Sunday, July 24, 2016
The scorching daytime temperatures, high humidity and frequent rainstorms during monsoon season tend to deter travelers from visiting the Indian capital, but I expected at least a few die-hard backpackers here in New Delhi’s Pahar Ganj budget accommodation area. However, since leaving the airport I had not seen a single foreign traveler, and even at Bloomrooms Hotel there were only a few local guests.
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| Early morning Delhi streets |
Admittedly, the heat and humidity during July is tough to bare even for New Delhi locals, and when you step out of the air-conditioned hotel into the hot, wet streets, it’s a sweat bath! Fortunately, I live in Taiwan and therefore I'm no stranger to extreme weather conditions, but still…it was hot.
Anyway, the plan was to get to the Taj Mahal the next morning, and I had to buy train tickets to and from a town called Agra. (Oh, Agra… as I type this name, a feverish hot flush spread over neck, face and scalp... but later Agra... later I’ll deal with you, Agra..)
Now fellow globe trotters, please take heed: many respectable-looking ‘travel agents’ around New Delhi - even at recommended hotels like mine - will try to sell you special tours or tickets at inflated prices. They’re difficult to avoid but please take care. There’s a wealth of helpful travel information online and if you do just a bit of research before your trip, these swindlers can easily be debunked.
After fatherly warnings against all the many scamsters and tricksters out there, my recommended travel agent - let’s not mention his name here - assured me that there were long waiting lists for the trains I wanted to book. He pushed for a Taj Mahal minibus option at ₹6,000, and continued to produce several handwritten testimonials from past clients recommending his services.
Well, skeptical I was... I had read a helpful Delhi Agra Train Guide and knew the fastest trains would only cost between Rs 540 and Rs 750 per ticket. A Rs 6,000 minibus ride to and from Agra was therefore quite ridiculous. These trains were also mostly for tourists, and judging from the amount of foreign tourists I’d seen so far, I just couldn’t believe the ‘long waiting lists’ fable. Then, when Mr. Travel-agent-man started bargaining - “So, sir, how much will you pay for minibus? Maybe Rs 5,000?” - I was out of there. Needless to say I never saw this quack again.
In bright daylight the cacophony and chaos that is Qutab Road was simply accentuated. I dove right back into this milling mass of breakfast fires, auto rickshaws and pedestrians and headed to the New Delhi Railway Station building. On the first floor there was supposed to be an International Tourist Bureau that’s open 24 hours / 7 days a week. Really? Well this I had to see…
The Lonely Planet website states -
The Lonely Planet website states -
“For foreigners, it’s easiest to make ticket bookings at the helpful International Tourist Bureau . Do not believe anyone who tells you it has shifted, closed or burnt down – this is a scam to divert you elsewhere. There are reportedly railway porters involved in scams, so stay on your toes and don’t let anyone stop you from going to the 1st floor of the main building for bookings.”Read more here...
Well, true as butter on hot toast, every tout, rickshaw and taxi wallah was upon me. It was early morning, tourist numbers were low, and I was fresh meat!
“Hello, my friend! Where you go?”
“First customer! Cheap-cheap tour for you!”
“Ride with me! Only 1 Rupee!”
“Want cheap hotel, want smoke, want girl?”
Their English was really good and many appeared quite sincere…
But tread lightly… these are professionals!
But tread lightly… these are professionals!
And then at the entrance to the railway station -
“No entry here, sir. You go round, sir. I take you, sir!”
“It’s Sunday. The office is closed. I take you to special Sunday office for you!”
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| Entrance from Qutab Road |
The touts and persuasion were constant and relentless, but somehow I ‘broke on through to the other side…’, saw the Tourist Bureau signs up a flight of stairs, and low and behold, I had found it!
This Tourist Bureau is a government-run institution, so don't expect any frills. The roof fans and couches definitely date from another era. However, the bureaucratic-looking staff deal with foreign travelers on a daily basis and are extremely impressive. They seemed to know almost instinctively which train tickets I wanted, and I booked and paid without any complications. They were surprisingly efficient!
By the by, got the 12002 New Delhi Bhopal Shatabdi Express which departs New Delhi Railway Station at 6 a.m. and arrives at Agra at 7.57 a.m. (CC ticket - Rs 515)
Also got the 12049 Gatimaan Express - departs Agra at 5.50 p.m. and arrives at H Nizamuddin Railway Station in Delhi at 7.30 p.m. This was apparently the fastest train in India, also known as the “semi-bullet” Gatimaan Express! (CC ticket - Rs 680)
So then, Mr. Bloomrooms-in-house-travel-agent-man, eat your petty dark heart out!
Shame on you for preying on the newbies!
Tourist Bureau photos courtesy of Johnny Blaire
This Tourist Bureau is a government-run institution, so don't expect any frills. The roof fans and couches definitely date from another era. However, the bureaucratic-looking staff deal with foreign travelers on a daily basis and are extremely impressive. They seemed to know almost instinctively which train tickets I wanted, and I booked and paid without any complications. They were surprisingly efficient!
By the by, got the 12002 New Delhi Bhopal Shatabdi Express which departs New Delhi Railway Station at 6 a.m. and arrives at Agra at 7.57 a.m. (CC ticket - Rs 515)
Also got the 12049 Gatimaan Express - departs Agra at 5.50 p.m. and arrives at H Nizamuddin Railway Station in Delhi at 7.30 p.m. This was apparently the fastest train in India, also known as the “semi-bullet” Gatimaan Express! (CC ticket - Rs 680)
So then, Mr. Bloomrooms-in-house-travel-agent-man, eat your petty dark heart out!
Shame on you for preying on the newbies!
