cab driver from airport: how long you in delhi, one or two days?
me: 8 days.
cab driver: no, how long in delhi, one or two days?
me: 8 days.
cab driver: no, in delhi, one or two?
me: uh... two.
cab driver: and then to agra?
me: uh, sure.
cab driver: its too bad, there's so much to see in delhi, two days is not enough.
just got back from India! i figured i should try to post about it as soon as possible, because when time passes i always get lazy about it. and anyway, i find myself with an extra day off work because i got confused about the date of my 3 am flight home. so it was really fun, smita and i met up in Delhi, spent a few days there, and then went to Jaipur and Agra (where the Taj Mahal is). my biggest gripe with it was that i started to feel like when indians saw me all they saw was a dollar sign. it was probably because we spent all of our time in major tourist sights, but everytime we stepped on to the street we were greeted by a barrage of autorickshaw drivers who were not at all deterred by our constant "no's" and shouts for them to go away. it got really tiring and was pretty grating on the nerves. it also seemed like people, especially in delhi, had thought of a million scams to try to trick foreigners, and so you always had to be vigilant or you'd fall into some trap. usually, smita and i found, the person who seemed the friendliest and nicest were the ones with the best scam. that really messes with your mind, and then when we did meet some nice indians on trains or when we were out, we were always really guarded. like at the taj some families wanted to take pictures with us, i guess because they didn't see foreigners that often, and in every picture i'm clutching my purse for dear life.
but here are the scams we encountered in our journey, most of which we did not fall for.
Scam 1: This one hit me as soon as i reached india, when i arrived at the airport at 1:45 india time, 4:15 china time (2 1/2 time difference? what's up with that?) exhausted and scared being alone in a new country and not exactly sure what i was doing. i went to the prepaid taxi booth and paid, and then settled into my cab feeling comforted that it all seemed pretty official. a guy got in the cab and asked me where i was going. i told him the name of the hotel and its address, of which i knew only that it was on "p-block." he seemed annoyed and told me that that wasn't enough information. i had the number, but somehow it was short a digit so he seemed really frustrated and got out of the cab. then he told two other guys to get into the cab. they asked me where i was going, and when i said the hotel's name, they were like okay sure, and took off. this seemed a little weird to me since the last guy had been so annoyed at me, but i just kept asking them "you know hotel alka?" and they like, yeah sure. i figured they had an idea of how to find it. after a while of driving they told me that i hadn't given them enough information, and that they'd have to ask for directions. the guy who wasn't driving got out and asked a guard, then came back and said the guard didn't know. he said we could go to a tourist agency that would tell us where it was. so we drove to one, and then he and i got out of the car. when we went inside, the guys were very friendly and welcomed me to the country. they got out a lonely planet and found the hotel's number, and said they would call it and i could talk to them. at this point it started to sound a little like a scam mentioned in lonely planet, so i started to be on my guard a little. they gave me the phone, and the guy on the line asked me if i had a reservation. i said yes and told him my name, and then he said that they'd given away my room because i'd arrived to late. it was about 3 india time, 5:30 china time at that point, so i thought that might be right. but then he said, yeah we give away the rooms after twelve. having seen an email smita had sent to another hotel we were considering, i knew she had said that i'd be in after one. so i started to ask more questions, like "who made my reservation?" and "what's my name again?" he got huffy and said he was the night guy, that information had been given to the day guy. i hung up the phone, and the tourist center guy told me to sit down while he explained that delhi was very busy now because of an exhibition. i was tired and cranky and suspicious, so almost in tears, i said "i just want to go to my hotel. i want to talk to them." they let me go, and i got back into the cab. we drove around for another half hour, the guys saying they didn't know where the hotel was, and me saying "well you'll just have to find it." and then we pulled up to it. i still wasn't sure if the guy i'd talked to on the phone was for real. so i asked the cab guys to wait while i talked to the hotel people, in case i had to go find another hotel. the streets of delhi are really creepy and there are dogs wandering around everywhere (although they aren't rabid and don't attack people, i would learn) so i was terrified that the hotel would reject me and i would be stuck on the street. i went into the hotel and saw the night man, and said, in a shaky voice, "i have a reservation." he opened his book, and there was my name. "you have rooms?" i asked, and he nodded yes. i went back to tell the cab guys they could go (i'm not so quick on the uptake), but they had driven off, probably as soon as i stepped out of the car. it was now 6:30 china time, but i was so wired from the experience that i just lay in my bed till morning. this was a particularly bad start to the trip, and i think really put me on my guard with everyone from then on.
The Scam: Taxi drivers telling clueless tourists their hotels are booked, then taking them to expensive hotels where the drivers earn a high comission.
Outcome: Unsuccessful
Scam 2: Smita and i took our first train at 6 in the morning, headed for Jaipur, a cool Rhajistani town. When we got to the train station, we discovered that it was extremely confusing and there wasn't really any sign or authority-looking person. a guy came up to us and asked where we were going. we said jaipur, and he told us the platform number but said we first had to go to a tourist office across the street to get the stamp for foreigners. as we hadn't read anything about this anywhere and they hadn't said anything when we bought the ticket, we were skeptical. i asked "why?" and then he got kind of annoyed and was like, you just have to. we walked away, but before we entered the platform another guy came up to us and said the same thing. this made us pause, so we debated it for a little while, but decided that they probably wouldn't kick us off the train for not having the stamp, especially if good old LP hadn't mentioned it. We were right!
The Scam: Charging tourists for an unnecessary stamp on their train tickets.
Outcome: Unsuccessful
Scam 3: This one we fell for, and i feel pretty stupid about that because it was something i should know about from china. in Jaipur we got a cab driver to drive us around all day. we hadn't planned on it, but the guy seemed really nice and friendly (warning sign!) and showed us a book of compliments foreigners had written about him. he took us around all day, and mostly he was fine, but he took us to do some shopping at places that grossly overcharged, and since it was our first shopping trip in india, we fell for it. we were taken in by the charming guy who ran the textile shop and the fact that he gave us free pepsi. i've been to the same places in china, and i always knew how they preyed on clueless foreigners, but for some reason it slipped my mind. we each spent over fifty dollars at this place, only buying a few items each. we left the store congratulating ourselves on buying such nice stuff, and it was only when we reached agra and another rickshaw driver took us to stores that we discovered we could have gotten the same stuff for about 1/10 of the price. i hate when that happens, because you feel so stupid and you feel so silly about the stuff you bought, which you had been so proud of.
The Scam: Autorickshaw drivers taking tourists to textile or other production factories and then earning a commission off the high pricetags.
Outcome: Successful
Scam 4: This one smita and i were not really sure was a scam, but i like to believe that it was. waiting on line for the Taj Mahal, a pretty long line although standing in the women's line made for a shorter wait (sweet!), a guy came up to us and said he'd take us to another entrance where there were way less people. it didn't seem to make sense that if there were another entrance there wouldn't be just as many people there, so we continued to say no to him as he talked to us for five minutes about how he was official and he would help us cut the line for only a small fee. just then i heard someone say "hi!" and i turned to my other side. a tall white woman resembling CJ from West Wing was standing next to us, and i tried to think if i recognized her. "i just walked through the taj, and those guys are right." she said. "we waited on this really long line, and then there's another entrance that's easier." this sounded okay, but we were hesitant about leaving our spot on line. "whatever these guys say, you should do." she said. "how much are they asking for?" "one hundred each," the guy responded.
"yeah, that sounds about right." she responded. an autorickshaw to anywhere up to 15 or 20 minutes away only costs about 50 total, so this sounded bizarre to us, so we short of shrugged and stayed in the line. we never did find out if there was a quicker entrance, and maybe she was just trying to help us, but i like to believe that those guys had found a white woman to help them with their scam, living off the shared earnings tricked out of clueless foreigners. whatever, cuz the line wasn't that long.
The Scam: White woman parading as tourists to support the claims of fake officials, who claim to be able to help tourists avoid long lines for a fee.
Outcome: Unsuccessful
okay this post is pretty long so i'll write about the rest of the trip later. this post has been largely negative, so in the next posts i'll focus on more of the positives. and there were a lot, i guess i just had to vent about these things because they were so frustrating.
happy new years, dear readers!
me: 8 days.
cab driver: no, how long in delhi, one or two days?
me: 8 days.
cab driver: no, in delhi, one or two?
me: uh... two.
cab driver: and then to agra?
me: uh, sure.
cab driver: its too bad, there's so much to see in delhi, two days is not enough.
just got back from India! i figured i should try to post about it as soon as possible, because when time passes i always get lazy about it. and anyway, i find myself with an extra day off work because i got confused about the date of my 3 am flight home. so it was really fun, smita and i met up in Delhi, spent a few days there, and then went to Jaipur and Agra (where the Taj Mahal is). my biggest gripe with it was that i started to feel like when indians saw me all they saw was a dollar sign. it was probably because we spent all of our time in major tourist sights, but everytime we stepped on to the street we were greeted by a barrage of autorickshaw drivers who were not at all deterred by our constant "no's" and shouts for them to go away. it got really tiring and was pretty grating on the nerves. it also seemed like people, especially in delhi, had thought of a million scams to try to trick foreigners, and so you always had to be vigilant or you'd fall into some trap. usually, smita and i found, the person who seemed the friendliest and nicest were the ones with the best scam. that really messes with your mind, and then when we did meet some nice indians on trains or when we were out, we were always really guarded. like at the taj some families wanted to take pictures with us, i guess because they didn't see foreigners that often, and in every picture i'm clutching my purse for dear life.
but here are the scams we encountered in our journey, most of which we did not fall for.
Scam 1: This one hit me as soon as i reached india, when i arrived at the airport at 1:45 india time, 4:15 china time (2 1/2 time difference? what's up with that?) exhausted and scared being alone in a new country and not exactly sure what i was doing. i went to the prepaid taxi booth and paid, and then settled into my cab feeling comforted that it all seemed pretty official. a guy got in the cab and asked me where i was going. i told him the name of the hotel and its address, of which i knew only that it was on "p-block." he seemed annoyed and told me that that wasn't enough information. i had the number, but somehow it was short a digit so he seemed really frustrated and got out of the cab. then he told two other guys to get into the cab. they asked me where i was going, and when i said the hotel's name, they were like okay sure, and took off. this seemed a little weird to me since the last guy had been so annoyed at me, but i just kept asking them "you know hotel alka?" and they like, yeah sure. i figured they had an idea of how to find it. after a while of driving they told me that i hadn't given them enough information, and that they'd have to ask for directions. the guy who wasn't driving got out and asked a guard, then came back and said the guard didn't know. he said we could go to a tourist agency that would tell us where it was. so we drove to one, and then he and i got out of the car. when we went inside, the guys were very friendly and welcomed me to the country. they got out a lonely planet and found the hotel's number, and said they would call it and i could talk to them. at this point it started to sound a little like a scam mentioned in lonely planet, so i started to be on my guard a little. they gave me the phone, and the guy on the line asked me if i had a reservation. i said yes and told him my name, and then he said that they'd given away my room because i'd arrived to late. it was about 3 india time, 5:30 china time at that point, so i thought that might be right. but then he said, yeah we give away the rooms after twelve. having seen an email smita had sent to another hotel we were considering, i knew she had said that i'd be in after one. so i started to ask more questions, like "who made my reservation?" and "what's my name again?" he got huffy and said he was the night guy, that information had been given to the day guy. i hung up the phone, and the tourist center guy told me to sit down while he explained that delhi was very busy now because of an exhibition. i was tired and cranky and suspicious, so almost in tears, i said "i just want to go to my hotel. i want to talk to them." they let me go, and i got back into the cab. we drove around for another half hour, the guys saying they didn't know where the hotel was, and me saying "well you'll just have to find it." and then we pulled up to it. i still wasn't sure if the guy i'd talked to on the phone was for real. so i asked the cab guys to wait while i talked to the hotel people, in case i had to go find another hotel. the streets of delhi are really creepy and there are dogs wandering around everywhere (although they aren't rabid and don't attack people, i would learn) so i was terrified that the hotel would reject me and i would be stuck on the street. i went into the hotel and saw the night man, and said, in a shaky voice, "i have a reservation." he opened his book, and there was my name. "you have rooms?" i asked, and he nodded yes. i went back to tell the cab guys they could go (i'm not so quick on the uptake), but they had driven off, probably as soon as i stepped out of the car. it was now 6:30 china time, but i was so wired from the experience that i just lay in my bed till morning. this was a particularly bad start to the trip, and i think really put me on my guard with everyone from then on.
The Scam: Taxi drivers telling clueless tourists their hotels are booked, then taking them to expensive hotels where the drivers earn a high comission.
Outcome: Unsuccessful
Scam 2: Smita and i took our first train at 6 in the morning, headed for Jaipur, a cool Rhajistani town. When we got to the train station, we discovered that it was extremely confusing and there wasn't really any sign or authority-looking person. a guy came up to us and asked where we were going. we said jaipur, and he told us the platform number but said we first had to go to a tourist office across the street to get the stamp for foreigners. as we hadn't read anything about this anywhere and they hadn't said anything when we bought the ticket, we were skeptical. i asked "why?" and then he got kind of annoyed and was like, you just have to. we walked away, but before we entered the platform another guy came up to us and said the same thing. this made us pause, so we debated it for a little while, but decided that they probably wouldn't kick us off the train for not having the stamp, especially if good old LP hadn't mentioned it. We were right!
The Scam: Charging tourists for an unnecessary stamp on their train tickets.
Outcome: Unsuccessful
Scam 3: This one we fell for, and i feel pretty stupid about that because it was something i should know about from china. in Jaipur we got a cab driver to drive us around all day. we hadn't planned on it, but the guy seemed really nice and friendly (warning sign!) and showed us a book of compliments foreigners had written about him. he took us around all day, and mostly he was fine, but he took us to do some shopping at places that grossly overcharged, and since it was our first shopping trip in india, we fell for it. we were taken in by the charming guy who ran the textile shop and the fact that he gave us free pepsi. i've been to the same places in china, and i always knew how they preyed on clueless foreigners, but for some reason it slipped my mind. we each spent over fifty dollars at this place, only buying a few items each. we left the store congratulating ourselves on buying such nice stuff, and it was only when we reached agra and another rickshaw driver took us to stores that we discovered we could have gotten the same stuff for about 1/10 of the price. i hate when that happens, because you feel so stupid and you feel so silly about the stuff you bought, which you had been so proud of.
The Scam: Autorickshaw drivers taking tourists to textile or other production factories and then earning a commission off the high pricetags.
Outcome: Successful
Scam 4: This one smita and i were not really sure was a scam, but i like to believe that it was. waiting on line for the Taj Mahal, a pretty long line although standing in the women's line made for a shorter wait (sweet!), a guy came up to us and said he'd take us to another entrance where there were way less people. it didn't seem to make sense that if there were another entrance there wouldn't be just as many people there, so we continued to say no to him as he talked to us for five minutes about how he was official and he would help us cut the line for only a small fee. just then i heard someone say "hi!" and i turned to my other side. a tall white woman resembling CJ from West Wing was standing next to us, and i tried to think if i recognized her. "i just walked through the taj, and those guys are right." she said. "we waited on this really long line, and then there's another entrance that's easier." this sounded okay, but we were hesitant about leaving our spot on line. "whatever these guys say, you should do." she said. "how much are they asking for?" "one hundred each," the guy responded.
"yeah, that sounds about right." she responded. an autorickshaw to anywhere up to 15 or 20 minutes away only costs about 50 total, so this sounded bizarre to us, so we short of shrugged and stayed in the line. we never did find out if there was a quicker entrance, and maybe she was just trying to help us, but i like to believe that those guys had found a white woman to help them with their scam, living off the shared earnings tricked out of clueless foreigners. whatever, cuz the line wasn't that long.
The Scam: White woman parading as tourists to support the claims of fake officials, who claim to be able to help tourists avoid long lines for a fee.
Outcome: Unsuccessful
okay this post is pretty long so i'll write about the rest of the trip later. this post has been largely negative, so in the next posts i'll focus on more of the positives. and there were a lot, i guess i just had to vent about these things because they were so frustrating.
happy new years, dear readers!
posted by Amanda at 2:39 AM
1 Comments:
I like the idea of not just some woman who looked like her, but actually CJ from the West Wing being in on the scam.
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