One of the most tiring things we have to deal with here is the constant concern about whether we are getting ripped off. We enjoy using the metro here for one reason, not because you're quite often left sniffing someones armpit (like me this morning) due to the sardine can situation that occurs at every rush hour, or by the fact you provide the local talking point as 'those tourists on the train' and get stared at accordingly. No we enjoy it because the prices are up on the wall, it is cheap and you can know with confidence that you are paying the same as somebody local.
We met a father and son from Canada while we shared a table at a local restaurant. We started chatting and quite soon found common ground in our experiences here in Delhi. The son phrased it quite perfectly 'Why should I have to pay skin tax?'
Almost everywhere we go we are asked 'how are you?' 'where are you from?' and unfortunately a lot of this isn't genuine friendliness. It usually leads to an 'official' government tourist office or the 'actual' train booking center. Even when you just want to jump in a taxi/auto rickshaw you have to spend several minutes negotiating the price down, even though there are meters and they show you exactly how much you are getting ripped off by. A good example of the degree some people are trying to do this was when we were shopping in Palika Bazaar, a trashy underground market in the center of Delhi. Louise had seen a lovely top on sale for 150 rupees, about £2. We tried to haggle it down but the seller wasn't budging so we walked away and looked at a few other stalls. Just when we were about to leave Louise spotted the very same top in another stall and asked how much it was. The answer was 850 rupees. We consequently haggled it down to 150 and it was one of many similar stories that day but it really just showed us by how much some people will go to ripping you off, and unfortunately it will have something to do with the fact you don't look Indian.
Please don't get me wrong, haggling is part of the culture here and it is quite funny to see some of the expressions used by locals when haggling over a dozen bananas. It is also a nice feeling when you feel you've struck a bargain and managed to avoid the skin tax by knowing what you should pay in advance. We also despair at some tourists who just fall right into the trap and because it is relatively little money in western terms they just pay whatever is asked for. I was asked to pay £50 for a pair of plastic leather shoes, I was so annoyed I almost walked out wearing them. Yet you see someone fresh off the tour bus paying £15 for a scarf that is worth no more than £1.
Unfortunately you are also heavily penalised at the tourist sites as well. We went to the Taj Mahal on Saturday and it cost us almost £11 to get in, price for an Indian national, 30p. You do sometimes wonder if India will ever become the superpower it wishes to be when visitors to the country are treated in this way. Maybe I am looking at it with my western eyes and maybe I'm naive. However, from what I've seen through Asha and being a visitor there is something deeply ingrained that has to change before it can happen. I'm not claiming I know what it is and I am no sociologist but here endeth the rant!
Granted, you're on a tight travelling budget, but don't forget that most tourists are on holiday and earn more in a year than many Indians will earn in a lifetime! And yes, the "tourist tax" at many sites is annoying but think about how much you would get charged to go see something as beautiful and awe-inspiring as the Taj-Mahal if it were in Britain! £11 would be cheap! I don't really think it's that wrong that us Westerners pay a higher price if we can afford it... (If it makes you feel any better I felt like you as posted above when I was there!)
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