The transport

After the traffic, I have decided to go on a bit with the topic and talk to you about transport within Ahmedabad. As I told you before, we have several options, like walking (not used often), riding a cycle (a bit more, but not so much either), or going by bike (meaning motorbike), by car, by taxi, by bus and by rickshaw. I am mainly going to talk about the last one.

I have never used buses within the city, because I don't know the lines and, as I had explained before, I do not speak their language much to go around asking people…There is a bus with its own lane which must be quite fast and it seems that it is also cheap. I do not know if it is always like that, but when you see the buses, they look so old: no windows (quite normal, because it is hot here), they don’t seem to have air conditioning (which is a bit surprising, as they use it a lot), there are no doors and people hop in and out while moving...

Rickshaws in Delhi.

About rickshaws (in this case, autorickshaws)… there’s so much to say! First times you take them, you may think that they are not very safe, with so much traffic around and without doors or safety belt… And maybe they are not, but I still need to move around the city, right? Well, this is how it works: you talk to the man (I still haven’t seen any woman driving them) and tell him where you want to go. Sometimes they say no, but I have no idea why… Then you make sure that the metre is at 0. You hop in and, if you are lucky, they will take you to your destination. If they don’t know the way, they will ask you or people around how to get there. When you arrive, you ask them how much it was. This is the tricky part. They tell you a price and, if it seems expensive, you ask him to show you the chart with the prices. Then, you have to make sure that they are showing you the price for daytime (it is more expensive after 11 p.m.) and also that they are showing you what the metre says! Sometimes they want to get a couple of rupees from you, sometimes more. Anyway, it is quite cheap. Going almost to the other side of the city can be around 120 rupees, which is some 2 euros.

As always, they are never there when you need them… Sometimes the rickshaw is full (and by that I mean that, having room for three people, sometimes there are even four inside) and they still stop so that you get in… on top of the ones already in. They are mainly men, so it is not highly advisable for women. Sometimes you don’t need them but they still stop. One day not long ago, we said no to one and he literally got on our way. It kinda pissed me off…

Sometimes you need them, but you still want to kill them. When you go out of a train or bus station, even before getting off a bus, they are already there, waiting for you and stalking you: “Where are you going?”, “My rickshaw is here”, “Come this way”. And whatever you say, they will just stay there until you pick one.  It’s overwhelming.

Sometimes there are so many people in that you just see arms and legs everywhere. Four or five guys in the back, a couple in the front sitting by the driver or standing inside and with the rest of the body outside…

On a cycle rickshaw.

In Ahmedabad we only have autorickshaws, but in some other cities you can easily find cycle ones. They are much slower, of course, but they pollute less. The thing is that I feel guilty on them… I know it is their job, but for me it looks like slavery, I don’t know, carrying tourist with the strength of their legs. Western prejudices, I guess. Besides, they usually don’t have a metre, so you have to bargain. As I don’t look very Indian, they always try to con me…

And that is pretty much all today. Next time I will tell you about my trip to Gir forest. I hope you are not getting bored!

To go up the hill, we had to get off the
rickshaw and walk.