With the cash reserves on the low-end after the pick-pocketing, I’ve been a bit more choosy as to which sites I see in India. With the two-tier price system — one for Indians and one for foreigners — there are some I just can’t really bring myself to pay to see. I mean, why would I pay the same price as the entrance fee to the Grand Canyon for something definitely not as cool as the Grand Canyon or that I’d never heard of? Interestingly, I’m not the only one. The American girl I met in Delhi and hung out with in Jaipur (small world that we wound up in the same guesthouse!) and I only saw about half of Jaipur’s sites because the prices were a bit too much for something too little.
So, although I’d previously quietly payed the foreigners’ price, I have to admit I’m getting a bit more annoyed by it. I mean, before I told myself that the publicly owned sites were (theoretically) payed for by taxpayers’ money, so charging non-tax-payers a different price is excusable.
Now, though, I’m not so sure. I mean, a small difference would be OK. But more than 15 times the Indian price? No thanks. And the worst is when I get the SAME exact service as the Indian tourists and then the guide (which was mandatory and included in the ticket I payed five times the amount for) ends the tour and still asks for a tip because I’m American. Uh, no thanks, champ.
Then, in Bikaner, I met a Spanish couple who refused to visit any of the sites that charged two separate prices. “We miss out on a lot,” the woman says, adding that there are plenty of Indians that make more than she. They’re happier that they stick to their morals.
That got me thinking…how do you all feel about the foreigners’ prices? Clearly, this would never fly in America, but what about when you’re traveling? Fair or not??? Hmmm…
_02.jpg)
_02.jpg)
_02.jpg)
_02.jpg)
_02.jpg)
_02.jpg)
_02.jpg)
_02.jpg)
