May 10, 2011 05:52 PM
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Our nightmare began right from the time, we had booked this tour. We had booked a pickup point at Vasant Vihar, which happens to be the starting point for the tour. We called the number in the website and wanted to ensure that we will get the seats we had selected but the folks who answered the phone had no clue to what we were talking. They did not care about such specifics and told us that they can't see what we had booked and we can ask the driver.
We were there at sharp 545 AM, a good 15 minutes early but true to Indian punctuality, the bus showed up at 615 AM and that too on another side of the road, opposite to the so called Rao travels office(which BTW had no one at that time to guide us, other than a few stray dogs chasing the sandwich bags of ours). We crossed the road and ran behind the bus to board, which by itself is an experience since Delhi motorists don't bother about pedestrians, esp at 615 AM.
The bus then went about picking other passengers going around the city. We had an escort' kind of Rao travels car from where someone was constantly calling the driver in his cell. There were the usual hits and misses(should be in that red light.no I don't see them.wait there.till we come.etc) and finally when we were done, it was already 715 AM, a good 1 hour in Delhi only.
As soon as the bus left Delhi, I realized that this is going to be not pleasant. We were in seats 10, 11 and 12 and there was no glass barrier to separate us from the driver, who was constantly HONKING. We requested him to use the horn as less as feasible but he said that this is India and not'Phoren'.
The bus stopped at Palwal for breakfast. I told the driver to move the bus a few feet up since it stopped right near a sand bank but he refused and because of that they entire bus became sandy but true to desi style, neither the driver nor the passengers had no pretension of cleanliness and did not mind the dirt. The breakfast joint was a shamble. It had a list price of Rs 15 for the Nestea but dished out some 10 paisa worth of murky water. If you see this place and where they make their stuff(combined with the ever present Urine smell from adjoining, unclean toilets), you will puke. Idlis were priced at Rs 50 each and the product looked 1 week old but no one seemed to bother. The driver and the cleaner boy happily ate and came back after a good 40 minutes, when they had told us that we should be back in 15 minutes.
We reached Agra at 1230 after heavy traffic and headache due to constant honking(UP roads are beyond redemption but that is another topic). A guide got in and walked us thro the Agra fort(which BTW, in scorching summer welcomed us with sewage water running on road and cow dung every where along with of course ever present Urine smell).
Then the usual handicraft stop and the'Peda' experience in shady joints followed(other reviewers had described this).
Then came the stop for lunch. The joint was ok but very pricey. The Taj and Mathura stops followed.
Then came the stop for dinner at one shady looking'Dhaba'. It had a toilet, where no sensible human being can approach within 50 feet. There were numerous nice Dhabas on the way but this is where the driver chose to halt and it was pathetic to see people pay 5 star prices and eat in his shambolic place where there were mosquitoes and flies with dirty water every where. The place had not been cleaned for years for sure.
The rest of the way back was a horror. The constant honking, sudden breaking made the journey unpleasant. When we reached Faridabad, we asked the driver when we will reach Vasant Vihar. He said casually 10 PM and we asked our pickup taxi to come there at 10. Actually, we reached at 1 AM, a good 3 hours behind, after dropping everyone since Vasant vihar is the last point. The traffic nightmare on reaching Delhi, made it a crawl for the last 1/2 a KM, we took nearly 1 1/2 hrs.
Rao travels - I do recommend that no one ever takes this. Agreed, they can't do much with Up roads but they can stick to punctuality as far as feasible. They should have done something to insulate the passenger from the honk and worst, should have picked better joints to stop for b/f, lunch and dinner. On the whole, we were exhausted and so were the rest of the crowd but as always in India, mediocre service is not questioned. People take it on and move on.
