Today was overwhelming to say the least. I think this is the most stressed out Jeff and I have even been traveling and we’re seasoned travelers. The day started out going to the train station where the minute we got out of the taxi we were harassed… I mean not your typical badgering, harassed to the point of discomfort. Now, being prepared we knew we would be told the train was canceled or delayed and that we should take a private car, as this is a common scam. We tried to find our way to the ticket booth, but that was just not happening. The train station is crowded, dirty, overwhelming, chaotic, I cannot describe how this was. I know you are thinking you were in India and seemingly prepared, but I promise, you cannot prep yourself for this type of chaos. So, instead of stressing out and making a bad situation worse we decided to just hire a private car from Delhi to Agra. The ride which should have been about three hours ended up taking us over six. This is where I got my first glimpse of how poverty stricken India is. There was rows of people, I have never seen so many people, miles and miles and miles of people. Also trash, but not as many cows as I thought I would I would see. At a rest stop there were kids playing with a cobra and a monkey, I realize everyone has to make money, but it just doesn’t seem right. I know this is my western mentality coming out, but it is very hard for me to understand how parents would let their children sit at a rest stop to entertain tourists and not be there to watch over them (I won’t get started that I actually believe the children should be in school… that is for another time). Finally we made it to Agra and our next stop… Taj Mahal…
Jeff acting like a local
Leaving Delhi
I have never been to India. The poverty I saw in Uganda and the Philippines was pretty bad though. I remember in Uganda being harassed by some kids who said that because I was a tourist I needed to pay them to take pictures of the Nile. I was not scammed in those countries though. I was scammed in China, because we went to a place for a taxi when we got out of the airport, and because we were Americans we were shuttled into the hotel car. We kept pointing at the yellow taxis, but the people told us this was a hotel car and cost the same as the taxi. Well.. it turned out to NOT be the hotel’s car, but a very expensive car that went to the hotel. $90 hotel car that should have cost $10 if we had gotten a regular taxi.
Something similar happened to us in Vietnam also. I think that as Westerners we have to expect to be “ripped off” a little and normally it is only a few dollars, so it is not so bad, but it is those “big” rip offs that really sting!
Well explained. That sense of being overwhelmed pops up at unexpected times. Travel is an incredible eye-opener.