Transportation experiences:
SUV-type A/C taxi [2.5 hours]
ancient, public inter-state bus [4 hours]
auto-rickshaw
private car with driver
car-hire non-A/C with driver [eight hours]
2nd-class non-A/C sleeper train [eight hours]
private non-A/C long-haul bus [nine hours]
new, efficient, city bus
new A/C public airport shuttle bus
inter-city plane [Jet Airways]
A/C Delhi taxi
non-A/C Delhi taxi
new, A/C, city sightseeing/shuttle public bus
cycle-rickshaw [ethical dilemma: see below*]
motorbike [OK, I was just offered a ride for one block and I didn't accept: no helmet]
1st-class A/C class sleeper train [18+ hours]
2nd-class A/C sleeper train [there are multiple classes on Indian trains!]
new (2010) Delhi metro [to the airport]
and, mostly, . . . shank's mare!
*Rickshaw-wallahs are uniformly skinny, stringy, sinewy men, who look undernourished and exhausted (and are often seen collapsed, sleeping, in their vehicles at the side of the road). They have to work in the pollution and danger of city traffic. It seems wrong for another human being to physically (laboriously) transport me, when I can walk. But if I don't use the cycle-rickshaw, the rickshaw-wallah will not eat. Not using the service might make it go away in the long run, but in the short run, it will deprive the men and their families of a livelihood. Probably economists have something to say about this dilemma, and I look forward to discussing it with my development-economist son.
SUV-type A/C taxi [2.5 hours]
ancient, public inter-state bus [4 hours]
auto-rickshaw
private car with driver
car-hire non-A/C with driver [eight hours]
2nd-class non-A/C sleeper train [eight hours]
private non-A/C long-haul bus [nine hours]
new, efficient, city bus
new A/C public airport shuttle bus
inter-city plane [Jet Airways]
A/C Delhi taxi
non-A/C Delhi taxi
new, A/C, city sightseeing/shuttle public bus
cycle-rickshaw [ethical dilemma: see below*]
motorbike [OK, I was just offered a ride for one block and I didn't accept: no helmet]
1st-class A/C class sleeper train [18+ hours]
2nd-class A/C sleeper train [there are multiple classes on Indian trains!]
new (2010) Delhi metro [to the airport]
and, mostly, . . . shank's mare!
*Rickshaw-wallahs are uniformly skinny, stringy, sinewy men, who look undernourished and exhausted (and are often seen collapsed, sleeping, in their vehicles at the side of the road). They have to work in the pollution and danger of city traffic. It seems wrong for another human being to physically (laboriously) transport me, when I can walk. But if I don't use the cycle-rickshaw, the rickshaw-wallah will not eat. Not using the service might make it go away in the long run, but in the short run, it will deprive the men and their families of a livelihood. Probably economists have something to say about this dilemma, and I look forward to discussing it with my development-economist son.
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