Auto rickshaw is the most common transportation in Bangalore. It is kinda like the taxi of India. You can hire one by raising your hand on street corners or find a richshaw stop in front of shopping malls. The auto richshaw drives like a motorcycle, except it has two wheels and a passenager cabinet at the back. They runs on small 2 stroke engine, making the tuc- tuc noise. That’s why auto rickshaw is also called tuctucs. The auto rickshaw has no door nor windows. The engine probably runs on dirty gas, so you can smell the exhaust when you riding on it. I guess the auto rickshaw is not very eco-friendly.
On my first week in Banaglore, I tried to avoid taking the auto rickshaw. It seems not very safe and kinda shabby. However there is no restaurant serves real food around the guest house. So, I overcome my reluctance and start taking auto rickshaw this week. After the work, the company driver just drop me off at the restaurant of the night, then I ride the auto rickshaw back to the guest house after dinner.
All auto rickshaw comes with a fare meter but it is rarely use. Usually you negotiate the price before hopping into it. It costs about CAD$2.5 for a 20 minutes ride from downtown Bangalore back to the guest house. The rickshaw driver probably over charged me by almost doubling the fare. Do I really care? Probably not, I don’t really want to bargain on the street for merely $1. I rather pay the premium and let the driver take me to my destination with no fuss.