PCV: Paid Caribbean Vacation

The strangest thing about India was the rickshaws that acted as taxis to get us from place to place. They are these scooters on 3 wheels and they have a canopy on them so they become something like a car. It’s nothing close to a car. The idea is to get as many people in them as you possibly can. The people outside of the gate will tell you that you can only fit about 3 people in them but this is far from the truth. On the first night, including the driver, we fit 11 people in one rickshaw. To get a better understanding of just how small of a space this is, it’s about the size of a Smart Car for any of you that know the size of those things. They are far from luxurious and are apparently rumored as the world’s most dangerous form of transportation. You better believe I got in one many times throughout my days in India.
As if just thinking to yourself about the size of them is not bad enough, the way they are driven is even worse. These things are like bumper cars on the street and the drivers are some of the most fearless people I have ever encountered. In the United States, we usually stay a long way from other people on the road, here it is not uncommon to be able at anytime to reach out no more than 5 inches and touch the car next to you. I have video of a city bus being about 2 inches from my arm as I hold on and try to stay in the car and not fall to my death. Upon leaving the states, I was given one mission: don’t die. I knew I couldn’t let too many people down so I decided to hold on for the mean time.
The spectacle of riding in a rickshaw is fun in itself but perhaps the best part of getting a rickshaw is actually scoring the rickshaw in the first place. It may seem like it is easy to get a taxi but this is far from a taxi, not to mention based on the color of my skin, I am immediately loaded with oodles of money. The going rate in India is about 6 rupees per km. There are about 44 rupees to 1 US Dollar. Needless to say, it is very cheap to ride around in these 3-wheeled scooters. The process starts at the gate when get you off the ship. You step out of the gate and in front of you are about 50 rickshaw drivers coming up to you and pining for your attention and hopefully your business. No matter where you tell them you want to go, they will have somewhere better for you to go to. Turn them down. You don’t have time for bullshit. When you find someone that “says” they will take you where you want to go be prepared to be charged 10x the going rate.
This is where the fun begins. We wanted to go to the post office the first day we were there just to check it out and buy some stamps for later in the week. The post office is about ½ mile away down the road and we actually walked there before it was over but that is not the point. When asking the drivers about the post office, almost all of us told us the one down the road was closed and they would take us to the other one downtown. If it wasn’t closed then it was about 10km (6 miles) away and it was too far to walk. We insisted to walk and just tried to ignore them. They don’t respond to this very well, aka they don’t get the hint. When you walk away, they will follow you. They just walk beside you, leaving their cars behind, until you find somewhere else to go. Getting rid of people is sometimes the hardest thing to do in India. A simple ‘no thank you’ doesn’t really do anything for you here.
If you do decide to get into the rickshaw, make sure you agree on a price before getting in. Anywhere in town should be less than 50 rupees for the entire ride. There is no per person fee, which is why you pack as many people as possible into these things.
The price never starts out that low so bargaining is crucial. In the end, we usually tipped but the bargaining is part of the culture and if you don’t participate you are missing out. I argued to the death with some drivers over 10 rupees (about 25 cents) and when I got my way and if he took us there we usually tipped him 100 rupees. Its not about the price, it’s about winning the game.
Now as if that’s not fun enough, once again the fun has only begun. Rickshaw drivers hardly ever take you where you want to go. They are going to take you somewhere they want to take you because of the commission they make off that place. The popular shopping market is Spencer’s (very good by the way, highly recommended) but it’s not so easy to get to because no one wants to take you there. On the way to the market, it will not be uncommon for the car to stop numerous times at silk emporiums, random shops, restaurants, and anything else under the sun because the driver knows someone that will give us a “special price.” Don’t believe them. All special price means is 10 times more than what they would usually charge. It’s crazy I tell you. You will constantly feel lied to but the important thing is not to get frustrated. It is how the country works. This is fun and the second you get mad, the fun stops. The strangest thing about India may have been these tiny 3-wheeled carts that took us for an adventure that no roller coaster can and nothing is more unsafe, adrenaline pumping and fun than a ride in an auto rickshaw in the middle of rush hour in a major city in India.