Blog - India 2012 #3: Auto rickshaw
India 2012 #3: Auto rickshaw
During our trip we mostly rode auto rickshaws to get around for short distances. The small 3-wheeled vehicles are the best way to get through traffic, and also good to get a feel of a place. The ride is sometimes a bit bumpy and dusty though. Technically they have a meter like taxis, but in all cases for us the drivers first negotiated a fixed price to their advantage. Of course the price is always quite small (between Rs. 20 and 100 for a ride) so it's not really a problem.
Here are some comparisons between rides we had in 3 different cities, with some video.
In Delhi all rides we had were quite simple, just deciding a price, riding and you're done. There was only one exception, when one of our drivers got lost and almost gave up without getting us to destination, but even then a few friendly passersby helped our driver find his way.
In Jaipur things get a bit complicated because most drivers seem to want to get repeating customers, or ones who will hire them for a day. These will get friendly (they can be quite fun too), and might ask you to not pay now but to call them for your next ride. I think I started getting more SMS spam after I gave my number to one of them. :)
Some drivers even surprisingly spoke a bit of French! Obviously they must be getting a lot of French tourists, but I was also surprised by a driver's friend who said he lived in Montreal and could even speak a bit in a québécois accent!
And this is another in Agra on the way from Taj Mahal towards our bus terminal.
Posted on October 26, 2012 at 00:33 | Tweet
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