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Getting Sick, Opium, Tourism, and Aladdin
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It finally happened...I got sick.
In the morning we visited the fort at Jodhpur. It was an impressive fort but after so many forts in so many days, they all start looking the same. What made it worse was that I was starting to get feverish and light-headed. The fort was a bear as I could barely concentrate. Even when the guy at the fort offered me some opium chew (yup opium), I did not want to try it because I was teetering on the line of being sick. Opium ----- Opium seems to be a big part of the culture in these parts, especially as we traveled closer to the Pakistan border. I guess the opium trade is live and well in western India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. However this is not to say that the usage is like what we would imagine in the US, rather opium seemed to be a part of the tribal culture and used sparingly as a chew. Our tour guide took some chew and implored Samir and I to try some. I declined because I was sick and I think Samir was a little afraid to take some. I am curious what it would taste like and what it would have felt like but I guess I'll have to wait another day.
Travel Agency Drama ----- So far Gita had been traveling with use for the past few days. Consequently our agent Anand wanted to charge her for the trip. However since Samir and I already booked the car, it made no sense to pay the agent because it was already paid for. Moreover all our accommodations for Gita had been arranged by ourselves there was no reason to pay him for anything. Yet the guy insisted on charging us something. The bastard had originally wanted to charge her at least a few hundred dollars but Gita told him that through her research she had already found out that Anand had overcharged Samir and I by a few hundred bucks each (compared to what locals could pay). Caught in this piece of evidence, Anand changed his tune to just charging her $100 for travel expenses. However since we already booked the car, there should be no extra-charges as we had already paid extra for the car.
Essentially what had happened was that Anand insisted on charging us something and our position was to wait until Delhi to give him something. His calling us everyday and yelling at Gita only annoyed us more. The most ridiculous part was today when Anand insisted on payment whereas Samir was like we'll pay you at Jaisalmer. Anand had wanted us to drive back 50+ km to fax him a signature rather than just wait 3 hours until we reached the next city to settle the issue. The sheer ridiculousness of this guy is amazing. Tourism in India ----- Our trip so far showed the greed and short-sidedness of the various merchants, travel agents, etc. Instead of the big picture and building trust with the customers, all of the players try to squeeze as much cash as possible out of the tourist. The problem with this approach is that this burns a lot of bridges and consequently loses a lot of future customers as a result. Contrasting this with China and you see a huge difference. All tours in China that we've researched or taken are regulated by the government or some accredited company (i.e. Greyhound/Greyline for our Great Wall trip). This makes the decision to buy things or the spend money much easier because of the trust factor. India has been a wild frontier of greedy merchants. I would be okay with overpaying a little if the money went to the craftspeople, drivers or the people doing the "real work" and not the middlemen or companies. Samir summarized it best, "The bain of India is corruption and bureaucracy. It is what holds this country back."
Jaisalmer ----- The drive to Jaisalmer was long but surprisingly smooth. The reason was because of its proximity to the Pakistani border. The roads are often full of military vehicles driving to and from the border and as a result the roads are in excellent conditions. It is funny how the roads everywhere were so crappy and poorly maintained but when it came down to security, the country is focused and actually does a good job of maintaining the roads. The drive was also punctuated by frequent air patrols of fighter jets. Long story sort, the land was flat and desert-like. At this time, I had already succumbed to a fever and spent most of the trip passed out. The "Fort City"
----- The fort at Jaisalmer is carved of sandstone and as a result glows yellow as the sun sets. We reached the fort city around sunset time and the agent was kind enough to show us around despite the lateness of our arrival. From first glance it is the Aladdin come to life. You can tell that the Disney move borrowed liberally from the city. The resemblance is striking and it was amazing to see it in person. So far India's Rajasthan had been an area that has inspired many famous movies including: 1. Indiana Jones 2. James Bond (Octopussy) 3. Aladdin More thumbnails ...
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| 13. | Getting Sick, Opium, Tourism, and Aladdin - Jaisalmer, India Jan 09, 2006 (  65 ) |
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