Wir waren in diesem Jahr knappe 3 Monate (September/November) in Indien unterwegs und haben die Waehrungsumstellung am eigenen Leibe erfahren.

Hier ein Auszug aus meinem Reisebericht (in englisch):

It was November 9th. We came back to our guest house in Jaipur. On our previous stay we had made out a PATISSERIE FRANCAISE and now decided to reward us with a good cappuccino, a croissant and a pain au chocolat after so much privation (we don’t like Indian food and had difficulties to find food we liked – our fault). Upon payment of 500 ruppees, the owner told us that this bill is now illegal and that he is not allowed to accept it. He informed us about Modi’s speech the previous day. We were speechless. In the end he accepted the now illegal bill as he could still exchange it until December 31st.

We went to our guest house where they confirmed the information previously given to us. We had seven 500 rupee notes which we could exchange at the bank the following day for 100 rupee notes. One other guest had 16 000 rupees in old notes and he asked us and another guest to go with him and each exchange in our name for him 4 000 rupees, the maximum allowed per person. He offered a “comission” of 1 000 rupees which we were unwilling to accept. However, after counting the rupees we had left we realized this “commission” meant either having a meal or going hungry as we had to put money away for the bus trip to New Delhi, the 2 nights at the hotel there and the fare to the airport – otherwise we would run the risk of missing our flight home.

Even though, for 3 days we had just Can$ 1.50\person\day to eat. We tried many ATMs but they were all empty. And our trips to the bank were also fruitless. The next day we went into the city of Jaipur and for 4 hours tried in vain to get money. All the money changers were closed and a note OUT OF CASH was posted at their doors. All ATMs were empty. Finally a few days later at 7 pm while trying the nearest bank’s ATM which was still empty, the bank manager knew us by now and sent a little employee after us, telling us to come back and wait 30 minutes, then the ATM would have money. We waited about 2 hours while they were bundling a row of old 500 and 1 000 notes of about 1 m long, 50 cm high and 30 cm deep into big packages. Around 9 pm they had finished and he told us that there was money in their ATM. We could get out 2 000 rupees each in 100 rupee notes. Believe me it was like music when I heard the machine counting out the money. The manager told us to come back at midnight as we then could get another 2 000 rupees/person out.

We were back at midnight – the ATM was empty. Now we had 2 000 rupees/person (about Can$ 40/person) but still not enough to pay our hotel bill. The following day we again went into the city, this time to the jewellery area as we figured we could be more successful there. We inquired at a small, kind of creepy store if there was a money changer in the area. And, low and behold, they told us that they would exchange our cash. When travelling we always keep some cash aside, JUST IN CASE. And this was our salvation. We had Can$ 200 with us but we exchanged only Can$ 100 as their behavior was so creepy that we were afraid they would give us conterfeit notes which we were warned of. Anyways, a few shops further we found an AUTHORIZED MONEY DEALER where we could exchange the remaining Can$ 100 we had on us.

Now we first had a decent meal. We had enough money to pay our hotel bill and continue on the last leg of our trip. We went to Fatehpur Sikri, about 1 hour from Agra. There we booked the cheapest hotel room we could find – a hole in the wall, really and then went to Agra. I absolutely wanted to see a certain mausoleum I had missed on my first trip. We could afford the entrance fee of Can$ 8 for both of us, but could only dream about visiting the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort as our budget did not allow us to pay the entrance fees of Can$ 20/person for the Taj Mahal and Can$ 10/person for the Red Fort.

I had written to our hotel in New Delhi inquiring whether they would accept credit cards, but got no reply. So I figured they would not accept cards and indeed they did not. Again we counted our money and realized that we would be very very tight. We had Can$ 100 left in cash. So, again we went chasing money changers in Agra. It was a nightmare. Three were closed OUT OF CASH. The fourth refused to exchange cash, he only accepted cards. He would debit us with 2 500 rupees, keep 500 as commission and give us 2 000 rupees (the maximum amount allowed) IN ONE SINGLE NEW 2 000 RUPEE NOTE. This was absolutely unacceptable. Do you think a rickshaw driver can give you back eighteen 100 rupee notes if the fare is 200 rupees. But we were lucky. The fifth store the rickshaw driver knew was open and there we exchanged our last Can$ 100.

We spent the last two days in New Delhi. We were so relieved that we were able to pay all our expenses. A hotel guest pleaded with us to give her our left over money which came to 1,100 ruppees. But we had to refuse as we had to keep it in reserve for any unexpected charges at the airport.

Lesson learnt: THE CASH WE HAD ON US WAS OUR SALVATION.

Unseren Erfahrungen zufolge ist Premier Minister Modi sehr beliebt unter dem Volk. Angeblich hat er sehr viel fuer die arme Bevoelkerung getan. Mit den Leuten mit denen wir uns unterhielten waren alle dafuer und akzeptierten Modi’s Erklaerung, es ginge um die Korruption und den Schwarzhandel auszumerzen. Nur ein Geschaeftsmann sprach sich dagegen aus. Jetzt wo die Folgen ersichtlich werden, wird sich die Meinung unter dem Volk wohl aendern.

Die Frage stellt sich: Tat Modi es aus eigenem Erachten oder wurde er zu diesem Schritt gezwungen? Ist es ein Experiment um zu sehen, wie das Volk reagiert, wenn das Bargeld abgeschafft wird, denn davon ist jetzt die Rede.

Gruss
peppercorn