Four ways to avoid getting taken advantage of by Delhi touts

(Also see: the five tricks touts in India use to cheat you)

These should be pretty obvious, and yet I had to learn it the hard way.

Tout-avoidance method No. 1: Actually read my guidebook and process what it’s telling me. Direct warnings I didn’t heed:

• “New Delhi railway station is the worst place for touts; assume that anyone who approaches you here—even in uniform—with offers of help…is up to no good.”
• “On Connaught Place and along Janpath, steer clear of phoney ‘tourist information offices’ (which touts may try to divert you to).” (I went to four. Four.)

No. 2: Be wary of anyone who asks where I’m going next in India. They often try to sell me something to get me there.

No. 3: When in a major tourist zone like the New Delhi Railway Station or Connaught Place, be wary of anyone with good English who comes up to me, particularly if they’re trying to “help.” Why should it matter to Random Guy if I get on the train without the boarding pass he claims I need to get from the Foreigners Booking Office? “They will fine you $180 if you don’t have it,” he warned. Yeah, so what it’s to you?

No. 4: Be wary of the second guy after I’ve gotten rid of the first (this is similar to my point about how touts work in teams). After I went with my instincts at the train station and skipped the Foreigners’ Booking Office, another man immediately came up, reinforcing what the first said about needing a boarding pass. It’s like Zombieland’s double tap.

I’ve already started following these rules, particularly Rule No. 3. During my last trip to Connaught Place, I had three men approach just to talk. One of them even tried to steer me to the same tourist office that wanted $1,000 for a private driver. My responses to them were along the lines of, “I’m sorry, but I don’t trust you,” and they cheerfully walked away.