Theme day: Taxis only

The taxi service in La Antigua Guatemala is anything but reliable. Taxi vehicles come in all colors and makes, mostly Toyota and Nissan. There is not a radio taxi service because all the taxis are owned by their respective drivers and they haven’t see fit to band together and offer a central calling number, so you have to carry three or four different business cards to make sure at least one taxi will be available when you need it. Besides the taxi automobiles, there are Tuk Tuk mototaxis (or tuc tuc in Brighton, England), but they have become unsafe for many reasons including delinquency; there is even Tuk Tuk Police Units now.

So, if you still want to see the taxis in Antigua, just click here. To look at different taxis from 45 Daily Photo Cities around the world just click the links below.

Have a great ride, but before you go, put on the song Historia de un Taxista (Tale of a taxi driver) by Ricardo Arjona, Guatemala’s most famous folk-pop-singer, as your soundtrack!

1 (Porto ) –2 (Albuquerque ) –3 (London ) –4 (Seattle, WA (USA) [Kim] ) –5 (Edinburgh ) –6 (Stayton, OR ) –7 (Greenville, SC ) –8 (Budapest ) –9 (Antigua Guatemala ) –10 (Alexandria, VA ) –11 (Manila ) –12 (Twin Cities ) –13 (Szentes ) –14 (Paris ) –15 (Portsmouth ) –16 (Ryde ) –17 (Sydney ) –18 (Oulu ) –19 (Singapore [keropok] ) –20 (Santiago ) –21 (Melbourne, Aust ) –22 (Dubai UAE ) –23 (Bandung (Indonesia) ) –24 (Copenhagen ) –25 (Sequim ) –26 (Singapore ) –27 (Tenerife ) –28 (Sharon, CT ) –29 (Tuzla, B&H ) –30 (Jakarta (Indonesia) ) –31 (Rotterdam ) –32 (Brussels ) –33 (Stavanger (Norway) ) –34 (Aliso Viejo, CA ) –35 (Oshawa, ON, Canada ) –36 (Vantaa, Finland ) -37 (Trier (Germany)) –38 (Newcastle upon Tyne ) –39 (Hong Kong ) –40 (Shang Hai ) –41 (Brussels ) –42 (San Diego, CA (USA) ) –43 (Sydney (Nathalie)) –44 (St Paul (USA)) –45 Trujillo, Perú

Warning: Due to time zone differences and other factors, taxis may not be available at your destination city as you arrive, but they will show up eventually on October 1st (What a reliable service that is!). If you view them after the date (also depends on the time zone) then you may probably find the taxi photo in the archives for October 1st.

Tags: Antigua Daily Photo / Antigua / Guatemala / taxi sign / taxis

27 Responses to "Theme day: Taxis only"

John says:
October 1, 2006 at 12:04 am
One of the more interesting Taxi posts due to the story. I’m glad we don’t need men with guns to monitor Taxis down here in Melbourne. Mind you, some drivers have been mugged recently which they are trying to clamp down on.
Nice one. Thanks.
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Norma says:
October 1, 2006 at 12:47 am
Your shots were great…your links were even better. (Love the song!) I think those Tuc Tuc’s are adorable…kind of like “the smart cars” here in Washington Are they electric?
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Valery Bazán says:
October 1, 2006 at 12:51 am
Arjona, buen compatriota tuyo ke deja en alto a Guatemala. Akí en Perú es muy kerido. Akí hay unos taxis ke están hechos en motos adaptadas para tal fin. Los llaman cholotaxis, porke a los peruanos nos dicen “cholos”.
Saludos compañero
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~tanty~ says:
October 1, 2006 at 12:52 am
Oh yes, quite opposite with mine. I like the song though I don’t understand the languange 🙂
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patsy poor says:
October 1, 2006 at 1:40 am
why are the men in uniform standing there and one with a gun? if that happened here we would know it was time to go home and lock the door.
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Ham says:
October 1, 2006 at 1:42 am
As ever brilliant photograph with excellent composition and humour. I love it.
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Pamela says:
October 1, 2006 at 1:44 am
Ours are all leased by the drivers, each of whom is self-employed, but they do have to belong to the co-operative, which links them together, governs their operation and gives access to radios.
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krisz says:
October 1, 2006 at 1:52 am
interesting info. is it the same everywhere in this part of the world?
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Eric at Paris Daily Photo says:
October 1, 2006 at 2:04 am
At first I thought you forgot it was Taxi theme day, but quickly I figured it out. What does the E in a circle on the sign mean? Great, unique shot for theme day!
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Eric at Paris Daily Photo says:
October 1, 2006 at 2:07 am
P.S. I love the song and the system you used. May have to try this out sometime for some traditional French songs! Merci / Gracias!
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jazzy says:
October 1, 2006 at 5:45 am
it’s a shame tuk tuk taxis are not safe, they look great, very unusual.
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Jing says:
October 1, 2006 at 6:13 am
🙂
really clever way to explain the theme!!
and very unique photo!
yes…whats the mean of that big letter “E”? I am also curious about it.
…hello from shanghai,Jing
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Kate says:
October 1, 2006 at 6:27 am
Interesting and different.
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Chantal says:
October 1, 2006 at 6:57 am
the E stands for Estacionamiento (?) or Parking.
Well done, Rudy, best taxi photo I’ve seen today! 🙂
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kaa says:
October 1, 2006 at 6:59 am
very unsettling to see armed men in streets. the most unusual taxi post i’ve seen so far.
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Kim says:
October 1, 2006 at 10:40 am
Yes Rudy, this is one of my faves today! So, cusotmer are so angry they’ve asked the soldiers to enforce taxi availability? Really well done elements for today. Congratulations! A big treat for us all.
-Kim
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Bluey says:
October 1, 2006 at 12:09 pm
Today has been great for a number or reasons:
1) Taxi theme day
2) The UAE government has just unblocked flickr
3) This means I can see your site for the first time
4) This further means I saw the best taxi photo I have seen so far.
5) Well done! I’ll be back
Cheers,
Bluey from Dubai
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Denton says:
October 1, 2006 at 7:35 pm
Very unique. I’m very glad we don’t need this sort or protection. Sadly when I see armed uniformed men I don’t normally think of protection … Great post and story.
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santy says:
October 1, 2006 at 7:51 pm
very unique!
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Nathalie says:
October 1, 2006 at 8:03 pm
Rudy I love the twisted approach you took to the topic. Rather impressive to see the military so present in daily life. Thanks for all the interesting comments. Well done!
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Liar Liar says:
October 1, 2006 at 10:05 pm
Love the photos, might have to make this a regular stop on my blogging.
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Bunyamin Najmi says:
October 1, 2006 at 10:26 pm
I just want to say, “What a brilliant Idea!”
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Rudy Girón says:
October 1, 2006 at 10:45 pm
Thank you all for your wonderful comments and for the visits. I need to clear up a few things here.
1. The two soldiers (yes soldiers) and the policeman are part of safety unit doing their rounds. There was an activity for kids at the Parque Central (Main Plaza) which closed all the surrounding streets. The armed forces have been called to help the police patrol the streets of Antigua which have become unsafe because of crime and delinquency. I have posted several entries before; just the follow this link to read more about it. In other words, the soldiers and the policeman were not there to protect the taxis or their patrons; I just so happened to captured them in a little resting break and while watching the commotion on the Main Plaza (come back this week to see what was happening at the park).
2. The encircled E stands for Taxis parking area only. As Chantal explained the E stands for Estacionamiento which means Parking Allowed.
3. The automobile taxis in Antigua do belong to an association, so they are banded somehow. My critique is that they have not used their association to create central office to receive the requests for the the taxi service. Instead, you have to have several business cards with different numbers for different taxis.
4. Tuk Tuk taxis are unsafe, yet people use them all the time. I will not under any circumstance. I do not trust many of the drivers who are teen agers or very young and drive recklessly. Besides, there have been many reports for crimes committed by Tuk Tuk drivers. Also, I own a car.
I want to welcome all the first-time visitors and wish for your continued returns.
Bluey: I am very happy to hear your government unblock the access to Flickr. I hope you get to use the service.
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Sally says:
October 4, 2006 at 2:27 am
Glad to read the updates, though it is still prettty scary idea having military forces out patrolling for safety and secutiry reasons. I know it happens in many places in the world, and yep, it’s sad tome.
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Theme day: Taxis only

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