It is nearly impossible to move around in India on your own. There are so many challenges that co-occur that make moving about very difficult. If you are here for a short time, plan to overpay for everything. The longer you are here, the more cost conscious you can become but it will still be likely that you will overpay. My Scottish/Irish heritage makes this very difficult for me. If I know how much something should cost, it is very bothersome for me to be willing to pay more but it is something that I have had to suppress to function here. Fortunately, even when I am forced to overpay, I am still paying well under a comparable price in NA.
There are many challenges to any form of travel here in India. Asking for directions is unlikely to work. I have suggested that English is still very lightly used despite a big push to Anglicize. English is a required course in the non-public schools but not taught in the public schools which is approximately 60% of the school population. For those who are taught English, unless it is used, it will be lost. I studied 12 years of French until the age of 17. At best, I can understand the gist of a conversation in French, read in French, and speak short sentences but since I have not used this language, my fluency is gone. All street signs are in Hindi whose characters are quite unique so you will not be able to parse the words. Streets do not run in straight lines so getting from one place to another is exceedingly onerous.
This forces you to use Taxis and Rickshaws which even by local standards are the most dishonest (opportunistic?) group of vendors. Assuming you can make yourself understood and assuming the person knows where you want to go, you can still be turned down for the fare, they quite simply may not want to take you where you want to go. This particular trait has been both the most challenging to accept and the most frustrating to combat during my time here. The only way to get around this issue is to overpay. I have some strategies that I can recommend to help you to overpay the least possible.
I assume you are staying in a hotel. Have the hotel negotiate the rate to your destination. This will give you the baseline for your return trip. Rickshaws are slower and less comfortable but cheaper and more available. Accept that you will pay more for the return trip but it will be up to you to decide how much more is acceptable. Most rickshaws are not metered so agree on the price before getting into the rickshaw, also keep small bills so that you can give exact change. Many drivers will claim they do not have change. I have paid more than double for a return trip but having a set price with someone who knows where you are going is more valuable than an open price with someone who can drive you around in circles without your knowledge. In absolute dollars, your total cost is still very low. For example, from my hotel to the center of Airoli is 20rp (.35Cdn). To get back to the hotel, I am usually quoted 40rp (.70Cdn) but I have paid as much as 60rp (1.05Cdn). If someone is rude enough to quote 100rp to 150rp, I just walk away, why should I waste my time with patently dishonest people.
For longer trips you will probably use AC Taxis. Most of these are metered but there are gypsy cabs that do not have meters. Same rules should apply, get some type of estimate so that he cannot take you on Mr Toad's Wild Ride and use that total to decide what you are willing to pay for the return. To get from my hotel to the nearest Mall is approximately 20 minutes and the least I have paid is 250rp (5.50Cdn) but I have paid as much as 400rp (7.05Cdn) for the return. To put things in perspective, back home I live only eight blocks from my work but if it is raining or snowing, I will take a taxi. The five minute ride costs me $6Cdn (350rp), the longest taxi ride I ever took in Canada occurred when my Jimmy wouldn't start and it was 3pm with my children getting out of school at 330pm. I taxied from the top of the city to the school downtown, approximately 15 minutes and it cost $19Cdn (1077rp).
You can book a Taxi online for the trip there and a separate one for the trip back but I have not been able to make this system work yet. Another option would be to negotiate for the driver to wait, it would not save you any money but it would guarantee that you get back to your hotel. I have been stranded many times where no one would bring me back at any price usually because they do not know where the hotel is even when I give them the address. I get food delivered from either McDonald's or Domino's more than three times a week, I have been in the same hotel, same room for four months, and I still get calls asking for directions.
The train which is akin to the Subway in NA is going to be your last line of defence so if you will be here for a while, make sure you are familiar with the stations. The cost is low, I estimate it at 10rp (.17Cdn) round trip per station for 2nd Class which is usually jam-packed and 40rp (.68rp) per station for 1st Class, this is only an estimate but if you assume five minutes between stations, a fifteen minute journey may cost 30rp (.51) or less in 2nd class. Ride the bus at your own peril, they are vintage 1950 style with the same comfort level as a Cool Hand Luke prison bus. I am not sure even the Bus Drivers know the routes and just the other day I saw one on fire.
There are many challenges to any form of travel here in India. Asking for directions is unlikely to work. I have suggested that English is still very lightly used despite a big push to Anglicize. English is a required course in the non-public schools but not taught in the public schools which is approximately 60% of the school population. For those who are taught English, unless it is used, it will be lost. I studied 12 years of French until the age of 17. At best, I can understand the gist of a conversation in French, read in French, and speak short sentences but since I have not used this language, my fluency is gone. All street signs are in Hindi whose characters are quite unique so you will not be able to parse the words. Streets do not run in straight lines so getting from one place to another is exceedingly onerous.This forces you to use Taxis and Rickshaws which even by local standards are the most dishonest (opportunistic?) group of vendors. Assuming you can make yourself understood and assuming the person knows where you want to go, you can still be turned down for the fare, they quite simply may not want to take you where you want to go. This particular trait has been both the most challenging to accept and the most frustrating to combat during my time here. The only way to get around this issue is to overpay. I have some strategies that I can recommend to help you to overpay the least possible.
I assume you are staying in a hotel. Have the hotel negotiate the rate to your destination. This will give you the baseline for your return trip. Rickshaws are slower and less comfortable but cheaper and more available. Accept that you will pay more for the return trip but it will be up to you to decide how much more is acceptable. Most rickshaws are not metered so agree on the price before getting into the rickshaw, also keep small bills so that you can give exact change. Many drivers will claim they do not have change. I have paid more than double for a return trip but having a set price with someone who knows where you are going is more valuable than an open price with someone who can drive you around in circles without your knowledge. In absolute dollars, your total cost is still very low. For example, from my hotel to the center of Airoli is 20rp (.35Cdn). To get back to the hotel, I am usually quoted 40rp (.70Cdn) but I have paid as much as 60rp (1.05Cdn). If someone is rude enough to quote 100rp to 150rp, I just walk away, why should I waste my time with patently dishonest people.
For longer trips you will probably use AC Taxis. Most of these are metered but there are gypsy cabs that do not have meters. Same rules should apply, get some type of estimate so that he cannot take you on Mr Toad's Wild Ride and use that total to decide what you are willing to pay for the return. To get from my hotel to the nearest Mall is approximately 20 minutes and the least I have paid is 250rp (5.50Cdn) but I have paid as much as 400rp (7.05Cdn) for the return. To put things in perspective, back home I live only eight blocks from my work but if it is raining or snowing, I will take a taxi. The five minute ride costs me $6Cdn (350rp), the longest taxi ride I ever took in Canada occurred when my Jimmy wouldn't start and it was 3pm with my children getting out of school at 330pm. I taxied from the top of the city to the school downtown, approximately 15 minutes and it cost $19Cdn (1077rp).
You can book a Taxi online for the trip there and a separate one for the trip back but I have not been able to make this system work yet. Another option would be to negotiate for the driver to wait, it would not save you any money but it would guarantee that you get back to your hotel. I have been stranded many times where no one would bring me back at any price usually because they do not know where the hotel is even when I give them the address. I get food delivered from either McDonald's or Domino's more than three times a week, I have been in the same hotel, same room for four months, and I still get calls asking for directions.The train which is akin to the Subway in NA is going to be your last line of defence so if you will be here for a while, make sure you are familiar with the stations. The cost is low, I estimate it at 10rp (.17Cdn) round trip per station for 2nd Class which is usually jam-packed and 40rp (.68rp) per station for 1st Class, this is only an estimate but if you assume five minutes between stations, a fifteen minute journey may cost 30rp (.51) or less in 2nd class. Ride the bus at your own peril, they are vintage 1950 style with the same comfort level as a Cool Hand Luke prison bus. I am not sure even the Bus Drivers know the routes and just the other day I saw one on fire.
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