While travelling you can expect a scam once in a while. Maybe it will be a taxi charging a fix fare that is twice the meter rate or some unsrcupulous market trader passing you the wrong change or a kind passerby offering to assist,as you stand checking a map at a street corner and next thing you notice your wallet and kind person have vanished.
Scams come in all shapes and ways and once in a while you will be scammed. Maybe for a few $ or € and maybe for a lot more. Before setting out on a trip I set aside a scam budget of 100€ , so if I’m scammed it should be covered.If, as is usual, all goes well I have an extra 100€ to spend at the end of the trip.
While travelling on my first trip across India, I had no such issues. Of course, there were things to avoid, like the ever helpful guys wandering around Connaught Square in New Delhi or the non officials offering assistance at the railway stations.
In Old Delhi and across the more traditional areas of Rajasthan, thoughts of scams were far from my mind as the people were considerate and helpful in a very genuine way.
So on my next and more recent trip I was aware and alert but never really contemplated a scam.
But of course, the best scams are subtle. Even so subtle that you are unaware of them.
We arrived in Delhi and spent a few days wandering the old streets, alleyways and pathways of this old city. The experience was enjoyable and memorable.
On the 5th day, we planned to travel to Haridwar in the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. Haridwar is a Hindu holy city, along the banks of the River Ganges, where it leaves the mountains before flowing through the central plains.
The city is host every 12 years to the Purna Kumbh Mela. The last festival in 2010 attracted over 50 million people. Six years after the Kumbh Mela , the Ardh Kumbha Mela or the half Mela takes place. In 2016, this festival in Hardiwar was held between January and April. The festival attracted a huge number of visitors, but the exact number is hard to determine.
Throughout the festival period different weekends are dedicated to different events. On Friday, February 14th, 2016, the Vasant Panchami event was happening and we were heading there for its start.
We bought our train tickets online, for the early morning train, leaving at 6am, arriving around lunch time. Booking the early morning train was a mistake, the first of many. A later train woukd still have got us to the festival sites in time for the cermonies. We were excited and keen to see the start of this great event, but forgot how dark and disorientating Delhi would be at that time or how tired we might be.
As the hotel could not book us a tuk tuk taxi or at least guarantee one (mistake 2), we waited on the street in the dark for a passing tuk tuk. As there are so many passing by, waiting was not a problem. A nice friendly youngman, picked us up and loaded our bags in the back, it was a tight squeeze. He drove the few kilometers to the railway station. The entrance road to the station was jammed packed, with cars and tuk tuks. It was pure bedlam.
Mistake 3 which was really mistake 1 was not having checked the station layout , main entrance and platforms etc when it was bright. Relying on finding things in the dark makes it much harder.
Our tuk tuk driver, brought us as close to the main entrance as possible. But we were at least 100 Tuk Tuks from the door. We alighted,as he unloaded our bags and set off with him, weaving between tuk tuks and taxis in the darkness of night. Halfway to the entrance a security officer said hello and suggested we follow him to an alternative security entrance further to our right. The tuk tuk driver made some comments that it was better to go through the main hallway.But as we were being guided by a uniformed secuirity officer we simply followed (mistake 4). Arriving at the security gate, our driver loaded our bags on the scanner, said thanks as we paid him and then bid us farewell. We then passed through the security gate and were asked to show our tickets. On displaying the online ticket printout the ticket checker pronounced that the 6am train to Haridwar had been cancelled and that next train was departing at 11 am from the second train terminal.
Now we were confused. We hadn’t realised that there was a second terminal and what were we to do with our tickets.
“Not a problem, just get them changed at the Tourist India Board office or TIB” ( or some similar initials).
As we were mulling this over, we thought it wasn’t such a big deal, the new train would get us there in time. We asked how do we find the TIB office. “Oh, no problem” said the security officer as he called a tuk tuk and told the driver to take us to the nearest TIB office and gave directions.
Thanking him we got into the tuk tuk and headed to the TIB.
We knew we had arrived safely at the right office as there were signs for TIB on the windows and doors.
In the office, we met a very helpful travel agent. We sat down on the two chairs provided, while he tapped away on his PC. While tapping he mentioned that Friday was a busy day for trains to Haridwar, because of the festival. “Many, many people go there for weekend”.
As he typed he started to hum and haw. “That train not looking so good, it very full, but let me check again”.
After a few minutes of clicking and tapping he says “train is full”.
Now we were becoming disappointed.
After more typing he says “next available train is 7pm arriving around midnight”.
We looked at each other, issued a few unprintable expletives and said “what can we do? We need to get there today”.
“Was there a refund on the train ticket”? “Maybe, but you need to take it up with the online company” he said.
The agent was very sympathetic. “You could fly, but it is expensive”.
“If you don’t like travelling after dark there is a train at 10am Saturday”
We asked him to check the flights. He found an option for an afternoon flight but the tickects were very expensive 180€ each as it was last minute.
Then we would have to get to the airport. But he said he would get one of his drivers to take us there for free, as a gift because of our trouble.
We thanked him and then asked could the driver take us to Hardiwar? “But that would be very expensive, long way”.
On my last trip a driver drove me around Rajasthan for four days. The fare was very inexpensive considering.
So I asked, how expensive would it be.
Then the haggling started. He knew our needs and desire to get there so the price ended up just less than the two flight tickets but we would get there by lunchtime.
After bartering like an amateur I was able to get him to drop the price by ten or fifteen €.
Eventually, we set off for Haridwar in a nice car, with an interesting drive ahead. The driver was all talk and seemed knowledgable, so we had a private tour of the countryside. Haridwar is just over 200km from Delhi and the journey took just under 5 hours.
We were well settled into our hotel before the start of the festival. The evening walking around the great ghats was something special. A special time even for non Hindus. The atmosphere was spiritual, fun and exciting.
On the Saturday we spent more time at the ghats. In the afternoon we booked for the following day, a safari tour to visit Rajaji national park, the home of Indian elephants.
The following morning while waiting at the tour check in point, we met a couple who were doing the same safari. While talking to them about their adventures, they complained about how awful the train journey from Delhi had been. The train was slow and packed with pilgrims heading to the festival. Seats for two were shared between three.
We exclaimed that wasn’t as bad as our experience with the cancelled early morning train on the Friday.
At which point they said “but we were on the Friday 6am train and it was awful”.
We looked at each other, as realisation dawned that we had been scammed.
The security guard and possibly the security check point were fake.
The TIB office, with its colourful TIB signs across the windows was fake.
The ruse about the full trains was fake.
We were suckers and had been righly had.
The scam fund was severly in the red but Haridwar was great.