Beware the taxi drivers in....well, everywhere, but especially Bucharest.

A German pal and I got to drinkin' in downtown B., and decided to catch a cab back to our hotel when the bar closed. Meter rate, no problem, the cab driver assured us, before we got in. Astonished when the fare came to 48 lei (about USD$17) for a 3 km ride. Too much, I complained. My German friend was ready to pay up just to keep the peace, but even he rebelled when the driver offered him only 30 lei in change from a 100 lei note. I tried to get out of the cab, but discovered that the rear doors wouldn't open - we'd been locked in. Driver then took off, and took us on a sightseeing tour of late-night Bucharest, shouting at us all the while.

I'd been on a cycling tour for the previous couple of months, and carried an expandable steel baton in my daypack as defense against the hordes of stray dogs one finds in eastern Europe. I produced this and began banging it against the window, while suggesting to the driver that if he didn't want to be vacuuming fragments of safety glass out his car, he'd let us out, NOW. Apparently he didn't care to be in a vehicle with me at that point, stopped, got out and got onto his cell phone, presumably whistling up reinforcements. I saw no reason to hang around to meet folks, and took the opportunity to climb out of the back into the shotgun seat and out the front passenger door.
I released my German colleague, flipped a 20 note onto the rear seat (stupid of me, I discovered later that the correct fare should have been around 8) and we ran off down the street before his buddies arrived.

All this could have been avoided had we had the sense to exit the vehicle before we settled up with the driver. As it was, having been taken unwillingly for a ride, we were miles from our accommodations, at 0130, in a city we didn't know at all, and completely ignorant of our location. I'm sure that the driver was banking on that leverage, and on our vulnerability as tourists, when he decided to scam us. Took us an hour to find our way back.

Have at least an idea of what a cab fare should be before using a taxi, and what your options are should the driver try to scam you. The proprietor of our hotel, upon hearing of our adventure, told us of a couple of French girls who'd flown in from Orly just that morning and caught a cab in. The driver charged them 200 lei; the appropriate fare is 40. They didn't know that, and had paid without argument.