I was stuck in the tourist areas near the ghat earlier, and that's always depressing. It's filled with snooty French people who come for la gloire or the beauty or whatever. I went to a beautiful but fancy restaurant for a drink by the lake, but didn't get served. So thought bugger it, and took a taxi into the real part of the town to get some food and look around.
It's a cliche but it's totally different outside of the tourist areas. No one is trying to sell you stuff, people are either interested or diffident about you being there, not fake friendly. There wasn't a white face there. I guess Udaipur's charm is that it's smaller, more open than a place like Mumbai. Little kids with big brown seal eyes love practising their English and say "hello, namaste, how are you?". I say "Hello, I'm well thankyou, how are you?".
Slightly older kids like the bunch of cheeky buggers that followed me for a while want things like a pen, a coin, and when they got braver they sent one of them forward to ask for a condom, so I acted shocked and said "nahin" very loudly, then the next time he came forwards I gave him a kick in the pants.
That meant 15 minutes of them sneaking up behind me, then me turning round really quickly to chase them, loud screams, which was fun. I'd actually brought a bunch of 20c Au coins with Don Bradman on the back just for that purpose, but that kind of shit doesn't go down in Mumbai and I'd left them at the hotel.
Money status: You may be getting a good deal in Australian terms but still be ripped off in Indian terms. So ignore the real exchange rate, and factor in the cost of living here. Doing that, $1 is about 10 rupees. So 60 rupees is about right for a long neck of beer ($6), even though that's actually only $1.80 Au.
Food recomendations: In Mumbai, Paneer Tikka Masala. In Udaipur, get yourself to the Delhi Gate my friend and help yourself to all you can eat Thali for 50 rupees.
Gift status: Too many bought.
Item bought that gives me the most pleasure: A thing that you fling upwards and lights with a blue light on its descent. Cost: 10 rupees (or $1 using my rate, or 30 cents using the real rate).
Cricket status: I have 50 rupees riding on Australia winning the next final, so they better get their asses into gear.
Photos to come tomorrow.
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3 comments:
I hope that the Aussies come through for you, Pos! It was great to see the Indians win on Sunday, but a series win would be too much. Imagine Harbhajan! SURELY Ricky's due for another big knock... and Roy...
So the current PER (Pos exchange rate) gives a rate for interpretting the value of goods, based on beer prices?
So any normal good I can buy in Tasmania, I should be able to buy in India using a function like RupeeAmount(itemX) = AUDAmount(itemX) * 10
So it works for beer, I expect it works for meals too? You spend 10 times as many rupees as you did dollars here for lunch?
Sounds like you're travelling well. The phone apparently got disconnected at Molle St, it's back now. The world falls apart without you :-)
Harbhajan just knocked over Roy and Haydos in the same over, he must be a happy chappy.
Yes Matt it's kind of like the Big Mac Index. Your formula is correct, but it's easier here to go:
Rupee amount (item x)/10 = AUD amount (item x).
So far it works for pretty much everything, with small regional differences. That phone got disconnected just after I moved out, strangely enough.
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