After working all afternoon, I needed to find something culturally instructive to do with my Sunday early-evening. I had heard lovely things about the Lotus Temple at dusk, and I knew it wasn't far away, so I set out on a brief trip.
The rickshaw-wallah waiting at the end of the road gave me the boilerplate 100-rupee offer, which seems to be standard for everywhere in Delhi if you're blonde and asking nicely. Sixty, I countered, although the gentleman was difficult to budge. There's always this pantomime you have to go through when bartering - you'll say, "Sixty", and they'll say, "Yes, as you like, eighty, please, get in the cab." You're usually not getting the price you're insisting on until you hear them repeat it back to you. Sixty, I said. Sixty. Sixty. Sixty. FINE. SEVENTY.
He repeated SEVENTY in exasperation, so I hopped in.
He stopped for a second to chat with another rickshaw-wallah and tell a few jokes. They spoke Hindi, so all I could make out was, "Lotus temple", and "seventy", and laughter. I thought nothing of it, though I knew I had committed classic blunder #1: probably overpaying for a rickshaw ride. It wasn't worth arguing over ten rupees, though, so I figured I would let it go. We motored off to the Baha'i Temple in South Delhi.
It's often compared to the Sydney Opera house for its architecture -- white 'leaves' envelope together to form a lotus-shaped dome. Lights illuminate the bright white exterior at night. We approached from the South while the Temple stood out majestically against the fading Delhi evening.
The rickshaw-wallah was a nice guy, asking the standard questions most tourists have heard a thousand times. Which country? Do you like India? What do you do? Before we were halfway there, the driver asked, "Do you want return?" I have never had a rickshaw-wallah actually wait for me on a pickup - that's normally only done by taxi-drivers, with actual cars, and because you've arranged payment in advance. I turned him down, so he shrugged and kept driving.
The drive ended up being longer than I thought--definitely a seventy-rupee ride, not sixty. I hadn't overpaid after all. I hopped out at the temple entrance, then took my gamble.
"Change?" I asked, handing the rickshaw-wallah a 100-rupee note.
"Twenty rupees," he responded, handing me that amount. "Good price." I knew better than to argue. I had committed classic blunder #2: expecting to get change. Silly Yankee! I just laughed and shook my finger at him. "Very sneaky," I scolded jokingly. "You're very sneaky." And off to the temple.
Which, by the way, is classic blunder #3. The Lotus Temple is closed on Sunday.
I hung out by the gate and got a few gorgeous photos of the outside, but resigned myself to see the interior another day. When I turned around to find myself a ride home, there was the rickshaw-wallah grinning like an idiot.
"OK, want return now?"
"Closed!" I said, throwing up my hands. "You're very sneaky!"
He laughed. "Yes, closed on Sundays."
"Now you have to take me home for sixty," I said.
He laughed and repeated, "Sixty," and gestured for me to get in.
I made to slide in the door, then I stopped and put my hands on my hips. "Will you have change for sixty?"
He cracked up, which I took as a yes, and he motored me home. We went through the back roads this time so that I could get a good view of South Delhi gardens, markets, and temples. For my trouble, he gave me what amounted to a guided mini-tour. He dropped me right where he had found me and gave me exactly the change I was due, with an eyebrow wiggle to let me know that he wasn't really obliged. I was a good sport; he was a good sport. In all, the adventure only cost me about $2, and I could chalk it up to a good lesson in Delhi tourism.
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