Beggars, street vendors at India's Taj Mahal scare away tourists

indiamike

A visit to the Taj Mahal, India's landmark tourist attraction, is fast becoming a nightmare.

There has been increasing reports of foreign tourists being harassed by street vendors, touts, unregistered guides and beggars.

Many tourists have started avoiding the area.

From the moment they enter the parking area of the famed Taj Mahal in the city of Agra, tourists are hounded by hawkers, unlicensed tour guides and beggars.

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steven_ber

Great image Mike

bijapuri

sounds like Agra is the same at it has always been since I first went in 1970

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maree

I'd say it's probably way worse than it was in 1970. I was here last in '95 and it's gotten much worse than then. I'm sitting in an internet cafe waiting for the sun to come out and burn away some fog before I go in but the touting outside the enclosure is bad. Went out to Fatehpur Sikri yesterday and had so many people wanting to be my guide... or sometimes not my "guide" but they just wanted to walk around and talk with me and didn't want money... yeah, right!! When you get about twenty guys all with that line it's not hard to see through. The problem is is that a polite no won't work with them and some of them get quite rude and abusive. It wasn't a very relaxing trip. The other disturbing thing on the way out there are the captive bears which are made to dance as cars go by in the hope of some rupees... sick.

bijapuri

maybe I can rent a lathi stick for Agra . . . Seriously! might be worth renting a chowkidar to keep driver company, isnt it?

LuAnnandJawahar

The first tourist attraction I ever visited was the Red Fort in Delhi. It was a nightmare and I was in tears by the time we were half way through. The harassment didn't stop at the gate! It is enough to make someone never want to return to India.
Obviously I got over it.

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Alan D

I can't remember any hassles at the Taj Mahal when we first visited it in 1966 and the main problem at the Red Fort in Delhi was in the bazaar area where every other person would be whispering in your ear "change money". As they were offering about twice the official rate that really wasn't a problem.

Generally once you're inside the area of these monuments controlled by the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) most of the hassle stops. Outside is another matter though, and in the case of the Taj where the foreign tourist is paying 500R's tax to Agra City Council it's a disgrace. There was a lot of talk about cleaning up the area outside the Taj a couple of years ago but it sounds like very little has happened. There seems to be a total lack of will to face these problems.

Maree - Sorry to hear that your visit to Fatepur Sikri was made less than enjoyable by the harrassment, again, as you say, outside the main complex controlled by the ASI.

I'm not sure what can be done. I did once suggest on this forum that a special tourist police force should be set up in these places.
I do know that this is all very bad publicity for the Indian tourist trade.

NewYorkKid

The harrasment exists in possibly all tourist spots. That is actually worst part of my trip.

I ended up being rude to these folks, I wouldn't look at them, I just ignore any questions/greetings/remarks, or just keep saying "NO!" to whatever is said or asked... I hated doing that, but had to, to keep my sanity and save my valuable and limited time. I just hope they were all touts and not some friendly locals I was rude to.

p.s. maree, about the animals... I just turn my face and refuse to even look at their animal displays, as a form of protest to their act plus I know I will be so sad to look into those sad eyes.

bijapuri

there's a long thin package under my C-mas tree- I wonder if ot's my long awaited lathi stick?
Looking into getting it tricked out with some taser technology . . . .

walk softly and carry a big stick- TR

Merchant

If you are absolutely dimissive, firm in saying "NO," and wave your hand for emphasis, you may have some more luck--at least with the throng following you. Most of us try to be polite, which is useless. If you have an air of superiority--as if you've been here before and don't have time for such nonsense--you can usually get them to seek more malleable, wide-eyed prey. Most important, KEEP MOVING. If you stop, you're dead.

With practice, you'll be able to say, "Don't even think about apporaching me" with just a glance.

Freeing yourself from touts requires you to muster more haughtiness and derision than most of us are comfortable with--but, BUT, it does work, and it's what Indian tourists do. So suck up your bleeding heart for the poor bastards (hard and uncharitable as it may seem), and tell the guys to scram!

bijapuri

last yaer, a persistant drum seller followed me down that main road in colaba. When he was still nipping my heels on the second block, I turned to him and hit the head of his drum, which went flying out of his hands, onto the pavement, and cracked. he made a feeble attempt to feign outrage, but mostly, he seemed to be thinking how fast he could hitchike back to his village and give up his Mumbai dreams.

Sometimes you can't make an omlette without breaking aggs.

NewYorkKid

The funniest thing was, when I returned to New York City: the moment I got by customs into the arrival hall, I was stopped by an Indian guy and he asked me "You need a taxi?"

I guess it is the same everywhere... at least in NY there was only one taxi guy and he wasn't persistent.

neoncarrot

We have a few techniques for the human limpets, all of which have worked in different situations. Which we use depends on our mood and what we're faced with.

1. Being a large and usually scruffy/unshaven/hairy chap seems to help. I have a natural gift for glaring, and as Merchant suggests the "dont even toy with the idea" glare works, especially before breakfast when I really do mean it.

2. Kirsten just replying to anything in her rapidfire native north German without a solitary word of English takes a few minutes to work but is the most fun. Since I am linguistically challenged (being british), I just blast off every word I know in any language for cheers; has the same effect.

3. Hassler blindness is a version of the "banner blindness" seen on the web. They just dont exist; no eye contact, no "go away", just no response at all. The trick to this one is actually to filter them out so they really dont invade your space. It takes a serious amount of practice, but works the best. They get bored after two or three minutes of non existence and find someone more interactive. If you need practice go to Palolem; if you can ignore the Kashmiri traders for a week, you are up to olympic standard.

4. Kirsten occasionally unleashes her Hindi and askes them every question under the sun about their life history. Trying to understand her or actually answer her is not going to earn any money, so they usually get bored. If you do it with young kids the answers can be interesting anyway.

5. The very last resort is just plain abuse, or if they are really in my face a solid boot hard on a chappaled foot. If theres a cop nearby even making the move to talk to him will get rid of a whole crowd of limpets.

Its your day or theirs, and I am not going to have mine crapped on in an attempt to sell me "services" I would never buy anyway.

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Dr Funkenstein

That'll be me you've just described.

I've been getting a bit despondent reading all of this stuff about agressive touts so that's cheered me up no end.

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nanstallon

The rude word in Afrikaans - footseck - usually works. It's obvious what it means, but for a rather over-polite tourist it avoids the need to actually swear at least in one's own language, unless of course you're from South Africa.

I did find touts a pain in Delhi more than anywhere else. I suppose they're just trying to make a living.

John