A Winter in India

The image above is an autorickshaw. It is the medium luxurious way to get around Delhi! As you can see it is actually a motorscooter with three wheels and a cab for the driver and two or three passengers. They are very stable at the speed they can go. The steering is just like a motorscooter or motorcycle with the brake lever and throttle on the right and left handlebars. We had to go to a fancy hotel the other night for a meeting, and the open sides of an autorick don’t do much to prevent your hair from being set free. It is definitely the best way to get around Delhi, the crazy drivers weave in and out of jams and deliver you right to your destination. Before we get in the autorick we “negotiate” with the driver about the fare. He says an outrageous figure and we finally settle on much less. My idea of outrageous is always being modified. Our local friends complain that we pay too much and give these drivers the idea that their service is worth more. But gosh, we can go all over Delhi for about sixty rupees, which is about $1.50 . Most New York cab rides start two or three times that when you enter the cab. There is a federal law that says that all public transportation including these autoricks must be fueled by natural gas, no more diesel fuel. That should pay big dividends in the pollution area.

In a future blog I’ll get a picture of a real human powered rickshaw. There are also automobile taxis which you can hire for the entire day at a very reasonable flat rate fee to go 80 kilometers before the rupees per mile kicks in. If you want to tour around India you can hire a car and driver for a very reasonable daily fee. They provide an SUV and an aggressive driver who will take you as far as you want to go. After seeing the sights and monuments, he will drop you off at your hotel and show up again the next day at the time that you specify. I have no idea where he spends the night.