Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Lazy Susan.

Well, I'm not making headway in the archives, but I'm going to try something new tomorrow and see if it works. I give it a 80/20 chance of failing, actually, but I'm out of ideas.

Anyway, the real point of this post is to open a poll. In other words, tell me what to do. The question:

Should I pay a lot of money for a driver to go to Chandigarh for a long weekend in January, or should I be economical and take the train?

The plus side of driving is that the driver would be mine for the entire weekend--wherever I wanted to go, including Pinjore, would be included in the driving price. Also, if I wanted to stop somewhere (Kurukshetra, Ambala, anywhere else?) on the way to Chandigarh, I could. Also, I could go through Sirhind for kicks on the way back. Also, I wouldn't have to carry any luggage around the train station or worry about it getting stolen. I probably would have a daypack, my camera bag, and maybe a courier bag to deal with, and I get tired of carrying that stuff around.

The plus side of taking the train is, of course, the price. Train fare isn't expensive, even for first class, and it probably takes as long (maybe longer) to drive to Chandigarh from Delhi as it does to take the train. The Shatabdi express is easy and comfortable, and I've done this same route before. So, my bank account is telling me to take the train.

The negative cost of the driver is only the money, that and having to share the road with all the other drivers for a day full of honking horns.

The negative of the train is that I would have to take an autorickshaw/taxi from the station into town, and then negotiate with autorickshaws all weekend while I'm out photographing architecture. And I'm not sure I would be able to arrange a lift to Pinjore once I'm in Chandigarh.

Money vs. convenience, that's what it boils down to. What should I do?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

well i guess you have the positives and negatives well covered there .. so i think it is what weighs more on your mind ..

maybe what you have missed out

1. the Delhi-Chandigarh road route is not that bad ... but yes you would not be able to make too many detours if travelling by train

2. Also i am assuming you would be getting a reliable cabbie to come along if you choose that option ... if you can get someone to come along with you (who might also share expenses) for the trip .. a car is definitely a better option ...

3. more so for Kurukshetra and Ambala .. which are pretty far away ... if it is just Pinjore, I think that can be covered with a local cabbie ... from Chandigarh ..

4. more info from a local there

unfortunately, I am not based out of Delhi :)

JR said...

Oh...thank you for your response! I think it would be worth taking a car just in case I want to stop at Ambala, Panipat, or somewhere. Looking out the train window...well, I've seen the route from Delhi to Chandigarh from the train (went to Simla a couple of years ago).

Nobody I know is interested in Chandigarh, so it will just be me. Luckily I am used to keeping myself company.