http://www.indiamike.com/india Dog Poo on your shoe? Discuss the latest travel headaches. en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:03:45 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.indiamike.com/india/images/misc/rss.jpg http://www.indiamike.com/india http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams-and-annoyances-in-india-f8/experience-of-apartheid-at-bundi-t95805/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:03:04 GMT I recently visited Beautiful Bundi.It was a wonderful Trip.Our Guest House was Uma Megh Haveli and we eat mostly at haveli Katkaoun.They are wonderful and help ful persons.In the evening I think to try to eat at Roof top Restaurant at kasera Heritage hoping to have a dinner veiwing the wonderful Palace. But as I went to the hotel and meet the owner at the ground floor he told us that there is no restaurant while there was big board telling rooftop cafe. It makes me upset.It seems that he does not want a indian family to be at his rooftop restaurant.Very shamful. A fellow indian does not allow a another indian to eat at restaurant. I think indians too have right to appreciate beauty of Palace Complex from his Roof top restaurant. I recently visited Beautiful Bundi.It was a wonderful Trip.Our Guest House was Uma Megh Haveli and we eat mostly at haveli Katkaoun.They are wonderful and help ful persons.In the evening I think to try to eat at Roof top Restaurant at kasera Heritage hoping to have a dinner veiwing the wonderful Palace. But as I went to the hotel and meet the owner at the ground floor he told us that there is no restaurant while there was big board telling rooftop cafe.
It makes me upset.It seems that he does not want a indian family to be at his rooftop restaurant.Very shamful.
A fellow indian does not allow a another indian to eat at restaurant.
I think indians too have right to appreciate beauty of Palace Complex from his Roof top restaurant. ]]> Scams and Annoyances in India Savage Garden http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams-and-annoyances-in-india-f8/experience-of-apartheid-at-bundi-t95805/ http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams-and-annoyances-in-india-f8/help-with-delhi-airport-madness-t95637/ Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:54:26 GMT Everytime I go to India I land in the middle of the night in Delhi. At the airport everything is usually ok. Collect luggage, clear customs etc. But once we get outside it's a whole different story.

Our cousins generally show up to get us. Usually it's my family of four flying in. One cousin who has two cars and a driver waiting in the parking lot.

Here's where the madness starts. On the way to car people are constantly swarming around us, asking to carry our bags. Some are bold enough to try and just take it and carry it. I don't speak Hindi so I don't know how to say "go away" I just keep saying no no.

We get to the car and the men don't leave they all try and help my cousin get the stuff in the car. My cousin and his driver and my dad try and shoo them off. We stuff everything in the car and then the men begin demanding payment for "helping us" with our luggage. My cousin's no pushover and tells me to get in the car, we're leaving. The men continue to swarm around the car. My cousin tries to back up and one of men starts acting like my cousin ran over his foot. He immediately begins demanding money. My cousin gives him the finger and we drive away.

Augh.. It's a horrible experience and something like this happens every year. Does anyone have any advice on how to handle this? Especially if you don't speak hindi? I would love any help.[cry]

Thanks! ]]> Scams and Annoyances in India sonibug13 http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams-and-annoyances-in-india-f8/help-with-delhi-airport-madness-t95637/ http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams-and-annoyances-in-india-f8/how-to-avoid-the-gas-connection-buy-a-stove-scam-t95242/ Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:10:10 GMT Ok, so I am moving into my new apartment this weekend. And since one of the BIG reasons I am moving is so that I can cook for myself -- which requires a gas can! Seems simple enough, just buy a stove and a gas can, but even my Indian friends cringe when I ask how to get that done.

I've heard flying rumors of being forced to pay up to 4,000 for a stove and gas connection, waiting weeks & months for the connection, etc. [shock] I don't want to buy a 2,000 rupee stove when I know I can buy a decent one for less than 1,000.

How do I get around the scam without spending weeks running around the city? Do I need a ration card? I am on a student visa, so proof of residence is all legit & legal, but why would I need a ration card? I don't qualify for any kind of assistance/subsidy. :confused:

I'm fine with paying what I need to, but I hate, hate, hate getting cheated! :mad: I have better things to do with my time/money/temper! [Blush] ]]> Scams and Annoyances in India *jyoti* http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams-and-annoyances-in-india-f8/how-to-avoid-the-gas-connection-buy-a-stove-scam-t95242/ http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams-and-annoyances-in-india-f8/scams-in-new-delhi-the-price-of-a-train-ticket-t95210/ Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:54:58 GMT Go grab a coffee. This one takes a while! Taken from my blog - www.newadventuresinbackpacking.com I now consider myself a fairly seasoned backpacker. As well as seeing and doing a lot of things, I have become used to locals trying to take advantage of backpackers. It’s all part of the game and I don’t actually have a problem with it. They know that if I am in their country I must have money. In most cases a lot more money than them and in most places I’ve been the locals will go the distance in an attempt to wean that money off you. However none of my previous experiences can compare with what I have witnessed in just four days in India. It’s so sly, it’s almost impressive. Here is my attempt to buy a ticket out of Delhi: My first attempted scam came by the way of a fellow called Anji who walked past me on the street and complimented my ear piercing, asked a few of the standard questions asked of tourists, e.g. where I’m from, how long am I in India and of course where was I going. I was attempting to find Connaught Place (centre of Delhi) and he assured me he was going in that direction for a birthday party. All the way there he assured me that he was just practicing his English and wanted to help as he was coming to England next year to be a doctor and maybe I could help (meaning pay) him when I got back there. He told me he would take me to a government tourist office so I could get a good map and he dropped me off there. I will admit whilst talking to him, he seemed very genuine and the “government tourist office” were very very helpful, booking me on a day trip round Delhi at quite a cheap rate for the next day. This is not an officail travel office! This is not an officail travel office! On the way out to dinner later that night just outside my hotel, I caught the attention of another guy on the street. This time it was to stop me from going into my chosen restaurant that night rather than admire my ears. Somehow, he could tell I was new in Delhi. We chatted a bit about London and Scotland and next thing I know he’s inviting me into his office for some chai for a chat about India. When I get there, I suspected right away that this was a scam. There were pics on the wall of his supposed uncle who apparently was friends with Michael Palin. A letter of recommendation that didn’t look that formal from the Rector of the UCL in London as well as supposedly some press clippings from a Danish newspaper that had allegedly done a feature on them. They also had a logo claiming to be an associate of STA Travel (student company in the UK) but it was just written in white paint with no STA logo to be seen. They assured me that the previous “tourist office” were scam artists (which later turned out to be true) and that because of his wonderful reputation if I brought him the receipt he would call them up and get my money back. All out of the goodness of his heart. He then, like the previous guy, mapped out a 17 day trip for me taking in all the sights of Rajasthan and showed me leaflets for some very swanky hotels. At this point I knew they were totally at it. He did his sums and told me this trip with my own shuttle bus would cost a mere $530 gbp. I made my excuses assuring them that I was so hungry but once I had finished eating I would be back with my receipt. The next day after the tour, which wasn’t in anyway a rip off and proved beyond any doubt that the STA guys from the night before were scam artists. Though all it was in fact was a sweetener for when I returned to the first ‘government tourist office’ and boy they really put the effort in on my return. This was also where I found out that almost anyone call themselves “Government Tourist Office” or “Dehli Tourist advice”. Almost the same deal as the STA boys, but a lot cheaper $350gbp to exact. They assured me that all the trains were booked and that the only way to get out of Delhi was to take a shuttle bus or private car. They even called up the train company for me who took the trouble of speaking to me and taking my name and asking where I wanted to go but wait! Everywhere because of the high tourist season was booked out and the earliest I could get out of Delhi was the 12th and no one in their right mind would want to stay here that long. The phone call really threw me; maybe the shuttle bus was the only way to go? Maybe I would have to part with $350 gbp to go on this trip just to get out of here. They actually had me until the phone rang again. Apparently it was an English girl who they had booked earlier that day and she wanted to tell me I should definitely go along, would be great to have another Brit come along. I sat there in disbelief, the accent was so over exaggerated it was clearly a fake. I could not believe they thought they were going to pull this off. How stupid did they think I was? They had someone in an office presumably set up to dupe stupid tourists, taking fake railway calls and getting people to mimic whatever foreigner was in the office at the time. So sneaky, so sly, so much effort and in the end kind of amusing really. New Delhi train station - Where the fun really begins! New Delhi train station - Where the fun really begins! So now having guessed that there probably were trains out of Delhi I went to the train station to seek out the ticket office to book in person. Even that is not simple in Delhi. There are scam artists everywhere trying to get you to go to their official tourist office. I got caught out by one guy who took me to the ‘tourist office’, which was a grotty, little office across the street from the train station. He did a mock search for trains and low and behold no trains out of Delhi. The only way to go was by his tourist bus priced at 12 gbp. Twelve pounds goes a long way in Delhi, certainly longer than a bus journey. So out of that official tourist office I went too. It was quite fun trying to find the real official office (its on the 2nd floor of New Delhi train station for those who wondered). Touts telling me it’s over there, it’s on the other side of town, it’s closed, it burnt down, and at long long last I found myself in the right place talking to a guy who didn’t have rupee signs on his mind telling me that I could get plenty trains out of Delhi for about the equivalent of $6gbp. Alot cheaper than the $530gbp of the previous night! At times frustrating, but all part of the fun and experience. I do wonder how many people fall for this. None of these guys looked like they were starving and struggled to be well turned out so I presume scamming tourists is a very lucrative market in Delhi. Go grab a coffee. This one takes a while!

Taken from my blog - www.newadventuresinbackpacking .com

I now consider myself a fairly seasoned backpacker. As well as seeing and doing a lot of things, I have become used to locals trying to take advantage of backpackers. It’s all part of the game and I don’t actually have a problem with it. They know that if I am in their country I must have money. In most cases a lot more money than them and in most places I’ve been the locals will go the distance in an attempt to wean that money off you.

However none of my previous experiences can compare with what I have witnessed in just four days in India. It’s so sly, it’s almost impressive.

Here is my attempt to buy a ticket out of Delhi:

My first attempted scam came by the way of a fellow called Anji who walked past me on the street and complimented my ear piercing, asked a few of the standard questions asked of tourists, e.g. where I’m from, how long am I in India and of course where was I going. I was attempting to find Connaught Place (centre of Delhi) and he assured me he was going in that direction for a birthday party. All the way there he assured me that he was just practicing his English and wanted to help as he was coming to England next year to be a doctor and maybe I could help (meaning pay) him when I got back there. He told me he would take me to a government tourist office so I could get a good map and he dropped me off there. I will admit whilst talking to him, he seemed very genuine and the “government tourist office” were very very helpful, booking me on a day trip round Delhi at quite a cheap rate for the next day.
This is not an officail travel office!

This is not an officail travel office!

On the way out to dinner later that night just outside my hotel, I caught the attention of another guy on the street. This time it was to stop me from going into my chosen restaurant that night rather than admire my ears. Somehow, he could tell I was new in Delhi. We chatted a bit about London and Scotland and next thing I know he’s inviting me into his office for some chai for a chat about India. When I get there, I suspected right away that this was a scam. There were pics on the wall of his supposed uncle who apparently was friends with Michael Palin. A letter of recommendation that didn’t look that formal from the Rector of the UCL in London as well as supposedly some press clippings from a Danish newspaper that had allegedly done a feature on them. They also had a logo claiming to be an associate of STA Travel (student company in the UK) but it was just written in white paint with no STA logo to be seen.

They assured me that the previous “tourist office” were scam artists (which later turned out to be true) and that because of his wonderful reputation if I brought him the receipt he would call them up and get my money back. All out of the goodness of his heart. He then, like the previous guy, mapped out a 17 day trip for me taking in all the sights of Rajasthan and showed me leaflets for some very swanky hotels. At this point I knew they were totally at it. He did his sums and told me this trip with my own shuttle bus would cost a mere $530 gbp. I made my excuses assuring them that I was so hungry but once I had finished eating I would be back with my receipt.

The next day after the tour, which wasn’t in anyway a rip off and proved beyond any doubt that the STA guys from the night before were scam artists. Though all it was in fact was a sweetener for when I returned to the first ‘government tourist office’ and boy they really put the effort in on my return. This was also where I found out that almost anyone call themselves “Government Tourist Office” or “Dehli Tourist advice”. Almost the same deal as the STA boys, but a lot cheaper $350gbp to exact. They assured me that all the trains were booked and that the only way to get out of Delhi was to take a shuttle bus or private car. They even called up the train company for me who took the trouble of speaking to me and taking my name and asking where I wanted to go but wait! Everywhere because of the high tourist season was booked out and the earliest I could get out of Delhi was the 12th and no one in their right mind would want to stay here that long.

The phone call really threw me; maybe the shuttle bus was the only way to go? Maybe I would have to part with $350 gbp to go on this trip just to get out of here. They actually had me until the phone rang again. Apparently it was an English girl who they had booked earlier that day and she wanted to tell me I should definitely go along, would be great to have another Brit come along. I sat there in disbelief, the accent was so over exaggerated it was clearly a fake. I could not believe they thought they were going to pull this off. How stupid did they think I was? They had someone in an office presumably set up to dupe stupid tourists, taking fake railway calls and getting people to mimic whatever foreigner was in the office at the time. So sneaky, so sly, so much effort and in the end kind of amusing really.
New Delhi train station - Where the fun really begins!

New Delhi train station - Where the fun really begins!

So now having guessed that there probably were trains out of Delhi I went to the train station to seek out the ticket office to book in person. Even that is not simple in Delhi. There are scam artists everywhere trying to get you to go to their official tourist office. I got caught out by one guy who took me to the ‘tourist office’, which was a grotty, little office across the street from the train station. He did a mock search for trains and low and behold no trains out of Delhi. The only way to go was by his tourist bus priced at 12 gbp. Twelve pounds goes a long way in Delhi, certainly longer than a bus journey. So out of that official tourist office I went too.

It was quite fun trying to find the real official office (its on the 2nd floor of New Delhi train station for those who wondered). Touts telling me it’s over there, it’s on the other side of town, it’s closed, it burnt down, and at long long last I found myself in the right place talking to a guy who didn’t have rupee signs on his mind telling me that I could get plenty trains out of Delhi for about the equivalent of $6gbp.

Alot cheaper than the $530gbp of the previous night!

At times frustrating, but all part of the fun and experience.

I do wonder how many people fall for this. None of these guys looked like they were starving and struggled to be well turned out so I presume scamming tourists is a very lucrative market in Delhi. ]]> Scams and Annoyances in India rosscameron http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams-and-annoyances-in-india-f8/scams-in-new-delhi-the-price-of-a-train-ticket-t95210/ http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams-and-annoyances-in-india-f8/avoiding-scams-touts-in-delhi-my-experience-t94362/ Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:11:34 GMT Delhi was our point of entry into India and after Vrindavan it was my favorite place in India. Sure it's crowded and hot and dirty but since I had read so much about it's colourful past I felt I had the upper hand in being able to see beyond the car part dealers and junk stops, to understand what this city once was. The energy of Delhi is like nothing I have experienced before and being a person who gets a kick out of stressful situations I found this city highly addictive. I'm back home now in my European capital which I have come to nickname "The Morgue" which energy wise can only be described as that in comparison to Delhi.

The downside to Delhi are the scams and touts, while dealing with these people my boyfriend and I would sometimes look at each other and laugh and say "No one is your friend in Delhi" which isn't exactly accurate as we met some genuine people who weren't out to get anything at all.

Prepaid taxi from Indira Gandhi airport - I read somewhere on Indiamike that when paying for a taxi they will short change you when paying with a 500 note, so we decided to try this out and sure enough they did, they will ask you questions like "oh first time in India?" and "are you alone or is he your boyfriend?" just to cause confusion.

Prepaid taxi from airport to central Delhi - I was sitting in the back of the taxi and could see the driver in the front eyeing my boyfriend (who was in the front beside him) to see if he could get something out of us. Luckily we can speak to each other in languages apart from English so I warned my boyfriend and he just got his mobile phone out and pretended to speak to someone called Pappu, "yes Pappu, we are now in the taxi, we are coming to your house" ... it sounds quiet comical but it really did work, the driver didn't bother us at all!

Auto rickshaw drivers - These drivers along with shop keepers where the biggest annoyance in Delhi. On the first day we were paying into the hundreds even for short journeys, later we pretended to be living in India, "me hindustani" but still it didn't work, the only time we didn't get ripped off was when the stress had got too much (even for me) on Chelmsford Road and I had started crying, almost melodramatically the driver who had been bothering us started crying too saying "tourists were always happy until now" and insisted we get in his rickshaw and he would take us anywhere for free! Generally we were never successful in beating the rickshaw drivers.

Cycle rickshaw drivers - Our first time in one of these was heart breaking, going from Jama Masjid to Pahar Ganj. The driver was old and the further our journey went the more alarmed we were becoming, the driver was so exhausted and looked like he was about to collapse. When we got to the flyover at Gupta Road I refused to stay in the back of the rickshaw any longer and my boyfriend and I helped him push it along the street, by the time we got to Pahar Ganj we both felt awful and gave him four times what he had asked for and a packet of cigarettes. After that we never tried to get the Indian price for a cycle rickshaw and always tipped them we more than they had asked.

New Delhi train station - I can't believe, after all of the warnings I had read, that we would fall for this. Approaching the station we were approached by a smartly dressed man saying he was an officer and that the tourist reservation center was closed. I suspected he was lying so I asked him for his ID, he got a bit of paper out of his pocket and showed us it, it was all in hindi, I told him he was lying and I tried to grab the bit of paper. I think it might have been a general Indian ID card, well, funny to think back now but he was FURIOUS, he started shouting at me "Madam, I'am an officer, I can arrest you for doing that" ... I began to feel guilty for suspecting him and he led us away from the train station to small travel agents across the street. I told him I wanted to get a coffee first and he then started saying "but they sell coffee in the travel agents, please go there" then I knew he was lying. We managed to get away from him, went back to the train station and sure enough found the reservation center open on the first floor.

Delhi Metro - After we decided to avoid the non-prepaid rickshaws we got a map of the metro and tried to become more Delhiite. Our first time buying a token the woman told us the fare was 120 rupee while it was only 12, once we told her she was wrong she still tried to short change us. To be honest she was the only person who did try and scam us while using public transport. The metro is clean but I wouldn't say efficent, I wouldn't recommend trying to get in a carriage at Rajiv Chowk anytime but late evening. Everyone tries to cram into the full-to-capacity carriages, once my boyfriend got in a minor fist fight when a man had pushed me aside, another time his shirt got ripped when the people had rushed to get in. After this we decided to avoid the metro if we had to change at Rajiv Chowk and just use prepaid rickshaws.

Jama Masjid - This was the worst scam of all. My boyfriend didn't know anything about India, I was the one who basically dragged him there. He is Muslim so I thought I would show him the Jama Masjid to try and impress him with India's past. When we approached the mosque they demanded 200 rupee each from us to enter. I think this is the entry fee if you have a camera but the people who work there just abuse this and demand 200 rupee from everyone, camera or no camera. This seemed to insult my boyfriend and he refused to pay the entry saying it is a mosque and in a place of God there should be no entry. Eventually they let him in for free. While in the mosque my boyfriend went to wash as he decided to pray. I was alone and the man (guard) who walks around with a stick was trying to pick me up! I just ignored him. Later he came back to me and my boyfriend and they spoke about Islam, he took us to a corner of the mosque where an old man open a cupboard and showed us a hair of the beard of the prophet Mohammad. I tried to forget the incident at the entry of the mosque and when the old man gave us the visitors book to write in I wrote really nice things. As soon as the old man closed the book he demanded 600 rupee from us! At this point my boyfriend was furious saying they are not real Muslims but still we gave them a fraction of what they asked for (out of principle). At this point the guard who had tried to pick me up earlier marched us to the entry of the mosque and asked for a tip. When we refused he told us to leave! We told him we would stay as long as we wanted as it was a mosque which we did. I was very embarrassed infront of my boyfriend, instead of showing him this beautiful building it just turned out to be a joke. When we did leave we went to the police to report them but they didn't understand the principle of what had happened so we just gave up.

Even after all of this I still love Delhi, there were so many times that this city really captivated my imagination. Seeing an elephant walking down a busy street, or the monkeys stealing fruit around Kashmere Gate, or while peering into a little shop in Old Delhi where they were pressing envelopes a little boy who was working there tried to hide (i guess incase they thought I would report them?).Walking around the back streets of Pahar Ganj, once when I was alone I met a little boy, he was about twelve (but he told me he was fifteen) and was wearing rags, we spoke about his life and he wanted to take me home to meet his mum, or the families at night around India Gate who told us about their lives, or the little children all crowded around a television in the cotton market outside Jama Masjid watching what might have been a Indian popstar. It's the simplest things like this which make India what it is. ]]> Scams and Annoyances in India anna paradox http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams-and-annoyances-in-india-f8/avoiding-scams-touts-in-delhi-my-experience-t94362/ http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams-and-annoyances-in-india-f8/translation-needed-t93998/ Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:26:50 GMT hallo everyone, I would love it someone that speaks I suppose Hindi or Urdu would be so kind to translate the following, that a lady on the street in Delhi wanted me to learn (she could not speak a word of english, not could i speak enough hindi to understand...) This (or something like this) is what she wanted me to learn: Thik hai thik hai bata dungi Could anybody help with translation into English ? it would be much appreciated !!! hallo everyone, I would love it someone that speaks I suppose Hindi or Urdu would be so kind to translate the following, that a lady on the street in Delhi wanted me to learn (she could not speak a word of english, not could i speak enough hindi to understand...)

This (or something like this) is what she wanted me to learn:

Thik hai thik hai bata dungi

Could anybody help with translation into English ? it would be much appreciated !!! ]]> Scams and Annoyances in India eeeooo http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams-and-annoyances-in-india-f8/translation-needed-t93998/ http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams-and-annoyances-in-india-f8/children-hitting-and-touching-me-t93739/ Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:40:13 GMT Apart from getting a lot of stares, I've been pretty lucky in my travels to India - no illness, no scams or rip-offs, no sexual harassment. But I do have one problem in Rajasthan: kids running up to me and hitting me! not asking for money or candy or anything, just hitting/touching and sometimes saying hello and running away. Even grabbing and pulling my hair sometimes. What's going on here? does this happen to other people? do their mothers tell them to lurk in the streets and hit westerners? Would they randomly hit and touch Indian adults walking down the street? Are there western tourists out there encouraging kids to do this because they think it's cute??

I'm a middle school teacher and have little patience for kids getting unruly with adults, so I go into school marm mode when they do this; that is, I get really irritated at their disrespectful behavior and glare at them and say 'stop'. Unfortunately it's happened so many times already that I think the next time some brat does this, I'm really going to lose it!
Help IM'ers! :mad: ]]> Scams and Annoyances in India Gelsomina http://www.indiamike.com/india/scams-and-annoyances-in-india-f8/children-hitting-and-touching-me-t93739/