arriving in delhi at midnight

jarosity

Hey yo,
i'm sorry to be botherin' but my friend and i both fly into delhi at around midnight in a few weeks and are sort of worried about being completely disoriented as soon as we step out of the airport. having never been to india, we really have no clue what to expect, especially coming from a completely complacent year in south korea.
so does anyone have any advice as to how to go about gettign somewhere to stay? maybe like how to get a taxi without getting ripped-off as this will most likely happen because we will be fresh, uninitiated bait. and a good cheap place to stay where we can wake up and set out and explore with little hassle. thanks for your help, this is a great site and you all are really generous to be helpin out those who have no clue like myself.
peace, jairus

Alan D

Hi jarosity

If you're worried about not coping with the situation at Delhi Airport ( and I admit it's a bit of a baptism by fire for first timers arriving off a long flight) then probably the best thing is to arrange for a hotel in Delhi to pick you up at the airport.

The Anoop Hotel in Paharganj provides this service as do others I think. It may cost a little bit more than taking a taxi from the airport but worth it. It's a budget hotel but most people seem to think it's ok. If you're not happy with it you can always just stay for the first night and then look around for somewhere else. It's the low season so there will be plenty of hotels with empty rooms in the Paharganj area. Don't be afraid to ask other travellers you meet for advice. Most people will be happy to give it.

I hope this helps and that you enjoy your first visit to India.

jjwoodee

Ah, yes the arrival into the Delhi Airport at midnight is like baptism by fire. An experience I could never forget. I second the reply to your original post by Alan D. Try to get a hotel booked and one that will arrange for you to be delivered to the hotel after meeting you at the airport.

It's well worth the comfort and hassle.

LuAnnandJawahar

It doesn't have to be traumatic, but it often is. Arriving without a reservation will only add to the stress level. If you book a hotel that doesn't provide hotel pickup, then ask them in advance what the taxi ride should cost, after dark. It will give you greater confidence when bargaining. Or use us.. our most popular option is the Meet and Greet at the airport.

anonymous

The perennial question - in spite of the fact that the most popular travel guide addresses this issue at length and in depth. Ok, there are no dumb questions, just dumb answers. Right? So let me ask this: What's so stressful about arriving in Delhi late at night? People, usually young and fit, sit down for 8-10 hours in an airplane. There's no physical exertion involved. Food is served, blankets and pillows are provided. You can drink free booze, sleep, read, or watch a movie. Upon arrival you walk a few feet, wait in line for immigration, walk a few feet more and wait for your backpack. After that you stroll through customs and make your way to the taxi stand. I don't see anything exhausting. Maybe you're a little sleepy but so what? It's no big deal in my opinion. The taxi is right outside the terminal and in no time at all it takes you to Pahar Ganj and lets you out next to your hotel. If you choose the Anoop you'll find that it's open and there's a 24 hour rooftop restaurant. You climb some stairs and that's it. The "stress" is over. Now you're free, you can do whatever you want. If you can't handle that then you can't handle India. It's a piece of cake compared to an all night bus ride through the mountains.

dreamsyndicate

I usually INSIST to the driver i stay at the gold regency (http://www.goldregency.com/) with a reservation. He may ask some questions to find out if you know the place (of course he'll say the place is a mess although it's very posh etc.) or if it's your 1'st time in India (of course it's not, even if it is ) , but I have never had a problem getting there .
From there it's a 5' min. walk to anoop and the other 24h-open places .

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Watson

For first timers it is definately not a "piece of cake" as anonymous puts it. I guess it all depends on experience. I also recommend getting someone to pick you up at the airport.

cyberhippie

Anonymous has a point I suppose but if it's your first time things can appear strange and unfamiliar, a fact that many taxi wallahs are aware of!!
Get a pick up at the airport, saves you time and it's nice to know you'll be in bed within a hour of landing.
PM me if you need a pick up address or check the hotel listings on this site!!

Alan D

For those of us who have done this quite a few times it may seem like a piece of cake. We know the hotel hasn't burnt down or closed and that a bomb probably hasn't just gone off in Paharganj. I've had all these diversionary tactics from taxi drivers over the years and I've met quite a few travellers who have fallen for them and ended up spending up to $100 for half a nights sleep in a hotel near the airport or in a hotel in Delhi miles from where they wanted to be.

Jarosity seemed a bit anxious about the arrival in Delhi so I gave what I thought was the best advice in this particular situation.

As yet I've never pre-booked a hotel taxi, only a hotel, to save trekking around Paharganj jetlagged looking for a room.

I bet there are one or two people on this forum who could tell a story about arriving in Delhi. Is anyone game?

jarosity

yo,
cheers for all the help and advice. i'm only a bit nervous because my friend's first experience on his trip to india in calcutta was pretty much a complete disaster as far as pre-paid taxis from airports. he ended up miles from where he was supposed to be and his driver was trying to take him for a ride. he was scared witless by the situation and everything that proceeded after the driver told him to "get the hell out of my cab". and he is an anarchist and does marginally unsafe things regularly, so if he was scared, then well, i'm not gonna chance that.
it would be a completely different story if i were arriving in the daytime, i think i could handle something like that pretty reasonably, i've been through that kind of thing before, but arriving so late and having no clue what to expect out of the country or anything else, especially after living in a pretty conservative country as korea is, i would like to just chill for the first night, and then throw myself into the fire. i want those kind of things to happen, i want to be confronted by situations that really challenge me and my outlook on things, but man, not on the first night so much.
yeah i know it will be fine, but although my concentration in university was indian studies, there's really only so much college will tell you. so yeah i'm prepared, but no, i'm not. thanks though for the help, this shit should be great.

steven_ber

Great idea Alan, I've started a new thread on arrival experiences.

First time arrival experiences.

wonderwomanusa

Jarosity,

You do have one other option: change some money and sit down and wait until morning -- then take the EATS (ex servicemen) bus to Delhi; it costs about a dollar and it will be daylight and not so crazy.

The last time I flew into Delhi at night, I waited on the bus until it was ready to go, and showed up at my hotel around 5am -- it was fairly easy to wake the sleeping watchman and he let me in to sit and wait until the staff at Ringo's woke up and got the tea going.

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kolobar

It is very simple as Anonymus says but he missed some details which it is good to have in mind. The fact is pre-paid taxi drivers are bribed by kashmiri agency owners so they will do anything to divert you from your way and drive you to the agency. There they will make a phony phone call (talking to someone next room) to find out the hotel you are heading to is full. Then they will "provide" you another hotel where you will be overpriced 100% or more. In the meantime, agency owner will try to sell you anything - houseboat holidays, overpriced bus tickets etc.
What to do? When you get in the prepaid taxi dont allow anyone to drive with you except the driver (they usually bring an assistant with them). Dont give him a prepaid ticket before you reach your destination. Get upset (fake it not for real) if he says he dont know the way to your destination (sometimes they pretend they dont know where Paharganj is so tell him to drive to New Delhi Railway station on Chelmsford rd and then into Main Baazar or tell him to drive you back to the airport so you will complain and find a new taxi). Dont allow any change of plans, dont get out of the car if he stops somewhere else, threat him you will report him to the police if he dont drive to your destination, write down his license plate,... And remember - take it as a game, fake your anger and amuse yourself...
Dealing with airport taxi drivers is the only time in India when you should be rude and behave as you would back home when something like this happens.

anonymous

My recent post on this thread seems to have struck a certain chord among some readers. Especially the part about a late night arrival being a "piece of cake". The intention was to dispel the notion that if a first time traveler could make it successfully over this first hurdle somehow things would get easier after that. I said that compared - and the keyword here is compared - to an all night bus ride through the mountains, a late night arrival in Delhi is easy. I wasn't giving any advice or travel tips, basically just asking a question. Why is a late night arrival considered a "baptism of fire" for first-timers.

From the responses that I read the answer appears to be fear of being cheated by the taxi driver. Faced with unfamiliar sights, sounds, smells, a first-timer is disoriented and more "vulnerable" than an experienced India traveler such as - well, such as myself. I'm going to share some tips. I should add that my last two trips have involved a late night arrival in Bombay. The last time I was in Delhi was three years ago so perhaps things have changed, but I don't think they could have changed much.

For starters, tip number one is: RTFM. That's computer geek speak for "Read the guide book". Buy a Lonely Planet. If it's too expensive for you then at least go to a book store where you can read it for free without buying. Read the "Getting Around - Taxi" section for Delhi. The anxiety of the first time traveler comes from fear of the unknown. After you read this you'll be informed. It will warn you about the crowds, the jet lag, scams etc. You'll be told where the taxi stand is, how much it costs to Paharganj, and alerted to some of the tricks the driver may try to pull on you.

Now comes some personal advice from yours truly, anonymous, experienced traveler. You're worried about being cheated? Welcome to India! That's the way it is, that's reality. Every single day, not just the first night, you're at risk of being cheated. I've been cheated many times. Experience doesn't grant me immunity. Not only have I been overcharged for taxis and hotel rooms countless times but I've also been pick-pocketed in Kathmandu and had a camera and expensive radio stolen on the notorious Varanasi train.

You think I'm making India sound like a bad place? It's not. I love India. The people are friendly, generous and usually honest. I've spent three years traveling through India and statistically speaking it's inevitable that I got ripped off. To be honest, I can't be bothered keeping my guard up continually, it reduces my enjoyment. Most of the time when I was being overcharged I knew it but didn't feel like hassling over small sums that seemed negligible to me.

OK, enough of this long-winded philosophizing. Here's the nitty gritty, some practical steps you can take to protect yourself on that all important "first night in Delhi". You've just stepped away from the taxi stand and in your hot little hand you clutch the receipt. Hold on to it! It's yours, your property. The taxi driver doesn't keep it, you do. On it is written your name, the fare, the destination, and the license number of the cab assigned to you. Let's hope that you've taken the advice in the LP and you found the right taxi stand and paid the correct price. Only when you have safely arrived at your destination do you give the receipt to the driver.

I'm a bidi smoker. For me it's become a tradition that I smoke a bidi as soon as I arrive in India. It's symbolic. Unfortunately however there are no bidis for sale inside the airport. It's considered low class. What I do is bum a few from a total stranger once I get outside. Rickshaw drivers are often bidi smokers. I go up to one of them and ask and they're happy to oblige. Why am I telling you this? Because if you're smoking a bidi, people will think that you're an experienced traveler. Now you can go find your driver and with that bidi dangling from your lip Bogart style he'll instantly assume that you're an old hand, not someone to be trifled with. Of course if you're not a smoker you won't like this idea. That's up to you. I'm merely telling you what advantage it brings.

First thing the driver will do is open the trunk of the cab to put your backpack in. Don't put your pack in the trunk. Insist on keeping it next to you on the back seat. Don't take no for an answer. I'll tell you later why you should do this. Next the driver will take the receipt and disappear. He's going to the taxi stand to have it registered. When he returns make sure you get the receipt back. If he doesn't give the receipt back immediately, demand it. Remember I told you the receipt is your property. If there are any problems later on it will come in handy. If he doesn't want to return it, take your pack and get out of the cab. Same advice if the driver wants to let another passenger in the cab. No, the taxi is for your exclusive use alone.

Be aware that there's nothing intrinsically dangerous about this situation. Don't be alarmed and let your imagination run away with you. You are not in any danger of physical violence. That piece of junk rattle-trap Ambassador Cab you're sitting in is an expensive investment. Therefore not just anybody can be a driver. It's a good job and the driver doesn't want any trouble. You're in a public place and all the other nosey cab drivers are looking on. He doesn't want you storming off to the taxi stand to make a complaint. But that's exactly what you threaten to do if there are any irregularities.

Fine, you've got the receipt, you're the only passenger and the cab pulls away. Leaving the airport you come up to a police checkpoint. You pass the receipt through the window to a policeman. He looks at it, hands it back and waves you on. Off you go, shaking and rattling over the darkened streets of Delhi. Very likely the driver will start talking to you. He'll want to know "what country are you coming from". He might want to know if you already have a hotel reservation and how much the room costs. There may be a lot of other questions too. My approach is this; I say to him, "I don't want to answer any questions. Concentrate on your driving and take me to Paharganj". I'm not surprised or annoyed when he ignores my admonition. If he persists in asking questions, I simply refuse to converse with him. If you don't like being rude then say, "Yes I have a reservation and friends are waiting for me at the hotel".

While I'm sitting in the cab ignoring the driver I'm occupied with removing the luggage tags from my backpack. It's not desirable to advertise my newly arrived in India status by displaying such obvious clues. The fact that my name is on the tags is another reason to get rid of them. I don't want to be walking down the main bazaar, some snoopy guy behind me, and the next thing I hear is, "Hello Mr. Anonymous, just look my shop". They aren't easy to rip up but I make sure that I at least scrape my name off before throwing the tags out the window. After that I smoke another bidi and soon I start recognizing familiar landmarks - Janpath for instance. That's me, the experienced traveler. But what do you - inexperienced traveler - do? You told him to take you to the Anoop right? Look out the cab window, if you don't see the Anoop sign, you don't get out of the cab. A previous post from Kolabar hit the nail on the head. It's a game. You complain, protest, say you'll get the police.

Yes, it really is that simple, even for a greenhorn. One last word of advice. Watch out for your head. Apart from smoking that bidi, I really know I'm in India after I've banged my head on a doorway for the first time.

fat freddy's cat

Hi anonymous,most excellent post!
I have to admit that when i read your first post i was like "oooh get you!", but i take it back!
I'm a beginner on the India scene(only been once) and before the trip i was really nervous(excited too of course) because i had read and been told various horror stories of what i could expect.I think that as you say it is good to be as clued up as possible before you go but don't get over paranoid and let it spoil your trip.I got ripped off on quite a few occasions and i'm pretty sure on my next trip out i will again,but India is just brilliant anyway and it's all part and parcel of a wonderful experience eh!

Being a smoker myself i thought that your bidi smoking tradition was excellent although i couldn't do it cos i tried them once and was about sick on my feet!You obviously put a lot of effort into your post and is much apprieciated

p.s. are you gonna tell us your name or will it blow your cover?!