VASCO: If you intend to make that once-in-a-lifetime trip to Antarctica, kindly visit two such rickshaw stands at Vasco where fares are available for as low as Rs 100.
And while this fare is an “approved rate” of the Government of Goa, rickshaw drivers are confident that the rickshaw trip to Antarctica will take not more than 30 minutes.
The chart, which has taken visitors by pleasant surprise, is now being widely circulated on social networking sites like Facebook, drawing wild and humorous reactions.
The Lokmanya Auto Rickshaws Association stand, Vasco, and the Baina rickshaw stand at Vasco have erected boards at their respective stands, detailing the various “government approved” rates to various destinations around the port town.
One such “destination” indicates that a trip from Vasco to Antarctica is priced at Rs 100 for the 5-km trip and such trips are conducted from 5 am to 11 pm, with a waiting charge of Rs 15 and night charges of Rs 25.
When contacted, the rickshaw operators were clearly unaware of the gaffe on the tariff board and insisted that the 5-km trip to “Antarctica” would cost Rs 100 and would be undertaken within 30 minutes.
The rickshaw drivers eventually pointed out that the trip to Antarctica was not to the south pole, but to a research centre at Headland Sada.
“The distance mentioned on the tariff boards pertain to the ‘National Centre for Antarctica and Ocean Research’, which is 5 kms from Vasco and Baina,” explained a rickshaw operator, with a wide grin on his face.
So Delhi may be far from Goa, but Antarctica is surely not. Why, it’s only a rickshaw ride away.
