I've never had a need to user Uber or any other ride sharing service spawned from the gig economy. Getting around in my hometown is remarkably easy. I love to walk when I can and if there is some distance involved, I have my e-bike (converted from a 30 year old mountain bike). For longer hauls - literally - I have my 20 year old pickup. So it's funny that the first time and place I would actually need to use Uber was a few days ago...in India...on a tuk-tuk.
It was the first day I was left to my own devices for how to spend time and I decided to follow a friend's recommendation and hire a ride from the Novotel Convention Center hotel to Durgam Cheruvu, an 83 acre park with a lake and - more importantly for me - a long and wide walking path. Walking around Hyderabad in general, is ill advised unless you really know where you are going. There are no sidewalks. In fact, there are no shoulders. Walking around the Novotel hotel was virtually impossible. It's a walled garden without the garden. If I wanted to take a walk, I would have needed to hire a driver to take me to a park or something similar. So I did.
Hailing a tuk-tuk from the busy and popular hotel was super easy. Hailing one for the ride back, however, was a different story. Entrance into the park was a little off the beaten path, if one wanted to be close enough to be of interest to Uber drivers working on thin margins. The nearest driver for the ride back was close to a mile away. The first four driver matches cancelled my request. Number five was the lucky number. Comparing reviews, let's just say the driver on his way to pick me up wasn't on the A-List. But he arrived and I got a ride back to the hotel with no problems. For his trouble, I tipped him 40%. Total fare: ₹250 (~US$3.00) for what felt like a mini-rescue mission. It was worth it.
It's not exactly a 9 hour train ride through the Swiss Alps, but for your viewing pleasure here's the entire 20 minute tuk-tuk ride from Durgam Cheruvu back to the hotel. By the sound if it, you'll appreciate how these magic carpets earned the name "tuk-tuk." Zoom, zoom! (Sorry it's such a bumpy ride but tuk-tuks are basically a sheet of metal with three wheels.)