Lucky (Agra trip, part 6)

One last post about our trip to Agra. It's funny – I think blogging about the trip took longer than the actual trip!

One thing that stood out to us about Agra was the transportation. Agra is a much more touristy city than Lucknow – Lucknow doesn't offer anything nearly as famous or significant as the Taj Mahal. As such, the cycle and auto rickshaw drivers are more accustomed to catering to tourists, and many actually speak quite a bit of English. Because we were there in a non-peak season, the ratio of drivers to tourists was significantly higher – Brandon calls this a buyer's market. This meant we could expect cheap prices as all the drivers would be competing for tourists, instead of the other way around. Nearly every cycle rickshaw would say: "Twenty rupees, anywhere in the city, anywhere you like to go." And for auto rickshaws it was: "Thirty rupees, I take you anywhere you like." Every time we left our hotel, there were at least a dozen drivers waiting to pounce, asking where we were going, do we want a ride, etc. This was a little annoying because we actually like to walk. One of the perks of having a hotel so close to the center of town is that you can walk. The auto rickshaw drivers were easy to leave behind, but the cycle rickshaws would follow you down the street. It got really old, really fast, and sometimes we took the ride just to get them to stop asking (but I almost always wound up feeling bad because it seemed like they had to work so hard to move the bike).

But at least the cycle rickshaw drivers really would take you anywhere for Rs. 20. The auto rickshaw drivers said they would take you for Rs. 30, but they turned out to be a little sneaky. You would get in the rickshaw, and they'd start driving…then they'd start in on the sales pitch:

Driver: "I take you to a shop, you look around, very nice things. Cheap and best."

Brandon: "No thanks, we'd just like to go to [where ever we asked him to take us]."

Driver: "No, no. Very nice shop. You just look, no buy."

Brandon: "Umm, no."

Driver: "If you look 5 minutes, I get commission. Please help me, friend. No buy, just look."

The first time, we agreed. But then five minutes turned into 10-12 before we even got to the store. And then when he said he was taking us to another store, and we refused, he just dropped us off – far away from our destination and we had to walk back. After that, we were weary of auto rickshaw drivers promising to take us anywhere for "just Rs. 30."  And most of then weren't willing to take you if you couldn't agree to go into the store - it wasn't worth it for them.

Lucky - We met one auto rickshaw driver whose English was really quite good - his name was Lucky. He was pretty up front with us about the commission scheme – he said he got Rs. 50 plus .5L of gas for his rickshaw every time he brought tourists into certain shops. He sounded pretty genuine, and we were inclined to believe him – but I guess there's really no way to know. He really seemed like a nice guy. We let him take us to a shop, and to a carpet-maker's shop. The carpet shop was actually quite fascinating. The guy showed us these beautiful handmade rugs and explained the process. He showed us how to tell if a rug is really handmade/genuine. He claimed that his shop didn't use any child labor, and he ships all over the world (for free!). He almost talked us into buying a big area rug, he was so sincere and personable. I have realized that being here has made me really cynical towards people. I want to believe that Lucky and this carpet maker are being genuine and honest, but part of me can't help but wonder if I'm being taken for a ride, even by them. We chatted with Lucky quite a bit while we drove around. Apparently, he met a girl from Eugene, Oregon about nine years ago while working in a restaurant (she was a tourist), and they are still together. She comes to India several times a year, and he is in the process of applying for a visa. It is very difficult to get a visa into the US, so he has had to reapply 3 times. He wants to move to the US, marry his girlfriend, and take a honeymoon in Hawaii! Lucky says he has learned English from interacting with tourists – he has been working since he was 14, so I'm not sure how far he got in school. We really enjoyed meeting Lucky. And we appreciated his honesty (I hope he was being honest). And, he even showed up at our hotel at 5:00am on Sunday to take us to the train station. If anyone finds themselves in Agra, in need of transportation around the city – look for Lucky!