RAJASHTANI
WRAP-UP
(Rajasthani
Ramblings Part 8)
From
Sawai Madhopur, we took the train to Agra where we found that the Apollo hotel did indeed
have a room waiting for us and a very nice one at that. LaLa came through for
us! The reason we returned to Agra was to consider buying a hand knotted wool rug.
The first time through Agra
we met a shop owner that seemed honest, had reasonable prices and beautiful
rugs. While we were near the end of our
trip, we had plenty of time to spare, so buying the rug became an all day
experience. We went to Adil’s, talked a little bit, looked at rugs, talked some
more, looked at rugs some more, spent some time negotiating, had some tea and
by the end of the day we had a rug for our entryway. Along with some other souvenirs we had
bought, they folded up the rug, tied it tight, wrapped it in plastic for water
protection, sewed a cloth cover around the package, added a handle and we had a
rug in a “suitcase”. All in all, it was
the best buying experience we had in India. We felt good about the rug we bought, plus the
person we bought it from. We heartily recommend buying from Adil.
People
worry about child labor when buying rugs or crafts from India. Unfortunately, child labor is alive and well in
totally public venues. We walked by an
area where they were digging a trench about 18" wide and 4' deep for sewer
lines. All the work was done by hand using a pick and shovel. A number of the woman workers had their young
(5 - 10 yr old) children with them, participating in the work - breaking rocks
into gravel, carrying buckets of sand, doing whatever they could to help. In other
places, we have seen teenagers doing similar work. We have seen lots of
restaurants with 10 - 15 year old boys working in them. In contrast, it seems that in the area of
crafts, Indian businesses understand people's concerns and do not employ child
labor (from what we have seen). All the men making the rugs at Adil’s were at
least 20 if not in their thirties.
From
Agra, we returned to Delhi and spent a final week in a shopping and
site-seeing frenzy. March 8 we left Delhi for a flight to Vienna, Austria where we spent 3 cold but glorious days and then
on March 12 returned to the good ol' USA.
We've
mentioned costs here and there in our travelogues and want to lay a few more
facts and figures on you. The per-capita
income is about $1/day and from what we can tell, people earning this are
surviving, but just barely - they have enough to eat and a place to sleep. Internet cafes charge around $0.75/hr for
broadband access, a coke costs between $0.25 and $0.50 and most important, a
small package of cookies is about $0.10.
Dinner at a nice restaurant runs between $2 and $7, depending on how
touristy the area is.
We
have met many people that speak pretty good English in India, but one thing we have learned about the culture
is that their listening skills are even worse than mine! It seems like people think they know what you
are going to say or what you want and totally ignore what you tell them. It can be funny, amazing, frustrating or a
combination of any of the three, depending on the situation.
Returning
to Agra for the second time, we realized how much of a
culture shock India was the first few weeks and how much we had adjusted to it over
time. India is a constant assault on the senses - sights,
sounds, smells and your physical space.
As time goes by, you subconsciously, as well as consciously, learn
various coping mechanisms. One time, we
were walking and a continual stream of rickshaw drivers pulled up alongside of
us asking us to hop on. One guy asked
me, "where going?", to which I replied, "crazy" and he
said, "No problem, I'll take you there"! Just another day in India…
Final Notes on India
|
$1723
|
|
food,
accommodation and local transport = $26/day
|
|
$358
|
|
souvenirs
|
|
$188
|
|
plane tickets
(+160,000 frequent flier miles)
|
|
$58
|
|
guidebooks
|
|
--------
|
|
--------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
$2327
|
|
Total
expenditure for 66 days in India
|
|
|
|
|
|
$8
|
|
average cost for a room
|
|
2230
|
|
miles
traveled
|
|
|
|
|
THE END OF RAJASTHANI RAMBLINGS
All content is copyright © Paul Schneider, 2005.
