. I was told that if I had never been mugged then I should get myself prepared to be. I found most of the people wonderful and warm hearted thats for sure and I was always made welcome wherever I went but the bottom line is that Belize has very little to offer apart from a culture shock.