India is a strange place. Absolute poverty and absolute extravagance appear to co-exist seamlessly. One of the very frustrating experiences to be had is the inability to gauge if and when you are being taken for a ride, which is more often than not, always!
Enter one of the modern malls, and find yourself in what the Indians call a "Brand Shop". Brand name shops sell the sort of stuff you can find in a place like Canadian malls for prices that are typically more than what you expect to pay in Canada. These are not spaces where prices can be negotiated. The prices are what they are.
Outside this space are the Souks, this is where the prices are negotiable. Thanks however to our skin color, you can bank on having to start the haggling process from very high up.
In Delhi, we were trying to arrange for a car to take us to Agra. Actually, we had wanted to take the train so as not to risk the traffic jams that would only slow us down (trains don't share their tracks with cows, pigs, cyclists, tuk-tuks, cars, trucks and pedestrians!). But apparently (or at least that's what the hotel told us) all train tickets were already booked up for the hour we were trying to head off.
How much for a hired car to Agra and back?
"16000 INR", fired back the agent at Le Meridien.
To put this in context, this is around CAD$332.
Is the car that Le Meridien going to travel in its own lane? Unimpeded by beggars and vagrants and cows? Or was it not going to take the same damn path.
Earlier in the day, another tourist agency had quoted me INR 10000. (CAD $207)
Already, the folk at Le Meridien were lining their own pockets with an additional CAD $130.
When in India, you should expect to pay around INR 10 for every kilometer traveled. At a distance of 253 km or so from Delhi, one would expect then that the trip to Agra should cost INR 5060. Which is half the price that the travel agent quoted us.
To put things into perspective, a train ride from Delhi to Agra is around INR700 if you are traveling 1st class. You can book a return trip for INR1200. For 3 people, this comes to INR3600 (CAD$75).
So the luxury of having your own personal chauffeur costs you an additional CAD$75- a reasonable deal.
Along the way, the driver stopped to fill up gas (Diesel). At INR40 a litre, and a 20 Litre fill up, the bill came to INR800. In addition, the driver paid the Tolls to take the "Highway" (this terms is used very loosely indeed, this was the furthest thing from being a highway), which came out to about INR200. So his cost is INR1000.
We hired our driver for INR6000. So he earns INR5000 (CAD$104) for the day. He may or may not own the car, perhaps part of this money has to go to the owner. If he were able to do make this trip every day, he would be earning CAD$3000 a month, or about CAD$36000 a year, which is an exceptionally good salary, one would think.
Hire the same driver for the day within the confines of the city (in this case Delhi), and the rate to hire him drops dramatically- INR 1500. You are of course not covering hundreds of kilometers, only tens of kilometers (20-30). So that's about INR300 in rates, and an additional INR1000 (CAD$20) for having a personal driver at your disposal. If that's the kind of work this person got every day, he'd be bringing in $600 a month, or CAD$7200 a year, and this includes the cost of running his business (gas, car repair, and what have you).
For comparison notes:
Most cities have government emporiums. There is no negotiations to be made in those places. Expect to pay higher than in souks where you can bargain, and if you are not in the mood of haggling, it is a safe place to go to buy things at a fair price.
Enter one of the modern malls, and find yourself in what the Indians call a "Brand Shop". Brand name shops sell the sort of stuff you can find in a place like Canadian malls for prices that are typically more than what you expect to pay in Canada. These are not spaces where prices can be negotiated. The prices are what they are.
Outside this space are the Souks, this is where the prices are negotiable. Thanks however to our skin color, you can bank on having to start the haggling process from very high up.
In Delhi, we were trying to arrange for a car to take us to Agra. Actually, we had wanted to take the train so as not to risk the traffic jams that would only slow us down (trains don't share their tracks with cows, pigs, cyclists, tuk-tuks, cars, trucks and pedestrians!). But apparently (or at least that's what the hotel told us) all train tickets were already booked up for the hour we were trying to head off.
How much for a hired car to Agra and back?
"16000 INR", fired back the agent at Le Meridien.
To put this in context, this is around CAD$332.
Is the car that Le Meridien going to travel in its own lane? Unimpeded by beggars and vagrants and cows? Or was it not going to take the same damn path.
Earlier in the day, another tourist agency had quoted me INR 10000. (CAD $207)
Already, the folk at Le Meridien were lining their own pockets with an additional CAD $130.
When in India, you should expect to pay around INR 10 for every kilometer traveled. At a distance of 253 km or so from Delhi, one would expect then that the trip to Agra should cost INR 5060. Which is half the price that the travel agent quoted us.
To put things into perspective, a train ride from Delhi to Agra is around INR700 if you are traveling 1st class. You can book a return trip for INR1200. For 3 people, this comes to INR3600 (CAD$75).
So the luxury of having your own personal chauffeur costs you an additional CAD$75- a reasonable deal.
Along the way, the driver stopped to fill up gas (Diesel). At INR40 a litre, and a 20 Litre fill up, the bill came to INR800. In addition, the driver paid the Tolls to take the "Highway" (this terms is used very loosely indeed, this was the furthest thing from being a highway), which came out to about INR200. So his cost is INR1000.
We hired our driver for INR6000. So he earns INR5000 (CAD$104) for the day. He may or may not own the car, perhaps part of this money has to go to the owner. If he were able to do make this trip every day, he would be earning CAD$3000 a month, or about CAD$36000 a year, which is an exceptionally good salary, one would think.
Hire the same driver for the day within the confines of the city (in this case Delhi), and the rate to hire him drops dramatically- INR 1500. You are of course not covering hundreds of kilometers, only tens of kilometers (20-30). So that's about INR300 in rates, and an additional INR1000 (CAD$20) for having a personal driver at your disposal. If that's the kind of work this person got every day, he'd be bringing in $600 a month, or CAD$7200 a year, and this includes the cost of running his business (gas, car repair, and what have you).
For comparison notes:
- In Bombay, the full day air-conditioned taxi hires set us back INR2300 rupees
- In Pelling, our almost full day taxi hire set us back INR1400. In high season, this same trip would have been INR2000, according to the Lonely Planet guide.
- The 5 hour journey from Pelling to Bagdogra set us back INR2500, which is a steal if one uses the INR10/km formula. At a distance of 160km, and given that the driver has to make his way back to Pelling, you would have thought that the journey would run you about INR3200.
- Our shopping spree in Jaipur had us completely ripped off. We should not have been so eager to get done with all our shopping, nor did we go in prepared for how much we should pay for things. So do your research.
- We paid a fair amount for the tea in Darjeeling. Then again, we did buy the highest grade white tea.
- The travel agent did give us all-around good deals for flights and hotels. However, we could have probably saved INR5000 or thereabouts if we took the risk and booked hotels on arrival. Given that the planning became a little more hassle free, I suppose you can say this amount was worth it.
Most cities have government emporiums. There is no negotiations to be made in those places. Expect to pay higher than in souks where you can bargain, and if you are not in the mood of haggling, it is a safe place to go to buy things at a fair price.
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