New Delhi Warnings and Dangers

There are many poor and needy people in India and you will no doubt encounter beggars while there. Officially, people will tell you not to give them anything, but when you see the children or invalids you will have to decide for yourself. It is hard to turn away or ignore them.

Unfortunately, there are scams involved. Begging gangs may make that little bit you gave to the needy child for themselves and the child will get nothing.

They don't know the destination and will just drive you to some places before telling you that they didn't know the destination. They will then demand some payment.

Therefore, you have to demand that without reaching your destination, they will not get paid.

we use sarvice in center tour and travels ( c t t)this office in n block connaght place.is fake one.he charg big amont with us.my trip is golden triangle with my driver babu.he is very old company driver. he tell me this is not real office.but sarvice is very good here.before he say to me is real tourist office (when we side seen in delhi with him).
we just say plz take care this office and all driver saff.and he make big commison in jaipur when we buy anything in shop.so i spand lot my hard money in the commison.TAKE CARE

Some of the Jewelry Stores (even those that seem reputable) sell a mix of solid and plated gold at a 22K price. I bought a bracelet and a ring from the same store. The bracelet turned out to be solid gold, while the ring was plated. The reason I know this is because the jewelry store Tanishq has a machine that tests the gold. They put the piece in and the reading will show on the screen after the scan. I took the plated ring back for a refund, and the seller tried to argue that the results were thrown off because the ring was resized with a lower carat gold. I didn't believe anything he said, because the machine read the average gold in the whole piece of jewelry. Luckily, he gave me a refund without having me fight the charge on the credit card. I would recommend paying for all gold on credit card and having it checked on the machine at Tanishq.

While catching our train from New Delhi to Agra, a man who was posing as someone who worked at the train station told us our train was cancelled. He informed us that we could book the next train at 7:10 (except that the office didn't open until 8:00). He then gave us the address of a travel agent and we took a taxi there. The travel agent told us that the 7:10 train was full and charged us $200 for a taxi, which was way overpriced. It turned out that our train wasn't even cancelled. This was all a huge scam that everyone was in on.

Me and my friends who have tattoos covered all over our bodies was useful. No one bothering us or want to sell something or even want to come near us as they went scary and walked away from us. So if you got tattoos show them!

Walking around Cannaught Place can be joyful but for us we had bad experience. Just 2 days ago as walikng through the garden over Palika complex we did not pay attention to what would happen. Suddenly, a man pointed to the right shoe of my son showing the big yellow poop. They claimed it was from a bird and said the shoe shiner was there. He started cleaning the shoe and asked for 500 rupees. Another man came interfere telling us not to give him as 500 too much, just only 200. I told him to go away as not his business and I would nego myself. I only gave him 20 rupees and told him that he offered the service for cleaning for us, we did not ask him to and we went away. The shoeshiner dared said that it was a lucky day for us and it did not fall on the head, but the shoe.

Destination India
Blog: Leave Me Here - 27 October 2009
By: leavemehere

One of the more confusing things when in Delhi is trying to arrange your onwards travel, and being confident in what your told is correct.

There are countless fake ‘Government Approved’ Tourist Info places, Tuk-Tuk drivers will always take you to these.

Examples of fake “Government Approved” Tourist Offices.

But there is only 1 Official Government India Tourism office. That office is located at 88 Janpath Rd, and shown on the Lonely Planet Map of Connaught Place.
The fake offices will also go so far as to point on the map at that office, and tell you thats where your now standing.

The problem is though, they’re not really good for any info, can’t book you tickets, and basically just hand over a bunch of maps.

Official India Tourism shop front

So what happens now?

You need to go to a legitimate Government Approved Tour Operator, the LP book says as much, but doesn’t list any! The easiest way to find these is by asking India Tourism Office when your there.

For us Destination India (www.indiatripmakers.com)was only 5 more doors down from India Tourism, and the logical choice.

They helped us sketch out our whole itinerary with room to move, booked all our train tickets in advance, recommend great hotels/guest houses within our budget, and were generally just the most informed/genuine Tourist Info people we have dealt with. Which in turn made the rest of the trip alot more relaxed as we had a time frame to stick to and knew that it could work.

Over the course of the weeks, we continually went back/called/emailed them to change our itinerary, and none of this was a problem either.

Destination India shop front. 5 doors down from India Tourism.

In a city that’s so chaotic, it gets quite hard to asses whats a legitimate business and whats not, based on our experiences though, I can only say Destination India is fortified, and were more than helpful attending to all our requests and inquiries.

Delhi (especially in Old Delhi, around Chandni Chowk) gets VERY crowded. People jostle for space to walk, and pick-pocketing happens. Carry money in a money belt. Never carry a wallet in a back pocket. Same for passport. Be aware of your surroundings always. When removing money from wallet or moneybelt, find a quiet spot, if possible.

I had very bad experience with food from roadside stalls in Delhi and I would like to beware tourists of the same. Being an Indian, I have had never had this problem anywhere before. Delhi was the first and only time.

.At all the tourist spots, there are always guys hanging around - offering their services as a guide. Some are honest and sincere, and only want to earn a few rupees- others are not so honest.They will lead you to "Cheap Shops" or Good Market - "JUST FOR LOOKING ONLY" is the catch-phrase- Don't be taken in by this. They get comission for bringing tourists, and the price is never less than anywhere else. This trick applies all over India. Take it with common sense and good humour.

I hired a pedal rickshaw driver for the afternoon. Near the end of the tour he demanded his payment, 400rs, at the end of a winding alley. I told him to drop me, at the Metro at Chowdri Bazaar and I shall pay him. He actually threatened me with violence so I told him to leave. He then changed his tune and took me to the Metro. I paid him the money and left. I was buying my Metro token when a tap on the shoulder came. It was my driver telling me that one of the bills i gave him was forged. I ignored him and went through the Metro turnstiles. The sad thing is, I am a very generous tipper and he got no more than we agreed on.

I would recommend brining a cell phone, with or without and Indian SIM and pretend to call a 'friend' once you have entered the taxi and advise them you will be at your destination in 1/2 an hour or so. It helps if you acutally have an Indian SIM as usually you'll get a annoying welcome to the neighborhood call from the provider which can double as the friend calling you back. In this way the taxi/crook driver will suspect you're connected here and may not fillet you. This is a very optimistic assessment but has worked for me in Bangalore. Not quite the same lofty standards of scam there but it worked like a charm.

The data shared by people in this forum is indeed true about womens but what it does not reflect it that majority of cases occurred due to alcohol or drug influence. This can be bad in any part of the world why only India. Its quite safe to travel alone at delhi what is required would be bit of a caution. Try and dress decently so not to attract undue attention. Be very reserved in making friends and at nights strictly avoid making new friends. Do not let others buy you a drink.

Try a stick to single mode of transport for the travels at delhi. Delhi is damn good place to visit and as mentioned in the tip above there are lot of things which can be seen. DO NOT stay at Paharganj/Old delhi area when taking a hotel.

Avoid buying a golden triangle from your place as you will get damn good deals once at delhi.

Pedestrians have no rights. Drivers ignore you, cut you off as you try to cross the street, and do not slow down as they approach. No wonder so many pedestrians are killed on New Delhi's streets every year!