Ahmedabad, India>, Mar 09, 2010
I was happy to see the surprise on Mr Rude’s face when I checked out of the hotel the next morning. I didn’t show animosity towards him, I didn’t want to give him the pleasure. Although honesty is generally a good policy, I also think people need to work things out for themselves sometimes. Especially people who work in industries which require you to understand people, like tourism. Rude hotel owners the world over need to understand that the success of their business comes down to customer service - so many fail to see that and the conntempt they show towards their guests is all too clear.
I decided to get the local RSRTC bus to Ahmedabad at 10am. It was only a tiny bit cheaper than the private buses at INR 121 (£1.70/$3), but they’re no better really and these locals buses are perfectly comfortable. It was a slow journey with plenty of stops, and I could certainly feel the temperature again as we descended from the hill station down onto the dusty plains again. I’ll have to get used to it again, its only going to get warmer the further south I go! We arrived into Ahmedabad on time just after 4pm. The bus station is a few kilometres from the city centre, so I grabbed a three-wheeler (INR 20) to Hotel Good Night. I knew the prices in Ahmedabad were a little higher as there’s not much budget accomodation, so I accepted a room for INR 450 (£6/$10) a night. It was nice, clean and comfortable though and for the first time in a while, there wasn’t anything to criticise about the room! I had a quick wander about before it got dark and then had a lovely Chicken Tikka Masala in the restaurant downstairs (Food Inn).
Ahmedabad isn’t a massively exciting city, but I wandered round for a day taking it in. Its biggest claim to fame I guess is that it is where Gandhi’s Free India movement started back in the early part of the 20th century. I visited the Sabarmati Ashram (free entry) which was the spiritual community that Gandhi set up with the aim of gaining support and belief for India’s independence from the British. Its a great and humbling place to walk round (especially as a Brit) and you can easily imagine how the group lived here. There are plenty of displays outlining the struggle and the determination with which Gandhi peacefully fought the occupiers - ‘non violence’ he called it. He finally succeded when India gained independence on 15th August 1947, although sadly he was assassinated less than a year later. He’s still revered today as a ’saint’ and its not hard to see why when you understand what he did for the country. The Gujaratis of Ahmedabad are especially proud, it all started here…