Today at work, the guys from Bangalore were talking about going to an amusement park. I don't see why you need amusement parks in Bangalore -- the traffic is a ride in itself. A ride through traffic at rush-hour can make a US driver cringe about, oh, every 4 seconds.
A typical ride through town (6km) costs about 70 Rs, or about $2 US. For your money, you get a friendly driver that will keep you alive and take you across town at the same time. These guys are great -- they sit in the middle of a city of 6M people, take an address like "Vittal Mallya Road, Across from the Shell petrol bunk", and thread you through traffic to your destination in no-time.
On the road in your 10hp auto rickshaw, you zip along in short 1 block bursts, all the way across town. Rules of the road:
1. If you want to pass someone, honk at least once. If you just want to let them know you're there, honk. Bored? Honk.
2. If there's a gap at least as wide as your rickshaw or motorcycle, plus 3cm, passing is fare game. Gun it. Make sure you leave at least 1 cm between you and them, so you don't crash.
3. If you want to turn across traffic, stick your nose out there, and hope the oncoming traffic stops soon.
4. Stopped a light? Turn off your engine to save gas.
5. See a car in front of you? Honk once.
6. See a person in front of you? Honk twice to let them know they shouldn't be in front of you. DO NOT slow down, or they might get the idea that they can do it again...
7. No room on your side of the road? Cross into oncoming traffic for a while. That lane is yours, until an oncoming rickshaw honks incessantly and runs you back onto your own side of the road...
4 comments:
Sounds just like Africa...although, there, the loudest honking horn can be trumped by the biggest car. We had a Land Rover. It was convenient.
this is awesome. keep up the great blogging, seriously.
- sterling
loving the details and very true about everything you said!
I think almost all 3rd world countries are like that.
Keep them coming!
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