Indian Shakedown(s)

I am getting a funny feeling about India and it is not nice.

First things first - this morning at checkout, the amount quoted me was in Rupees, then after they had swiped my card, they gave me a slip to sign which had 2 boxes: Rupees and Dollars. The Rupees amount was the amount that they had quoted me, the Dollar amount was $5 (on a bill of $77) higher than the current exchange rate would indicate. They at least had the courtesy to offer me the option of using Rupees (rather than the Restaurant yesterday). So, in contrast to Trump's call of: "China is a currency manipulator", it appears that Indians are currency stealers.

The second thing is: I am mostly of the opinion that paid guides should be on the side of the tourist. We have certainly paid enough for this trip for that to be the case. But at the first Mosque yesterday on the way out, our Guide stopped at the exit and showed a couple of vendors with Necklaces/Scarves etc. Even after we had said no to the first 2 vendors, she persisted to show another. Then of course we went to see the starving Kashmiri - we admittedly were happy with our purchase, but in light of our experiences it was almost certainly a shakedown. This midday after Agra's Fort, we told the guide that we were done for the day (1 billion C or so in the shade) and we would go to the Taj Mahal tomorrow morning early, rather than this evening. He then proceeded to offer a "Jewelry and Arts & Crafts" experience @4PM - which we declined. This was followed by "How about Henna Tattoo" @6PM (which is on the list of things to do in Jaipur in a couple of days, and he would have known this).

It seems a bit like the whole country is trying to bleed us dry on the money front. Not a good feeling. The guides are seeing their Tips disappear as I type and the feedback will be mediocre too.

NOTE: in between Delhi and Agra we took the Gatiman Express train. 1 Hour 40 Minutes, free water/juice/cereals/butties/warm meal/coffee tea all included in the $45 (for 2 people) price. Eat your hearts out US Airlines!

PS: I just checked the Credit Card Bill...the pending amount from the hotel in Delhi is their $5 more version. If the final amount is the same, I will be disputing my first Credit Card Transaction! :-)