landing in india

i flew into bangalore with the idea that i was wise enough to get by; i'm from renton.  i landed, went through customs, got my baggage, and headed towards the exit for a taxi.  i found a taxi driver and thinking back to what one traveler wrote about india, "always ask for a price to your destination beforehand."  so i asked.

the driver told me "don't worry about it" and that "i know tourists think indians will try to rip you off at every corner."  cool, i felt confident in his upfront honesty.  let's go.

we talked all about india and all the wonderful and terrible facets of it's culture throughout our 20 minute ride.  he told me that "indians will cheat you but you'll be fine if you're clever enough."  i'm totally clever so i'll be fine.

after driving for about 30 kilometers (miles??) to my hotel from bangalore international we arrived at my hotel.  as he pulled into goldcrest hotel's roundabout, i said "thank you (with a smile), how much?"  he reached to the passenger side glovebox (on the left side of the car) and dug through a few papers, eventually pulling out a laminated one with prices listed for each location from the airport: mg street... 1520 rupees; church road... 1510 rupees; minerva circle (my street)... 1580 rupees.  even then, as i wasn't in india for more than an hour from stepping off the plane, i knew that wasn't right.  40 dollars?? this cab ride was more expensive than two nights in my hotel.  oh, and he didn't hesitate to show me the bottom of the laminated, unauthorized (i checked) paper that there was an extra 700 rupee surcharge for hours between 10pm and 7am.  it was 4am.  damn, i've been had.  he said 2000 rupees would suffice.  realizing what just happened, i paid the driver his well earned cash for my first lesson in india: be clever.  india: 1, paul: 0.