Touts at Agra - share your experience here

not normal

My agra experience was good. Given i was on an organised tour and after arriving at the train station we had organised vikrams to our hotel.. we walked to the taj and the hawkers were easy to fend off and joke with... Our vikrams to the red fort were organised as well so no hassle there... Surprised by the layed out green (for india) layouty of agra!

costaguana

In my three trips to Agra, I've found the worst touts weren't at the Taj, but at Fatehpur Sikri. The sheer number of tourists at the Taj seems to result in individual hawkers not needing to pester and nag prospective customers as much, as they can easily move on to the next 40 poor souls in line. Not so at Fatehpur Sikri! There the tout:tourist ratio is much higher and, as a result, they are a lot more aggressive.

On my most recent trip to Fatehpur Sikri, three travelmates and I managed to fend off most of the "guides" in the palace section of the complex but encountered no such luck at the mosque. A group of four men quickly attached themselves to us (one each) and began telling us how badly we needed them. They weren't guides, they insisted, just practicing their English. After barraging us with questions pertaining to our country of origin and marital status, they began to "guide" (more like follow) us through the complex. The thing that really annoyed me was the way they kept trying to separate our group and isolate us one-on-one. My designated "helper" quickly discovered I wasn't interested in his services and, tired of being ignored, told me he would leave me alone if I agreed to come see his family's marble shop.

Bringing our group back together required some trouble, and I was forced to use the extent of my limited Hindi to get across to the tour guide/salesmen's ring leader that we A) were leaving, B) were not going to see their respective marble shops, and C) were not going to give them any money! After collecting our shoes from the equally crooked shoe-minder at the front gate (who's initial "fee" of 50 RS per pair was eventually lowered to 10 RS), we began to descend the steps back to the parking lot. It was then our respective "guides" moved in for the kill, demanding money for both their services and for the shoe-storage(?)! Tired, sweaty and running low on both patience and small notes, I turned around and started yelling at them in a mixture of English and bad Hindi, telling them to get lost. They responded with some annoyed shrieks and a few choice Hindi phrases, but by this time we were on our way back to our taxi and out of spitting range. Unfortunately the ugly finish somewhat soured the end of what was otherwise a fine day and reconfirmed my general practice for dealing with unwanted attention in India. The fact seems to be that 19 out of 20 people who approach me want my money, so if you are #20, you will have to forgive me for ignoring you!

iwanttogoback

now the thing to do is to organise your visit to the taj to coincide with the visit of an international dignitary.

when we arrived in the morning it was pretty chaotic, but we had a guide with us and he sheperded us through fairly unscathed. and when we exited around lunchtime the streets were empty! apparently the italian prime minister was visiting and they had closed the taj to visitors, so there was nobody for the touts to hassle! we actually walked back up the street completely unhindered...

astaffy

Just Got Back From Travelling All Over India And My Very Best Advice To Anyone Is Avoid Varanasi And The Touts You Can Get The Same Experience In Hardiwar Without Touts And Go On A Tour From Delhi Just To See The Taj And Agra Fort And Then Get The Heck Out Of Agra The Touts Will Kill You There Too. Absolutely Loved Everywhere Else We Visited In India