Life of Buraian: Delhi Sightseeing: Bus Tour or Private Car? Day 2: Private Car in Delhi

Day 1 was going to be hard to top. We knew that going in. So we weren't surprised that we were a bit disappointed by Day 2. But we were surprised about why we were disappointed.

We woke up at 9am to our front desk man asking what time we'd like our car to pick us up. We had only been asleep about 5 hours so we said noon. He said the price was the same (800 Rupees/$20), but he assured us it was enough time to see most of what we wanted to see. "You have the car for the day," he said, "It's no issues."

How wrong he was...

We were in the lobby by noon. The driver picked us up at 12:30. Strike 1 on the hotel. I introduced myself to him as we got in the car and while he could plainly speak some English, he wasn't the "English speaking guide" that the hotel guy described to us on our first night. Strike 2 on the hotel.

He asked us if we wanted to do "the Delhi Sightseeing". I said, "Yes, but we know where we want to go: Jantar Mantar, National Museum, Qutab Minar, Lotus Temple, Red Fort, and shopping at a bazaar." He said, "Okay, the Delhi Sightseeing." I was worried, but I bit my lip and trusted him. Strike 1 against me.

He told us the Red Fort was closed until August 15th (Indian Independence Day). Hmmm. I then asked him if we could just go to the bazaars outside the Fort, since they are supposed to be quite big. He told me those were all closed, too. He said, "I know good shopping." He then took us to a rip-off tourist place where there are 30 employees and seven dumbstruck foreigners wandering around inside. I shouldn't have even gone in, but I gave it a shot. 20 wasted minutes later we escaped. Strike 1 against the driver and Strike 2 against me (for going in against my better judgment).

I was mostly pissed with myself when I got back in the car, and then he asked us if we want to do more shopping or have lunch. There was no way I was letting him take me to whatever restaurant he wanted to go to. I think I said something like, "No more damn shopping. No lunch. No more tourist scams." Right around this point the driver's English seemed to get suspiciously bad.

In any case, he took us to Jantar Mantar, one of the key sites I wanted to see. Jantar Mantar literally means "temple of instruments" and it is a collection of huge devices used to measure the movement of the sun, stars and planets. They are incredibly precise. The guide at the place showed us the shadow on the device behind Rika and used a little table of calculations to tell us the exact time of day. From other devices he explained how you could calculate numerous other celestial dates and occurrences.

The devices were all constructed in 1724 by Sawai Jai Singh II. "Sawai" means "one and a quarter", and carries a connotation of "super-human". He certainly seemed to be. I love learning about historical figures like him. In the midst of ridiculous in-fighting and continual wars, he managed to build rule a kingdom, build a city (Jaipur), and construct five Jantar Mantars where he conducted the most accurate astronomical calculations of that time, more precise than those being measured in Europe. The Jantar Mantar he constructed in the city of Jaipur (his capital) actually still works!

From Jantar Mantar we were briefly shown the Parliament buildings and then our guide told us he would take us to the Indira Ghandi Museum. I told him no thank you and that we would prefer to go to the National Museum. He said that we should then go to Qutab Minar. Now, I should point out that the National Museum is basically next door to the Indira Ghandi Museum, but I didn't know this at the time. We'll call that a "foul ball" against me for not doing my research. But it was Strike 2 against the driver for manipulating our lack of cartographical knowledge of Delhi.

We drove for 30 minutes to get to Qutab Minar. After paying our 1500% premium to get in, we saw the minar for the first time. Qutab Minar is the largest standing brick minaret (minar) in the world. It is 237.8 feet tall, and was built in spurts between 1193 and 1368. The outside is carved with various verses from the Koran and the archaeological styles change as you get higher up the minar.

The minar is obviously the main attraction, but there are other interesting things at the site as well. There are a lot of ornately carved pillars that used to support large temple complexes. There is the base of another minar, meant to be twice as large as Qutab Minar but abandoned when it was little more than 12 meters high. And there's an iron pillar, which by itself looks kind of plain, but is actually a complete mystery. It was apparently put up in 375 AD, and there is a legend that if you wrap your arms around it backward, you can get your wish. Unfortunately sweat corrodes iron (and India is a sweaty place) so the practice is now banned.

When we returned to the car, our driver told us we had to make a choice: we could go to the National Museum or we could go to the Lotus Temple. Each were in opposite directions, so we only had time to see one. He had originally told us we were going to do a "circle" so that we wouldn't get in this situation. I chose the Lotus Temple and then pulled out the guide book, at which time I realized the National Museum was actually back by the Parliament building where we'd come from. Strike 3 on the driver.

We checked out the Lotus Temple but it wasn't all that great. It is constructed in a similar fashion to the Sydney Opera House, but it's amazing what not having a harbor does to the effect. There were thousands upon thousands of Indians there and the line stretched for well over a quarter mile to go inside. We opted to take some photos from a distance and leave. I think I was too upset with the driver to care.

The driver then took us to the India Gate. Apparently it is important for countries to have a large gate that they can point to in reference to either freedom, victory, or dead people who fought for freedom and victory. In India's case, it's like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris except replace the traffic circle with a bunch of people peddling silly toys. I am so sick of people peddling knickknacks. Seriously.

The driver told us this was the last stop. As it happens, the National Museum is right next to the India Gate. Unfortunately, it had just closed. I was honestly spending more time trying to determine how I could screw over the driver than how I could enjoy what I was doing. Rika and I debated spending like three hours there and just making him wait, but then we remembered that it would suck for us, too. So we watched the people playing cricket and only cricket (literally a hundred separate cricket games were going at the same time in the large grass parks) and then we left.

The driver took us back to the hotel. When we got there, he told us it was 800 Rupees each. Strike 4 on him, though at that point I'd rather have just hit him with a pitch. I told him we'd already paid the hotel (not true) and then I gave him a 10 Rupee tip. (Rika didn't want me to give him any tip but I wanted my tip to be insulting, the way his treatment of us was.) It was surprising how spiteful I felt, but also how little people in Indian tourism jobs get the whole premise of service. If he had just provided a remarkable experience, I'd have given him an incredible tip. But instead he tried to scam me and he ruined our plans.

I told the hotel guy all about our trip and he assured us that the Red Fort may indeed be closed, but that the bazaars are never closed mid-day on a Sunday. He told me the driver should have taken us wherever we wanted to go and that we were treated very poorly. He also said it was a rare occurrence and he was sorry for it. So he said the right thing and avoided Strike 3 (and the corresponding negative blog post). But it didn't really change the experience.

My impression of sightseeing in Delhi & Agra is that the sites themselves are amazing, but getting to them sucks. You kind of have to pick your poison. You can take a bus, guarantee your discomfort, but meet people and know where you will and will not go. Or you can rent a private car, take your chances with the driver, and have your day be a strike out or a home run (I'm taking on faith the fact that others have better experiences).

If I could do the Delhi sightseeing again, I think I'd just take a bus tour. Even if your driver strikes out many times over, you're kind of stuck with him. As bad as a bus can be, it's somehow more tolerable to suffer in numbers...