Also feel free to comment something along the lines of 'I'm so sorry to hear that, I hope you're OK', 'the same thing happened to me and it sucks' or 'that's terrible I hope they rot, chin up the rest of your trip will be amazing'. Anyone giving smug advice like 'oh you should always...', '... You need to be careful...' or 'when I was in XX I did...' will be un-friended immediately. I know the advice, but if you've never flown four flights over 24 hours to end up in a foreign town with no idea how to get back, with no access to the Internet trying to make a decision while the only person who can get you back home is shouting at you, then you don't know what it was like, or know how hard it is to put your advice to work.
It started when the information office at the train station and a few others said I had to register with the local government to let them know I was in the area. Perfectly reasonable I thought, I'd done this in Cameroon too. So off I went.
The local government official was also able to "help" tourists looking to book trips. Given that I had been told to come here by a legitimate source, I thought that this guy was trust worthy. So when he offered to look into trains I thought why not. I'd heard from friends that trains could be tricky and here was a government official who could help.
He soon told me that the trains were all booked between New Delhi and Agra for the next week due to school holidays. It was only later that I remembered that there is a special allocation for tourists, so the holidays would have minimal impact on a seat for me.
Tired and confused he then put me on a trip to Kashmir, which looked great from the pictures. The only thing was, he claimed, that they had cheap tickets for the day only as the airline I would have to take had given them a 50% discount due to poor sales. I did want to go to my hostel, but after a lengthy conversation he twisted my mind and I agreed to go. Later I would find out that in five minutes I could find a plane for the same "sale" price. However the dye had been cast and I was on my way. Then they said that the owners son was also going on the same plane and before I knew what was happening I had become his accompanying adult. To say that flight was stressful is a massive understatement. Thankfully nothing went wrong and the boy was picked up by his brother as we got off the plane.
After that I was trapped in Kashmir and all I wanted to do was sleep. My guide said we would go for dinner and before I knew it I was sitting in front of another tour operator who was shoving bits of paper in my face and shouting at me. Eventually, knowing that I had no choice, as I was very firmly in the trap and having not slept in over 24 hours, I agreed to more bookings that would cover the rest of my trip.
At this point I well and truly hated India. I tried to be open minded. After all I'd paid so much (I'm not going into numbers), I should bloody well enjoy it.
The first three days were in Kashmir on a "luxury" river boat. If I hadn't been ripped off I wouldn't have minded that the Internet I was promised kept failing, or that the electricity went out, or the pervasive smell of stagnant water that went down into my throat, but rather shrugged it off as part o the experience, however I HAD been ripped off...
Day one was full of mediocre experiences. I went with a guide on a paddle boat cruise around the local area, which wasn't full of lotuses as described, but rather a stagnant lake covered in algae due, apparently, to the high water levels... The locals had known this for some time and kept saying that the tourist information guys wouldn't have known, to which I replied, 'well they should, it's their job!'. Also the guide didn't seem to know anything throughout the trip and then asked me to take photos of him... Yep.
After that we went to a few gardens, a mosque and a pokey temple. Again I would have been a bit more wide eyed if I wasn't still thinking about how much I had been cheated, plus seeing that the entry fees were around nine pence or much lower. However I was trying to keep an open mind and found three positives, the Himalayas in the background were pretty cool, the tulip garden, which is only open in April (I hope that's not a lie too) was impressive and the air wasn't polluted... That's it though.
The third day we set off to K2 the world's second largest mountain, we were to have a day's hike and a trip on the world's highest gondola, which later turned out to be a cable car.
That was a bust too. We SAW K2 from another mountain and my hike turned out to be less than 1km long. I took a picture of the start of the hike from the end. Also the clothing and walking shoes that were promised were a myth, yet another lie I was told on this trip.
The positives were that the mountains were stunning. Walking in the snow in a T-shirt because it was so hot was amazing. The views were spectacular too. The snow beamed in the bright sunlight, but didn't melt, well at least not visibly. The cable car was fun too. I'd never been in one before, at least I don't think so, not one of the little ones.
Due to the short walk, I'm not calling it a hike, we were back well before time. So I had the ability to double check some of my facts, well for five minutes before the internet mysteriously crashed again... Some luxury hotel this is... I managed to sneakily check whether my requested hostel in New Delhi was available, which it was. So now I'm writing this waiting for the salesman, a Mr Bashir from the Centre Point Hotel, to arrive so I can confront him... It's tense. I doubt I'll get any money back, but at least I'll be able to get rid of some of my anger and he may even think twice before ruining someone else's trip, though I doubt it. I'm sure he's pretty happy with himself.
So I just had the stand off with Mr Bashir and he knew exactly what he had done. He told me to go F*ck myself and threatened to hold onto my tickets plus throw me into the river. I said that it was quite clear he had screwed me and asked him how he could sleep at night when he knew he had taken advantage of people and ruined their dream vacations. I didn't bend or break and I threw out my English resolve.
I was full of rage when it was all over, but then the strangest thing happened. I read an email from my mum (who as the saying goes, really does know best) and I realised that I was better than him. Yes he had harmed me, but why should I care about it, he's no more than a mosquito. A simple creature that is governed by greed. I am someone that people go to for advice. In the past 24 hours two people have said that I have inspired them and that they trust and want my opinion.
I've been brought up to be honest, good and generous. To do the right thing not for profit or praise, but because it is quite simply right. He may have profited today, but he has to live the rest of his greedy, seedy life and for that I feel sorry for him. As for me, adventures await.
... UPDATE ...
So the plot thickens. I was just about to leave my hotel when an associate of Mr Bashir's comes to my room. He wants to make everything better and ensure I don't go to the Delhi office and complain.
He asks me what happened and I explain. He apologises and asks me what I want. I tell him that I want to the money I was overcharged back. He says that isn't going to happen as a lot of it cannot be refunded. He offers to see if I can get the money back for the hotels.
This is where Mr Bashir will be caught on his lies. He told me the hotels cost between £15 and £16 per night. For 13 nights that's just under £200, which is pretty much how much he over charged me by. I explained this to the associate and said that I needed to leave to get my plane. If Mr Bashir wanted to reimburse me he could get the driver in Delhi to give me the money. Either way I'm going to make a complaint, I never said that I wouldn't. Giving me the money or at least some of it won't make up for ruining the last three days, duping me or threatening to throw me into a river.
The offer came back as 5,000 IRP and use of the hotels that I don't want. I've said that this isn't good enough and the associate (I'm calling him that as I don't know his name) said to call him back in 5-10 minutes. I'm not going to as I want them to sweat. I'll probably end up settling for the 5,000 IRP (£52 approx) but we'll see.
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