A Day of Touring Jaipur (And Some Advice For Ali)

When I met Ali in the parking lot of the railway station, he seemed to be a nice enough guy. He pointed out the state tourism office and then waited for me to come back out, telling me that when I realized that what they were offering wasn't so great, he would be waiting. I did realize that and he was waiting. That was all right.

I asked him what he would show me for my 400 rupees. He gave me a short-ish list of things that would appeal. He would take me to Jantar Mantar, an astronomical observatory. He would take me to the Amber Fort. He would take me to the royal tombs. He would take me to the Water Palace. And he would take me to a tower where I could get a view of the city. Then after all of that, he would take me to Mughal Town. This was an area where lots of manufacturing of goods, textiles, rugs, and the like, was done. This was where all the shops in town got their goods. But in Mughal Town it was much cheaper. I could see how all these things were made and if I liked anything, I could buy it. Well, I like seeing the manufacturing process sometimes, so that visit sounded interesting, even if it did sound like he would be presenting me with an opportunity to buy things, and would no doubt get a commission on anything I did buy.

I wasn't sure about all the things he wanted to show me. I asked about another fort, Nahargarh. I had seen it on a map in the tourism office and it seemed that it was right near the Pink City part of town. Ali immediately scoffed at that idea. It was 14 kilometers away, and I couldn't have seen that on the map. I was pretty sure I had seen it labelled as Nahargarh, but I was willing to concede that either I had thought it was labelled that, but perhaps the name pointed to some other site, or that maybe the map had been way out of scale. I really wanted to find out, so I asked him if he had a map. He didn't.

(Ali: If you are really going to succeed at showing people around your fair city and give them a tour, it would be a good idea to get a map. That way they can see where you are going to take them and get some idea of the names of the things they will be seeing.)

So I asked him to come into the tourism office with me to have a look at the map I had seen and he could tell me what he meant. He declined. Actually he wouldn't go anywhere near the entrance, even when I went in the first time. I think the rickshaw drivers aren't actually allowed in to the stations a lot of times, but there was a weird vibe he gave off when he declined to go in. I couldn't put my finger on it, but it raised my suspicions just a bit.

(Ali: It is a lot less suspicious to just upfront say you aren't allowed in the station. If you act all jumpy when asked to enter a place, it just makes you seem off.)

So I was unable to confirm or deny what I had seen on the map. He just couldn't seem to follow the picture I was trying to draw in the air of what was on the map and couldn't tell me what was off that northwest corner of the Pink City. He would only tell me that Nahargarh wasn't worth going to and would cost extra to go if I really insisted because he would have to take me in a car and it would be a ridiculous amount of money.

He then told me that he knew tourists who came to the city and he knew what they wanted to see. I should just trust him. He pulled out his book of glowing references from very happy customers, just like any tour driver I have ever met. Interestingly, although he pointed out various entries in the book, he didn't make any attempt to try and read them to me. He was trying to show me a reference from fellow Canadians, which he eventually conceded wasn't in that book, but the old book that was now full. But I had the weird impression that he couldn't actually read anything in his book. I don't know if that was the case or not.

So we agreed on a price and a time when he would come to get me at my hotel, 10:00. I asked him when things opened and he told me 9:30. I wondered aloud if perhaps we ought to be leaving earlier since things opened earlier than 10, but he told me they would be busy and it would be calmed down by 10. I told him I hoped so, and then wondered if there would be enough to see everything. He said yes, so I didn't fuss too much.

(Ali: Despite the fact that I didn't fuss too much, if a customer is paying you to take them around for a day, then you might consider the fact that they might want to take advantage of as much time as possible that things are open. If a place will be open at 9:30, perhaps you should get them there by 9:30, instead of picking them up at 10:00.)

Then he kept me from getting into the city in a timely fashion as he tried to talk me into letting him take me into the city. He also was careful to tell me that there were many people who would try to sell me things, but I would be much better to buy from the Mughal Town factory because it would be cheaper and more reputable. By the time I did get there, it was really too late to see or do much. And I had just missed the opportunity to get up that white tower. This just kind of annoyed me.

(Ali: If a prospective customer wants to go somewhere and makes it clear he/she is going to walk, you should let them get going. They are not going to look kindly on you if you make them too late to see anything. In addition, if you are going to warn potential customers about buying anything because it will be expensive and maybe fake, it might be a mistake to tell them you will take them to a place where they can buy things. Just a thought.)

The next morning, he arrived at 10:00 as agreed. And we set off. But first Ali gave me a chit for a pre-paid journey in an autorickshaw. He explained that the police in town like to stop rickshaws and hassle the drivers for a cut of their fare. This was something that happens when the customer isn't on a prepaid ticket, but has made some kind of arrangement with the driver. Admittedly I hadn't been in town long, but I hadn't seen a single police officer stop a single rickshaw in any sort of suspicious way. This actually sounded more like he wasn't licensed somehow and he was trying to avoid any penalty. But I couldn't be sure. It just sound a bit hinky.

(Ali: Don't involve your customers in your attempts to evade having to deal with corruption or, if my suspicion is correct, penalties for being in the wrong. Your customers don't want to deal with it. They want to go where they want to go. And when you try to involve them in whatever it is, they tend to get distrustful and wary.)

We arrived first at Jantar Mantar. This is a medieval astronomical/astrological observatory. I hadn't expected it to be of much interest, but I was happily mistaken. And it was even better when I realized that they offer a composite ticket for tourists in Jaipur. It is possible to buy a ticket for one price, somewhat reduced, for five sites in the area, Jantar Mantar, the Amber Fort, Nahargarh Fort, Hawa Mahal, and Albert Hall. More than that, it's good for two days.

I bought the composite ticket, noting that Ali was only going to be taking me two of the five places, and one he adamantly refused to go to. The remaining two spots he didn't even mention. And he had suggested getting the composite ticket in the first place.

(Ali: If you are going to make a suggestion to purchase a composite ticket, you really ought to try and get your customer to more than 40 percent of the sites covered by the ticket. Cost conscious people tend to appreciate that.)

Inside the Jantar Mantar site it was quite amazing. There were huge instruments for making astronomical observations to a high degree of accuracy. For instance there was a sundial clock that was accurate to 10 or 15 seconds. It was really interesting. They could read the height of various celestial objects and how they changed over the course of a year. They could follow constellations and make simultaneous observations for each of them using a set of instruments (and these were not handheld instruments, they had to be climbed to be used). The whole site was astonishing. I spent 45 minutes or so in the place, just looking around and marvelling.

When I came out of Jantar Mantar, I asked Ali if he would take to the white tower, Isarlat. He seemed a bit surprised that I knew about it. I'm not sure if that's the place he had planned to take me, but he agreed readily, if in a bit of a non-plussed way.

As I expected I got a great view from the top of the tower. It was a really good look at the city and the surrounding area. And then I got even more. The man in charge of the tower took me out on a little roof. He pointed out various things to me. He showed me some points of interest, including a temple for Ganesh. He told me about how there seven sites that had been built along a line from a mountain through the center of the Pink City. He pointed out how there were mountains on three sides of the city, but there was nothing guarding the fourth direction. Thus the tower was built to serve as a lookout point. He told me lots of things about the city and gave me a great orientation to the city in general and some of the points of interest in particular. And then he took me to take a few photos of the tower, and some whimsical ones as well. And all this came with the hefty price tag of 10 rupees, about 20 cents. In a lot of ways, it was the highlight of the visit to Jaipur. I got information and a great view.

(Ali: You might try learning something of the historical points of interest and how they are placed. You can be a fount of interesting information to impart to your customers. It makes them remember that you know something of the city. It also helps them not question how much you actually know about your city when you don't even seem to know that the big fort that sits above the city on the hill just outside the old town is, in fact, the Nahargarh Fort that your customer was asking you about the day before.)

From Isarlat, we headed to Gaitore, the tombs of the old rulers of the city. They were Taj Mahal-ish in nature and were quite nice, in their own way. They were cheap to enter at 30 rupees, but I could easily have passed on them. It didn't take long to visit them though, so the late start was turning out to be not such a problem to overcome.

However, if we had had an earlier start, we might have been able to visit at least one of the other sites on the composite ticket, like the Hawa Mahal. And I discovered the next day that Hawa Mahal is actually practically next door to Jantar Mantar. From the top of Hawa Mahal you can see right into the Jantar Mantar site. When I found that out, I was really annoyed at Ali, although we had long since parted company and I can only rant at him here.

(Ali: When you have suggested to a customer that he/she buy a composite ticket for a number of tourist sites, and there is one of those sites all but next door to the one you are at, you might consider taking your customer there, as they have bought the damn ticket that lets them in!!!!!!!)

From Gaitore, we headed out past the spot I had visited the evening before with the factory and the Water Palace. As we passed, Ali told me we would stop back there later in the day after the visit to the Amber Fort. I told him I had visited the evening before, and again he seemed a bit surprised and possibly a bit upset. I don't know if he was prepared to have a customer be able to fend for himself. He certainly seemed to have the view that it was amazing that I had managed that by myself. He also seemed chagrined when I told him that a bus was involved, meaning I knew where buses would go. I don't know if that made him aware that I knew how I could have gotten to the Amber Fort on my own and that I also knew how much of a difference it would have cost to just take the bus instead of hiring him. If it occurred to him at that moment, it passed from his mind quickly.

I had been anticipating the Amber Fort. I had heard about it from a couple of people as being quite worth the price of entry. It was amazing. It was large. It was something that would be remembered forever. I guess that is probably what did it in, all the praise I had heard from other people. It was certainly an impressive sight, sitting as it does on the top of that hill overlooking the valley. It's cream colour does seem to shine in the sun. And maybe if I had gone with the audio tour commentary as I walked through the fort, I would have had more of a sense of “Wow!” But I came away with the sense that it was a confusing place to look around. There wasn't anything inside really that showed how it worked. There was no museum of things that had been there. It was just a bunch of rooms in a maze-like structure that had some explanations, but that wasn't that compelling. And I was disappointed.

To be sure there were a couple of very impressive features. There was a really nice garden, for instance.

And there was an audience hall adorned with mirrors and coloured glass that was really impressive as well.

But overall the impression it gave me was a bit flat.

Next up was another visit to the Water Palace, this time in the daylight. It was still quite an impressive sight and I noticed also that the lake was manmade with a dam creating the lake. This explained how they had constructed the palace.

This took only a few minutes and then it was off to Mughal Town, right near the Water Palace. Uh oh. I had sneaking suspicion and a sinking feeling. It was shortly confirmed. Ali took me to the same factory I had visited the day before. And though I longed to kind of toss that observation off to him, I didn't. I wanted to see if they remembered me at the factory. My handler from the day before was not in evidence, but there would be others who would recognize me of course. I was given the same demonstration of the block printing. I also did see some carpet makers doing their work, which was interesting. I told my new handler that I wasn't really interested in buying anything. He said that was all right and I could still go up and take a look, which suggested that it really wasn't going to be all right that I didn't buy anything.

It was upstairs that the truth came out that I had been there the day before. At least they do recognize previous customers. That was a bit heartening to know that they respect their patrons at least that much. But they told Ali that I had been there the day before, and he came up and asked me somewhat incredulously if it was true. And he looked somewhat crestfallen. Not only did this make probably three places that he had been going to show me that I had managed to get to on my own, but he must have realized that if I had been there the day before, I would not be buying anything there that day and he would not be getting any commission out of the deal. By this time in the day, I was actually quite smugly satisfied about that. And I must confess that I was also somewhat gleeful inside about the prospect of turning him down when he might be wanting extra money from me for a job well done. He had turned out to be a piss poor tour “guide.”

Well, I duly looked at what my handler had to show me of their wares. And I turned him down flat on every thing he wanted me to buy. I really didn't want anything, both because I had already bought something and because I had come to suspect even more strongly that this place was just a scam. Looking at the patterns of stuff the guy was showing, I doubt very strongly, VERY strongly, that much of it was done by hand. The block patterns were too well put together. I really think most of what they produce is done by machine. I thought of accusing them of that, but I was still upstairs and it didn't seem prudent. So looked at what he showed me and I drank my chai, and then I said no.

He even pointed to the paintings on silk, one of which I had bought the day before, but he didn't suggest that they were painted by a guy who looked after orphans like the my handler the day before. I wonder if they have their stories coordinated enough for a situation like a repeat customer on two consecutive days. I wonder what would have happened if I had raised any kind of ruckus, with all the unsuspecting tourists that I saw being ushered into the place. Alas, I didn't, so I will never know.

Having been disappointed, Ali had one more thing he wanted to “show” me. He had a guru, in Mughal town. This guy read palms and could tell everything about a person. He had asked me earlier if I wanted to meet him. He talked to people for free, this guru. I really doubted that, but I didn't say so. And I told Ali that I really didn't want to meet the guy. But Ali was somewhat insistent and kept bringing it up. He brought it up again after the abortive visit to the factory. And he told me that his guru actually wanted to meet me. It was free. It would only be later that the guru would want any money. He would read my chakras and then he would offer stones to heal me. That would cost money, but everything before that would be free. Okay, fine. I said I would go.

So Ali took me to the gem shop of his guru. I was sitting waiting for the guy to show up and was looking idly at the jewellery in the cases. They made a small attempt to see if I would be interested, but I am not in the slightest interested in purchasing gems and jewellery, and they gave up quickly.

(Ali: If you have warned a customer about people perpetrating gem scams, then it really isn't a good idea to take that customer to a gem shop and let the proprietors try to sell him/her gems and jewellery. You idiot!)

The guru came in and took me in the back to his office. He asked me why I was there. I told him that Ali had brought me and that he had said the guru wanted to meet me. He confessed that he actually hadn't known I was coming and that he didn't know why Ali had brought me either. And that he actually was in the business of helping people, for money. As I had suspected. And that if I wasn't there knowing why I was there, that we were both probably wasting our time, which wasn't good for either of us. He did tell me that my crown chakra is very nice. And that I have some kind of problem with my throat chakra. I need to express myself more and writing and other creative endeavours would help me. He told me that I should take up Reiki because I could really help people if I did. And he told me that when I am 46 my life will become stable. Who knows?

But having wasted enough of his time, I took my leave and headed out with Ali. And I believe, though I cannot be sure because it was said in Hindi, that the guru had some fairly harsh words for Ali before we left.

(Ali: It really is best not to lie about someone wanting to meet someone else, especially if you are making them meet. That kind of lie gets found out and then you have no recourse. You are undone. You moron!!!)

Finally it was back to the hotel. Ali had taken me to the places he had said he would take me. He had followed through on the agreement we had made. So I couldn't really not pay him what was agreed. I really wasn't going to make an issue. I was going to pay him and say goodbye. So I pulled out a 500 rupee note and gave it to him. He looked at it and then looked at me. And I asked for the change. He kind of got a sullen look and said in a somewhat plaintive voice that he could get a gift of 100 rupees. I said no, we had agreed to 400 rupees and I would get the 100 change. He said he had no change. I told him that wasn't really my problem and I wanted the change. He asked if I had enjoyed his service. I told him that I felt it was worth the 400 (well, it wasn't, but we had agreed to that), but not 500. He started getting upset about that and fighting me, telling me that he had given the price of 400, but there were all these costs, and it was sort of expected that there would be more. I have heard that kind of argument before in many contexts. And I didn't have any of it then, I didn't in this case either. I told him that if he thought he deserved more, then he should have started with a higher price. But he had given the price of 400, it was agreed to and now that is what it was going to be. So his final shot was that I would have to go and get change then. That made me mad. And I told him so, that now I was not thinking that I had enjoyed the service. He got a bit pissy at that, and couldn't seem to get it through his thick skull that it wasn't my job to make change, and I really didn't care that they wouldn't make change for him in the hotel. It wasn't my problem. It was his job and his problem to get change, and I wanted the change. We argued over that for a short while until I realized that I was arguing with a petulant twit who wasn't going to get it, who couldn't even tell where a big effing fort is that sits above the town he purports to know so well (which is something I pointed out to him during this discussion), who felt he had provided such a great service that he had taken me to three places I had gotten to on my own and that he had done nothing more that what a map and a bus would have done. And I gave up. I wished him well, and sent him away with his 400 rupees.

(Ali: If you are truly going to be a success with this ferrying visitors to your city, you had better offer something more than a more or less straight line drive from the town to the main attraction, along the same road as the buses that go to the same place, passing them (or getting passed by them) as you go. If it becomes clear that you are offering no more than what a cheap map and a bus ticket could do, your credibility and value drop dramatically.)

All in all, it was not a particularly successful day. Although on the whole Ali was a nice enough guy, he was an inept driver. He never gave the impression that he knew his city very well. He told me over and over how impossible it was to get to Nahargarh Fort, how the only way was a very long road that would cost lots to traverse, even though I knew there was a way to walk up. He only cared about a few sights and seemed to know nothing of others, even when they were quite literally next door. He professed to know so much about what tourists wanted, but seemed oblivious to the fact that, having suggested to me that I buy a composite ticket, I might want to see most or all of the sites it covered. He told me to be careful of all these scams and places to buy things and then took me to places that really seemed to be scam-like. And with almost no trouble at all, I could have managed to get to everywhere he took me, and by following almost the same routes on buses. He offered no advantage at all over doing it myself, but at 4 to 5 times the price. And he didn't get it.

But it wasn't completely his doing either. I didn't find too many of the sites to be interesting at all. I had wanted to see them, but I had been disappointed by them when I got there. The best thing of the day was the visit to the white tower in the center of town. I got lots of information and a great view, but it was barely supposed to be on the program for the day.

I'm glad I saw the things I did, but I didn't really enjoy my tour that day.