Tuk-tuk travels

When travelling in India my greatest recommendation for you is to travel in a rickshaw, a notorious part of Indian city life. With their iconic green and yellow colours and peculiar shape, they really stand out in the hectic Indian traffic, noticeable from the moment that you enter the country. From the very beginning my dad swore that we would never get into a tuk-tuk, they were supposedly far too dangerous for a variety of different reasons. It could have been the open sides enabling passengers to fall out, or that the person sat in the front had to hold on to the thin metal of the wingmirror (that looked like it could snap at any moment) in order to stay in the rickshaw, or perhaps because of the fact that it is incredibly likely for western tourists to get massively ripped off by tuk-tuk drivers. But anyway, as you have probably guessed, within the first couple of days of our trip we were travelling regularly in auto rickshaws.

On the penultimate day of our holiday, we needed to travel from Delhi station to our hotel so we decided to get a tuk-tuk. With all of our bags. With all 4 humongous rucksacks. And 4 day rucksacks. Considering that in our last hotel they were persistent that only 3 people could travel in one rickshaw, it was very unlikely that we would be able to fit in the tuk-tuk. But my dad and the driver were adamant that they could fit 4 people, 8 bags, and oh yeah 1 massive picture rolled up in to the rickshaw! Let me tell you, it was excruciatingly uncomfortable. 4 fully grown people squeezed on a seat made for 2. The perfect family bonding exercise.

During some rides in tuk-tuks, I have been 100% convinced that I was going to die. For example, one time we were in a rickshaw that was a bit different to usual ones; it was like a golf kart as it had completely open sides, and room in the back for 4 people. Well the driver decided that the whole time he would drive ridiculously fast whilst on his phone, he certainly was not entirely focused on the road in front of him at all times. At. All. Times.

But in my opinion auto rickshaws are a great way to see a city for a cheap price, and with the chance of having a nice chat with the driver (if they speak English).