I have finally left Lucknow. Got my roots dyed the day before I left by the same guy who did it before. Don't know if he decided "Who gives? She's not coming back." but my roots are neon orange while the rest of my hair is dark mahogany. It's seriously bad. And I have no choice but to walk around this way.
Anyway, so after having toxic dye seep into my brain, I left for Rishikesh via Delhi. There was originally a good reason for this. After a traumatic train experience, I'm not keen on riding Tier 2 or 3 all the way from Lucknow. Plus, it takes like 9 hours. So, clever Letitia thought to herself: it's like 1000 rupees to fly to Delhi. From there I can catch a first class train ticket to Rishikesh and it only takes four hours and costs 400 rupees. Simple, right?
The first leg was simple. Flight took off on time, arrived on time, no drama. They didn't even care that my bag was seriously 8 kilos over the limit. So I got to Delhi, and then discovered that the train station which I had booked my ticket out of was 26 kilometers from the airport. Okay, fine, but a taxi was necessary, and more than I had planned to pay. Could have gone metro but as previously stated, my bag was a little chubby, and I didn't see myself hauling it up and down stairs and across Delhi streets to get to a crowded subway. So, off on the taxi I went.
Only upon arriving at Nizamuddin train station did I look at my train ticket. And realized it was for the next day. Here's the thing: as I only recently realized, Indian calendars start the week with MONDAY. So when I booked online and clicked the first day of the week, I thought I was booking it for Sunday. Nope. As I came to this realization about 15 porters gathered around to give me advice on what to do. Then a young man who spoke fluent English, had a laptop with an WIFI USB materialized, and we sat down outside the station to try and figure out my options.
While we confirmed that there was no way for me to get to Rishikesh by train that day, a taxi tout came over and said he could get me to Rishikesh, drop me off at the door of my hotel for 3000 rupees, or about 80 USD. First though, I called my friend Michael, who was staying in Delhi, to see if he would come get me and maybe tell me what safe hotel to stay in. I didn't relish the idea of a rickshaw-walla taking me to a hotel or hostel that would give him a cut for dropping me off there.Well, Michael did not answer Michael's phone. Some strange Hindustani man answered Michael's phone. Later I found out that - because the universe was conspiring to ruin my life - Michael's phone had been stolen. I had no way to contact him. And once lovely laptop-man, Manish, left, I didn't have internet.
I considered my options: pay for a taxi back to Delhi, then pay for a hotel stay, and then leave the next day and arrive in Haridwar a day late, where I would still have to take a bus to Rishikesh. OR, private, air-conditioned taxi right to my door. Manish actually asked if I wanted to go with him for free to Dharamsala. This seemed a very ill-advised idea to me, but considering all the other stupid things I did that day, maybe this would have been the smart choice. I went with the taxi.
So a few minutes in to the ride, after several screaming phone calls, my driver tells me he has to get a second car. This car - for some reason I don't quite get...something about registration or taxes - can't go to Rishikesh. Fine. I don't care what the vehicle is. Well, two hours down the road, outside of Delhi, my driver stops, and passes me off not only to a second car, but a second driver. He says I have to pay him 1000 rupees, and 1000 rupees to the second driver. Now.
I hesitate and make sure that both drivers understand the arrangement. I am paying a total of 3000. And the second driver will get 1000 more upon dropping me at my hotel in Rishikesh. They both understand, and say that's fine.
Okay, so off I go with second driver, who honestly seems like a much nicer guy than my first. Well, he too gets a phone call a few minutes in to our drive. He stops the car and tells me in Hindi (speaks zero English), "It's like this: Rishikesh is twice as far as that guy told you. It's 400 kilometers. So I have to charge you 2000 more." Whaaaaat?? I look in my pocketbook even though I don't need to. I don't have that much money. I debate with him for several minutes, almost breaking into tears. I ask him why he agreed to the price before. He said he didn't know, his boss just called and told him how much he had to charge.
I am in the middle-of-nowhere India. The first driver is long gone. I call the tout who found me the driver at Nizamuddin and explain the situation to him. He shouts for a long time at my driver. When I'm back on the phone with him he says: "Do NOT get out of that car! Stay in the car. In Rishikesh, only pay him 1000 rupees. If he gives you trouble call the police. Do NOT get out of the car!" I do some praying, have another conversation with my driver. He says he'll take me to the bus, but I'm not getting my deposit back.
I am completely distressed now. Sensing this, my driver makes me a new deal. He wants only 500 rupees more than what we originally agreed on. He can't go for less or he'll lose money. I tell him to go. Raj, the tout in Nizamuddin, is still telling me not to pay him. He says a deal is a deal and this guy has to do it for the original price. I debate with myself the whole way to Rishikesh. I think my driver can sense this because at one point he pulls over and demands the rest of the money before we go on. I give him 500 but tell him he's not getting the thousand until I am at Narayana Palace. We bicker. I call Raj. Raj screams at him. My driver continues on.
Because there is a God, I get to Rishikesh safely. I have decided to pay my driver the additional amount because calling the police in India really doesn't sound appealing. They might not come, and if they come, they might beat this guy up. 500 rupees is like $12. So am I seriously going to get this guy tortured for that?
When I called Raj I told him I gave the driver the additional amount, but not the 2000 rupees extra that he wanted at first. Raj was disappointed and said, "All right, but you have to do one thing for me. Next time you are in Delhi, I owe you 500 rupees, so please come find me."
The End.
Anyway, so after having toxic dye seep into my brain, I left for Rishikesh via Delhi. There was originally a good reason for this. After a traumatic train experience, I'm not keen on riding Tier 2 or 3 all the way from Lucknow. Plus, it takes like 9 hours. So, clever Letitia thought to herself: it's like 1000 rupees to fly to Delhi. From there I can catch a first class train ticket to Rishikesh and it only takes four hours and costs 400 rupees. Simple, right?
The first leg was simple. Flight took off on time, arrived on time, no drama. They didn't even care that my bag was seriously 8 kilos over the limit. So I got to Delhi, and then discovered that the train station which I had booked my ticket out of was 26 kilometers from the airport. Okay, fine, but a taxi was necessary, and more than I had planned to pay. Could have gone metro but as previously stated, my bag was a little chubby, and I didn't see myself hauling it up and down stairs and across Delhi streets to get to a crowded subway. So, off on the taxi I went.
Only upon arriving at Nizamuddin train station did I look at my train ticket. And realized it was for the next day. Here's the thing: as I only recently realized, Indian calendars start the week with MONDAY. So when I booked online and clicked the first day of the week, I thought I was booking it for Sunday. Nope. As I came to this realization about 15 porters gathered around to give me advice on what to do. Then a young man who spoke fluent English, had a laptop with an WIFI USB materialized, and we sat down outside the station to try and figure out my options.
While we confirmed that there was no way for me to get to Rishikesh by train that day, a taxi tout came over and said he could get me to Rishikesh, drop me off at the door of my hotel for 3000 rupees, or about 80 USD. First though, I called my friend Michael, who was staying in Delhi, to see if he would come get me and maybe tell me what safe hotel to stay in. I didn't relish the idea of a rickshaw-walla taking me to a hotel or hostel that would give him a cut for dropping me off there.Well, Michael did not answer Michael's phone. Some strange Hindustani man answered Michael's phone. Later I found out that - because the universe was conspiring to ruin my life - Michael's phone had been stolen. I had no way to contact him. And once lovely laptop-man, Manish, left, I didn't have internet.
I considered my options: pay for a taxi back to Delhi, then pay for a hotel stay, and then leave the next day and arrive in Haridwar a day late, where I would still have to take a bus to Rishikesh. OR, private, air-conditioned taxi right to my door. Manish actually asked if I wanted to go with him for free to Dharamsala. This seemed a very ill-advised idea to me, but considering all the other stupid things I did that day, maybe this would have been the smart choice. I went with the taxi.
So a few minutes in to the ride, after several screaming phone calls, my driver tells me he has to get a second car. This car - for some reason I don't quite get...something about registration or taxes - can't go to Rishikesh. Fine. I don't care what the vehicle is. Well, two hours down the road, outside of Delhi, my driver stops, and passes me off not only to a second car, but a second driver. He says I have to pay him 1000 rupees, and 1000 rupees to the second driver. Now.
I hesitate and make sure that both drivers understand the arrangement. I am paying a total of 3000. And the second driver will get 1000 more upon dropping me at my hotel in Rishikesh. They both understand, and say that's fine.
Okay, so off I go with second driver, who honestly seems like a much nicer guy than my first. Well, he too gets a phone call a few minutes in to our drive. He stops the car and tells me in Hindi (speaks zero English), "It's like this: Rishikesh is twice as far as that guy told you. It's 400 kilometers. So I have to charge you 2000 more." Whaaaaat?? I look in my pocketbook even though I don't need to. I don't have that much money. I debate with him for several minutes, almost breaking into tears. I ask him why he agreed to the price before. He said he didn't know, his boss just called and told him how much he had to charge.
I am in the middle-of-nowhere India. The first driver is long gone. I call the tout who found me the driver at Nizamuddin and explain the situation to him. He shouts for a long time at my driver. When I'm back on the phone with him he says: "Do NOT get out of that car! Stay in the car. In Rishikesh, only pay him 1000 rupees. If he gives you trouble call the police. Do NOT get out of the car!" I do some praying, have another conversation with my driver. He says he'll take me to the bus, but I'm not getting my deposit back.
I am completely distressed now. Sensing this, my driver makes me a new deal. He wants only 500 rupees more than what we originally agreed on. He can't go for less or he'll lose money. I tell him to go. Raj, the tout in Nizamuddin, is still telling me not to pay him. He says a deal is a deal and this guy has to do it for the original price. I debate with myself the whole way to Rishikesh. I think my driver can sense this because at one point he pulls over and demands the rest of the money before we go on. I give him 500 but tell him he's not getting the thousand until I am at Narayana Palace. We bicker. I call Raj. Raj screams at him. My driver continues on.
Because there is a God, I get to Rishikesh safely. I have decided to pay my driver the additional amount because calling the police in India really doesn't sound appealing. They might not come, and if they come, they might beat this guy up. 500 rupees is like $12. So am I seriously going to get this guy tortured for that?
When I called Raj I told him I gave the driver the additional amount, but not the 2000 rupees extra that he wanted at first. Raj was disappointed and said, "All right, but you have to do one thing for me. Next time you are in Delhi, I owe you 500 rupees, so please come find me."
The End.
Yikes! What a crazy ride!?
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! I would say that's unbelievable, except it seems kind of like how things often work.. At least you got there safely? I hope the rest of your trip is uneventful:} Stay safe, Letitia!
ReplyDelete