On The Road

I’ve driven a car through Rome, circumnavigated Bali in a jeep and taken taxis in Jakarta (not to mention my regular driving in New York City) but none of those measure up to the experience of driving through India. It is a rare combination of crowded, noisy and chaotic with any number of different vehicles careening through narrow streets while using their horns as a sort of reverse sonar navigation systems. First let me list the kinds of vehicles regularly seen on our drives on what passes for a highway in India (Not including the unusual sights like an elephant, a turned over truck, a sleeping calf or a herd of cows): bicycles; bicycle rickshaws; motorcycles carrying up to five people; autorickshaws (tiny little three wheeled motor scooters commonly called tuk-tuks); carts being pulled by any one of the following: cows, horses, donkeys or even camels; tractors pulling oversized trailers, buses that randomly pull over to discharge passengers; cars; vans; and large Tata trucks hand decorated so much so that they resemble a Mexican fiesta on acid. All of these vehicles traveling at very different speeds and not always going in the proper direction share what a two-lane road that better resembles the street that I grew up on rather than what I think of as a highway. So everyone is constantly passing slower vehicles by veering into oncoming traffic while maintaining a steady flow of horn honks. In fact honking your horn is such an essential element of Indian driving that trucks and taxis regularly have “Blow Horn” or “Horn Please” painted on their backsides so that forgetful motorists won’t neglect to lay on their horns as they pass headlong into an oncoming traffic. It’s also worth noting that this is all done in a variety of terrains flat, curving or in last night’s case, going up a steep, winding, narrow road through the foothills of the Himalayas. Needless to say I am very glad that we’ve hired a car and driver to chauffer us through our visit.

Lisa adds:  As the family navigator, this is a mixed blessing.  We had epic fights in each of those countries due to driving-related stress, but seeing David's head explode trying to drive here would totally be worth it.