Touts of Siliguri

So I think I left off my last entry on traveling with my hasty departure from the mountainous area of Darjeeling on that cold rainy morning. My hope was to make it by bus to the city of Siliguri down in the flatlands below the mountains and then catch a 10 hour train ride west. On the bus ride down I met a man who was born, raised and lived his whole life in a village near Darjeeling. Physically he looked closer to Chinese than Indian. We sat near each other and chatted for the cramped 4 hour bus ride. The bus was small and I had to keep my backpack in my lap. He told me about his family and showed me pictures of his children. He had a cell phone and the ring tone on it was the actually recording of the Toy Train I took up to Darjeeling, except that he has a video clip and audio recording of the steam train engine which no longer runs. I rode up on the diesel version. He said that when we got to Siliguri he would come with me to a travel agent to get my train ticket so that I wouldn't get ripped off. During the bus ride he warned me about touts and thieves in the Indian tourism industry and he was right. The people who I have met in India who are not in the tourism industry are really nice and helpful and will look out for you. However, those that stand to make money off of you in the business of tourism will screw you for a rupee. They will lie, cheat and steal from you at any chance they get and I have not seen it different yet. If you want a truthful answer to anything about your travels you have to ask someone who is not involved in the tourism industry. Any answer you get from someone in the tourism industry will at the very least be skewed towards having you use them to get there or use a friend of theirs who they get a commission off of.
One day I ordered an autorickshaw to come pick me up at my guest house and to take me to the train station at a particular time. I spoke to the guy personally and he said he'd be there at 5pm. At about 4:30pm I stood outside my guest house and waited. There were about 10 drivers lined up on the street but none were my driver. One of the guys walked up to me and said, "You're going to the train station, right?" I foolishly said yes. He said, "Your driver came by earlier and said he couldn't bring you and asked if I could take you." He then asked for double the price I had agreed upon with the first guy. At 5pm my guy pulled up.
Another time, when I had just arrived in a city, I got an autorickshaw driver to give me a ride to a particular monument. He dropped me off and told me it was right around the corner. I paid him the full fare and after he was gone realized he had driven me less than half way there. I had to get another ride.
It's not unusual for someone to ask for triple the going rate.
Later that day when the bus got to Siliguri, my new friend and I went into the travel agency. He did all the talking and I got a good train reservation for a good price. The trip would be 10 hours. I paid my money and the agent said he'd be right back with the ticket, so my new friend said goodbye and went his way. He took my mailing address and said if he got a chance he would send me some tea from Darjeeling. He was a sweet guy.
A few minutes later the agent came back in and saw that my friend was gone. He said he was unable to book the train ticket because it was sold out. He said, however, that he had a 17 hour bus ride he could put me on for about 50% more. 17 hour, instead of 10. The train is a sleeper compartment, the bus would require me to ride with my bag in my lap. I said no and walked to the train station. By the time I got there the train was gone and the next one didn't leave until the next day, so I was stuck in Siliguri for the night.
I went and checked into a hotel room, threw my bag down and went to get something to eat. After that I went and did some emailing. I got back to my room about 3 hours later. When I sat in my room for a few minutes I smelt this nasty toxic smell. I was trying to figure out what it was when it came to me: mold. I looked around the room and could see the lower part of all the walls were covered with this black mold. I sat and tried to see if I could stand it for the night. Even with the windows open it was too much. I went and told the manager, who came and sprayed this aerosol in the room which did nothing. I told him I wanted a different room, he said that they were all filled up. I could see that they were not. Finally I told him I wanted my money back. He said, "That is not possible." After arguing for a few minutes I gave up and just left. I found another hotel that was decent about a mile and a half down the road.
In India, when you are in a market area or a touristy area there will be people selling all sorts of stuff from vegetables to nicknacks and rugs to clothing. And they will be selling these items in store fronts, on carts in the street and many times just carrying them around. Often, when you are walking through these market type areas, the vendors will try and get your attention in hopes that you will buy something. This is true of the rickshaw drivers as well. They will try to get your attention by saying anything from "Hello would you like to buy..." (insert product) to pretending that they just want to talk to you and get to know you. The most common is "Hello my friend, from which country are you?" Initially you stop and chat with them put then realize as they get more and more pushy that they just want you to buy. And some are really pushy. Eventually you harden up a bit and just say no thank you as you pass. But even when you say "no" they will keep on asking.
Now this isn't all the vendors, maybe a third to a half will do this in any given market area. If you are in a part of a city that is not selling things to tourist, like plumbing supplies or household goods, no one bothers you. If they do it's because they do just want to know where you are from and chat. Those are the rewarding conversations but you always have to be aware of where you are and what type of area you are in.
In Siliguri, along the main road, it is an endless line of tourist related stores. And here, EVERYBODY solicits you. Imagine walking down the street in Manhattan where every single store owner is shouting out to you, "Hello" "Come see" "My friend". And every person with a cart or handful of goods is doing it too. Then add a street full of autorickshaw drivers, peddle rickshaw drivers and pull cart rickshaw drivers all shouting out to you to try and get you to buy or purchase something and all you want to do is walk down the road to get away from your mold infested hotel room.
Now imagine a few of them actually grab you by the arm or the shoulder. At what point do you snap. It was hell. I had a peddle rickshaw driver follow me for the full mile and a half, constantly asking if I wanted a ride. I stopped saying no at number 20. When I got to my new hotel he asked again. I said I'm crossing the street to go to my hotel now. He said I'll take you across the street for 15 rupees. I snapped and told him to get the F@*# away from me.
I had a guy ask me if I wanted my shoes shined for 50 rupees, I was wearing flip flops. When I pointed this out to him, he said he would do it for 20.
I left my backpack in the moldy hotel while I went to find a room in a new one. After booking a room in a new hotel I returned to the moldy one to get my bag and then walked back to the new hotel again. They were on opposite ends of the main strip. That means I had to walk that gauntlet 3 times. I got to my new hotel and didn't come out again until the next morning when it was time to leave. I walked up to the main strip and asked a rickshaw driver for a ride to the train station. The price should be 15 rupees. He wanted 150. I told him the going price was 15 and he said I would never find a ride for that. I walked up to the line of rickshaw drivers and yelled, "Who wants 15 rupees right now for a ride to the train station." 4 guys jumped at it. I looked back at the jackass who wanted the 150 and smiled. I did not miss leaving Siliguri behind and pray I never need to go there again.