The robbery

My train from Delhi to Jaipur was to depart at 6:10am. I thought it would be wise if I took some money from a cash machine before my departure. So, that's what I did. I entered my pincode and requested money in portions of 2,000 rupees (which is the maximum amount you can take from a cash machine here). After having entered my pincode for the third time and taken back my card again, the machine suddenly stopped working due to an electricity failure (which may or may not have been caused by the bloke who was messing about next to the cash machine). So, …no more money! You can understand that I was not particularly happy about this! Of course, many phone calls were made and the machine was switched on again, but nothing helped. No rupee was coming out of the machine anymore. I had to catch my train and just about managed. Luckily I still had my card. A nice start of the day, isn't it?

O.K., I admit that I'm scared!!!

And it's the riksha men I am scared of! These people drive me mad. They are waiting for you with their rikshas, ready to depart with too much of your cash. When I arrived in Jaipur, I was surrounded by 15 to 20 of them within no time at all. I walked past and after some 10 metres the majority of them had finally left. A persistent group of three kept on following me, asking me where I was going, where I was from, to which hotel I was going, etc. etc. I decided to stay calm and found myself alone again after some time. (Yes, I did it again; when I say I'm going for a walk, I mean I'm going for a walk!). After an hour (I always have to get used to new surroundings), I arrived at my little hotel bathing in sweat (it was now noon and between 35-40 degrees Celsius). After a refreshing shower this is what happened:…

Sweet revenge, or: How I undermined the Indian economy

I have walked to the nearest bicycle rent place (at less than 200 metres' distance) and have rented a bright red (gentleman's; they don't have anything else here) bike, for the pretty little price of 4 rupees per hour. Look, that's what I mean! So, I happily cycled around, exploring the town. Many people indeed had collisions because they kept turning their heads for too long. They had obviously never before seen a woman with a cap, sun glasses and a rucksack, riding a red bike through town. The riksha boys weren't happy; one of them said, 'Clever madam'. Clever indeed!
It is a bit different from cycling in Holland. I think I have described the traffic around here. Fortunately, I had taught myself how to cycle in Amsterdam in one week just before I left quot;anders" this comes in handy now. It doesn't matter if your brakes do not work (perfectly); you just have to keep going. It is a bit complicated to cycle without a bell. Everyone here goes through life (and the traffic) producing lots of loud sounds, and I even haven't got a bell! It should be forbidden.