Delhi Airport to Taj & Back to Airport in 48 hours, am I mad?

atala

The driver HAS to sleep in the car because he is responsible for the thing. It could get stolen, in parts and pieces or the whole thing. It may be different if the car can be parked inside a locked gate of a hotel at night.

Do not fraternize too much with the driver. He is a servant, you are the master, otherwise he can become a rip off nuisance for you.

Aran

Ah Okay....

I appreciate your advice.

I have booked the driver and car now. reason being is that I am short of time and it's gonna be mostly in Goa trying to defrag from what is usually a fairly crap winter in Ireland but I thought I'm so close to seeing the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort that I would regret not taking the time to just go and see the bloody things. yeah ticking life experience boxes I suppose. Anyway so the idea of landing in Delhi airport and being picked up and (hopefully) it all being fairly plain sailing for the 48 hours from when I step of the plane sounds like a good idea. Then I can get back to the intended chill, battery recharge, cultural experience type thing that made me choose to do this trip.

I was kinda hoping the driver might be a bit of fun and we could go for a couple of pints in the evening and a bite to eat. I suppose maybe I have this romantic idea that we would have some fun together as we are stuck together for 48 hours. I had a comparable trip with a driver in the Morrocan Saharah and we had such a laugh together and that was a 3/4 day trip. He joined me for dinner and some booze I'd brought along (booze is not cool in Morrocow but a lot of folks do it anyway, quietly) and on the way back I felt like having a blow on something to smoke and he stopped at this little place in the middle of nowhere, got a little bit and said thats for you for free. They are pretty hassely in that part of the world but this guy was not trying to sell me anything.

Is it possible that this driver could be like that?

Or am I kidding myself???

shashank.aggarwal

I won't negate the possibility of having a buddy-driver sort of a guy...

I already have experience couple of them, they are simple human beings, not everyone is a tout !!

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atala

Unlikely. He is going to take advantage of you in some way, maybe it is not going to hurt you, because you are on a short trip only and can afford it. In India servants feel contempt for masters who are not up to their "task". Be friendly, but not close. He can make a month's worth of his salary from you in two days, if you offer yourself to him in such ways.

For heavens sake do not offer any alcohol to an Indian person (they get drunk much faster it seems not being used to alcohol), let alone a driver. He requires all the attention he can gather to focus on the road. leave him alone. On the road you can invite him for a meal, and he should get some extra cash to buy his food for breakfast and dinner. The Delhi-Agra road is quite a busy stretch. And there is lots of heavy industry located there, so lots of lorries, dangerous driving. Strictly no alcohol for the driver. It is not allowed in hotels in India anyway.

Aran

Wow Atala, I have to be up to the task of being a master?? That is such weird concept for me to get my head round..

Okay point taken about the possiblity the driver is a lightweight with regards to alcohol and he is the one in charge of the car. Just seems like a good way to break the ice in my culture.

Regarding the acohol in hotels not being allowed, I had no idea. I'm in U.A.E. for a while the week before and was informed that it's ONLY allowed in hotels in that part of the world, wow different strokes for different folks!!

Okay so keep the driver straight in the evenings but by all means get the guy a nice meal or two as an offering along the way?

atala

have you ever observed Indian tourists coming to Europe how they deal with servants there? They are quite shocked to see that they should carry their own luggage by themselves, if they are not in an upper class hotel. India is still largely in the feudal mode in terms of the master-servant relationship. They did not have a French Revolution there with liberte, egalite, fraternite, inspite of Gandhi and the rest. So it is understandable that you feel reluctant or even disgusted to return to the feudal habit. Of course, modern India also has its post-modern sides.

A Delhiite won't be a one with villager habits, even though he has probably migrated from a village to Delhi himself.The urbanization will have left its mark on his behaviour. But he can respect you more if you are in charge, friendly, but with a distance between you and him at times.

edwardseco

Some people complain that the Red Fort, Delhi isn't worth visiting anymore what with the restrictions due to security and debilitation..

Aran

Okay I'll shall go with the flow and be modest, friendly yet masterfull. Wow I'm looking forward to this trip. Atala thank you for the usefull insite to the feudal realities.

Edwardseco, you know I just have to go to the red fort anyway, don't you? (gonna catch the sound and light show which was kindly suggested by another poster, whatever that turns out to be) Just curious what you mean by debilitation? does that mean the fort has suffered structurarly and astheaticaly from abuse and polution?

jenk

Is there a similar prepaid taxi stand at Agra Fort Station??
Do these pre-paid taxis take you where you are supposed to go and not somewhere else?
If there is likely to be a hassle with the station taxis, we would arrange a pickup through our Agra hotel.

atala

a hotel pick up is always preferable. I suppose the Agra Cant station is not big enough to have a pre-paid taxi stand. prepaid taxis are reliable. You pay a certain amount more than you would pay for a regular taxi. You get a sheet of paper with the number of the car on ít. You could complain to the police if you were cheated with proof in hand. But they generally do not. You hand the piece of paper only at the end of the ride to the driver; that is how he will be able to collect his payment later at his office.

edwardseco

Essentially, lack of maintenance and a modest terrorist attack..