About three months ago, a 55-year-old man from Auckland contacted me through Couchsurfing. He wanted information about Varanasi and expressed a desire to travel with someone. He even asked if I would be interested in being his tour guide for all of India. I was thrilled and immediately agreed to the offer. However, he later informed me that he had found many hosts in India, so he canceled his plan to hire me as his tour guide. We stayed in touch online over the next few months, and he finally arrived in Varanasi on the 6th.
I went to meet him at his hotel, where he gave me an iPod and a coat as gifts. He was interested in experiencing general Indian life, so he wanted to stay at my place. However, since he had already booked the hotel for two nights, he planned to come to my home after that. During Navratri, I took him on a tour of Varanasi. My friends and I usually visit the pandals during the night, so I took Chris along. We spent the whole night exploring and returned home around 3 a.m.
After his two-night hotel stay, Chris came to stay at my place. He was interested in visiting a local church to buy old vestments and other items used by churches in Varanasi. We went to the cantonment church, which is only 15 years old. Chris wanted to meet the bishop, but he was not in Varanasi. Instead, we met his assistant, who informed us that they did not have any old items. He suggested churches in Mumbai, Goa, and South India as alternatives.
Chris stayed with me for 15 days, though he originally planned to stay only 10. He had to extend his stay because he fell ill. He mentioned that he had eaten a samosa from a street vendor and became very sick, suffering from diarrhea, vomiting, and headaches. I took him to a doctor, but his condition did not improve, so he requested to be admitted to a hospital. I took him to Heritage Hospital, where the doctors said it was not an emergency case and did not want to admit him. However, Chris insisted on staying.
The hospital charged Rs. 15,000 (about US $400) for the services. I was shocked at the high cost for treating diarrhea. Chris was admitted to a special ward for two days. The charges included Rs. 3,500 per day for the room, Rs. 600 for the doctor’s visit, and various other fees that seemed arbitrary. Although I had heard about the $100 handshake in US hospitals, I was surprised to find a similar system in my own town. I asked Lane about it, and he noted that it was still cheaper than Western hospitals.
One interesting aspect was that everyone in the hospital was eager to know if Chris had health insurance. When I asked the doctor why this was important, he explained that foreigners usually have insurance, and the hospital charges them extra if they do. This practice seemed illegal to me, but it was conducted openly, like many other illicit activities in India. They were not even embarrassed to admit it.
After two days, Chris was eager to leave. He complained that the nurses neglected him, didn’t change his drip, failed to provide medicine, and didn’t offer food. I spoke with the doctor, who insisted that Chris stay for at least two more days. However, Chris was determined to leave, so the doctor agreed to discharge him with a few medicines. Chris was relieved to return home and left for Mumbai on the 24th.