India Observations-From a 1st time visitor
 

OK, having just returned from India for the first time, I thought I would share some observations. Please feel free to comment as you all see fit...

1. The old forts, architecture and sites are well worth the visit alone. Agra fort and the Amber fort in Jaipur were my two big spots. And, the Taj Mahal is just as magical in person as it looks in pictures. It's too bad the builder never got to build his other one across the river.

2. The tourist hotels were not all that they were cracked up to be. I stayed at the following places: Imperial (Delhi), Rambagh Palace (Jaipur), Taj Ft. Aguada (Goa), Amar Vilas (Agra) and Trident Hilton (Gurgaon). My favorite was the Taj Ft. Aguada, but the trident Hilton was comfortable as well. The big letdown was the Rambagh. The bed was just as hard as a rock. So much for being a leading hotel of the world. I would have liked to have seen something a little less 'grand' and a little more comfortable. The food at all of these place was way, way, way overpriced.

3. Traffic was, in a word, chaotic. Earlier I lamented a little about not being able to rent a car in India. Now, I see why. I worry about what will happen a few years down the road as more and more Indians buy cars and there is nowhere to drive them. Trust your driver. Even though it looks like you are going to get in a head on collision with the oncoming Tata truck, you won't. In my 8 days I saw not one motor vehicle accident.

4. Littering and trash. There was garbage everywhere. The side of the road seems to be the universal trash point. I've seen littering before, but never quite as obvious. Watching taxi or auto-rickshaw drivers just throwing things out the window without a care in the world was a little sobering and sad.

5. The cows. You gotta love them. My favorite cow was the one that was just lying on the beach in North Goa, chewing her cud contently by the Arabian Sea. It breaks my heart to watch them eat the plastic from the heaps of garbage that will ultimately kill them.

6. The smell. The smell that I can only describe as a combination of wet concrete and dust hit me as soon as the plane landed in Delhi until I left. I know that it is from the pollution, and it is very similar to what I smelled getting off the plane in Kandahar. It wasn't as strong in Goa, but in the north it was.

7. The food. I was hoping for spicier food, but the stuff that they served in the hotels was much milder than what I'm used to. Going to a gov't approved restaurant was significantly cheaper than eating at the hotels, too.

8. I was a little surprised at the differences in prices for EVERYTHING between resident Indians and foreigners. At all the tourist spots, it was at least 10x as much for a foreigner to visit than a national. I didn't think that was quite fair.

9. Maharaja treatment. The hotels were bad enough. Try going to the bathroom at the rest stop, and after using a urinal, the bathroom attendant insists on not only turning on the water for you at the faucet, but then physically handing you napkins one by one to dry your hands. Of course, a tip is expected. Come on, guys, I can turn on the water and dry my hands by myself. Of course this only exists in the 'western' toilets.

10. Tour guides. Why does every tour guide feel the need to ensure that you stop in a store during the tour to shop for gov't approved stuff. Carpets, silks, souvenirs, marble, jewelry, and on and on... I know that they must get kickbacks from the store owners for bringing us there, but come on. How about asking me if I actually WANT to stop there?

11. Population and poverty. At over 1.1 billion people and growing, I worry for India's ability to sustain itself. The poverty appeared to be bad, but I noticed that the poor people did not approach anyone but westerners. I hope that the economy eventually grows enough to find a niche for some of these people. One of my guides told me that most of them were Bangladeshi.

12. Jet Airways. Cramped coach class, but what service! I flew four segments, JAI-BOM, BOM-GOI & return. The BOM-GOI segment is about 45 minutes. On every flight, we got a full, hot meal (Veg. or Non-Veg.) in addition to the candy basket and a bottle of lemon juice (sweetened) before take off. On the short segments, most people were still eating well into the descent. And the food was good! US carriers should visit and see what service should look like. One small thing, though. At no time was any ID every required or checked prior to boarding the flight. Not that I minded, but if my tickets had been stolen, anyone could have used them and I would have been S.O.L.

Well, thats all for the moment. I may edit this and add to it later if I think of anything else to add.

I think your obeseravtions right on the money. I said "think" becuase I have never flown on Jet Airways and have not stayed in any of the hotels you mentioned. You have conveyed a very accurate picture of India. I congratulate you for that.

I was annoyed with this at first. Then, I considered the 1 billion+ population and the staggering number of homeless. I figured that I could at least spare the equivalent of a few pennies to the bathroom attendant. The tricky part is making sure you have small bills for tipping. You don't want to start throwing around $5 tips. But once you have this figured out, is it really that bad to tip someone a few cents? They're not asking for a handout, as such. You are getting a service in return, even if it's a service you did not request and/or need.

I must admit, however, it was a "relief" (no pun intended) to use the loo at LHR on the return trip and not receive any "help".

Agreed. The 1st time was more of the shocker, and I didn't have anything smaller than a 100 INR note at the time. In the end, I played along with it, accepted my ineffective napkins, and tipped the guy 20 INR IIRC. He seemed pleased and stated it was the first tip he'd gotten all day, so at least I made someone's day. But an earlier time, when my mood was considerably darker, I wiped my hands off on my pants and left without tipping at all, too much consternation of the attendant. Having small bills is certainly the key to it all. I paid a waiter once with cash, and he specifically gave me somewhat large bills in return thinking I would have no choice but to over-tip him. Thankfully, I had a 10 INR note in my pocket for him. His face dropped when I pulled the small bill out. He was expecting a 50 INR tip for a 40 INR cup of coffee.

Your observations are on the money. Interesting experience no doubt.

The dual pricing system doesn't catch my fancy either. I have one associate who specifically opted for India's Overseas Citizen document (i.e., a sort of dual-citizenship, but mostly a kind of "second class" citizen scheme meant to work around the Indian Consitution's prohibition on dual citizenship IIRC) because it, in practical terms, means they get the Indian rates for hotel and access to monuments and the like (despite those things being designed for residents vs. non-residents, regardless of citizenship). :D I still think his children will be disappointed because the moment they open their mouth, it'll be over. :D

Great trip report! Thanks for sharing with us. I never really considered the Maharaja treatment much before reading so much about it the past few days. Personally it doesn't bother me very much. Maybe that makes me an evil imperialist or something. When I want to carry my own bag I am just insistent and find that the hotel employees follow my lead pretty well. I miss the imperialist treatment quite a bit when I show up at a hotel somewhere without even someone to open the door for you when you are struggling to check-in with your bags.

Sometimes it's a relief just to get out of a restroom in India when you are on the road.

I find dual pricing annoying too, although I can see some rationalisation for it. I would feel better if the excess generated from the dual pricing were used to improve basic facilities for the tourist, esepcially those who are paying the excess. It will only help every one in the long run.

I personally have never been paid to pay the forigner price to enter monuments. My wife is a different story. SOme times I have sucessfully argued that she is not foreigner by claiming that we are not expected to carry our ID/passports etc to prove our citizenship status. :D

You are right about that. I think a foriegn national working in India is entitled to Indian pricing at least on airfares. As you might be aware, Hawaii has dual pricing too. Most states in the U.S. have dual pricing for residents and non-residents when it comes to tuition at state Universities or fishing/hunting license.

dual pricing makes sense if it's governemtn entities (such as museums, monuments, etc). because it can be looked at as a benefit for the taxpayers. the citizens (and foreign residents) who are paying taxes are receiving a benefit that a visitor doesn't get. i'm ok with that (especially if the foreigner prices are kept reasonable and are not extortionate). what bothers me are dual prices fro private entities (airlines). unelss they are receiving gov't subsidies for carrying indian citizens (does anyone know?) then there's absolutely no reason to have 2-tiered system. same for private museums, institutions and food (although i haven't seen restaurants having 2 prices, but for all i know they might have been giving me the "foreigner" menu and having a "local" menu as well).
those who mention hawaii and other cases need to keep in mind scale, which does become important. when 10 million people pay 1 price and 100,000 get a lower price, it's a discount for a small minority of customers. when 1 billion get a price and 1,000,000 are paying multiple of that price, then it's gouging. the price that majority get is the real price.

Indian (Airlines) and Air India are Govt owned and hence, by defnition, Govt entities. I think some privately owne airlines have dual pricing and some don't, but I am not absolutely positive of that. Your reasoning that distinguishes between Govt owned entities and private businesses seems to be sound but it has no absolute value. Certain fuels are subsiised by the Govt. Diesel is chepaer in India than gasoline as diesel is subsidised from the taxes locals pay. The food you eat is trucked in from places far away using diesel subsidised by taxpayers. A foreign tourist getting foreign menu versus a local menu is not relevant to this thread as this practice is not unique to India. Numbers have no relevance here to the case you are trying to make a discriminatory pricing is plane discriminatory regardless of the numbers involved.

Most Indians are not required to directly pay taxes to the Union government (and it's the Union government which does most of the tourist-related financing/development directly or indirectly). Of those who do directly pay their required taxes in full (or close to full), the majority of those who pay such are mostly government employees and "foreign" firm employees. (Of those government employees who are corrupt, paying taxes on chai probably gets overlooked by them and wouldn't ordinarily be due anyway in most circumstances.) Businesses in India, whether listed on the stock market or not, play so many games with taxes, that it can only be said that an Indian chartered accountant's work may resemble magic even when examined by the US government's financial forensic experts.

Jet Airways has certainly had dual pricing in place ... at least 9W did through the beginning of this year. (I haven't been paying for my tickets within India since March so I haven't cared to look what was paid. :o ) Other private carriers, like Air Deccan, officially don't have dual pricing.

From the Hindu (Nov 10) ... relief at last!! ^

Airlines set to scrap dual pricing
Ashwini Phadnis

New Delhi , Nov. 10

Foreigners can look forward to flying at reduced rates with the three full-service domestic airlines Jet Airways, Air Sahara and Indian. While Jet Airways did away with differentiation in fares that a foreigner and an Indian passenger would pay earlier this week, Air Sahara is set to do away with dual pricing from November 16. The state-owned airlines Indian is also to follow suit in the next few days, sources indicated.

"Now a foreigner can also book and travel on the reduced fares that in some cases are 60 per cent less than the full fare," the sources said.

At the full fare level, the dollar fare charged by the airlines is 3-5 per cent higher than the existing fares. The low-cost airlines Air Deccan and SpiceJet, however, charge a single fare from a passenger be it an Indian or a foreigner.

Thanks for the article.

So this should already be in effect. :)