While words simply cannot do it
justice, I must take a little time and attempt to explain driving in
South Asia.
Actually it can be summed up in a few
sentences...
There are no rules or lanes, and few
traffic lights. The only “rule” is to honk, excessively, loudly,
and pretty much constantly.
They drive on the left side of the
road, which automatically makes the experience a bit unnerving. You
feel like you're on the wrong side of the road, sure a car will come
barreling towards you, ready to smash right into you, because you're
on the wrong side!
And as it turns out, you will quite
often be driving forward into the glaring lights of an oncoming car
that appears to be directly in front of you and in your lane, until
(not a moment too soon) the cab driver swerves to the left and keeps
on driving, so close to the car you could reach out and touch the
other passenger's hands.
The cars are pretty much always that
close.
And there are so many of them. Cabs,
cars, rickshaws, bikes, trucks, buses, pedestrians, everyone is in
the road at the same time. There are no lanes, you just drive
wherever there's room, honking the horn incessantly all the while.
I'm pretty sure there is some sort of code/language of the horns only South Asians know.
As crazy as the driving seems to be, we
only saw one “accident,” and it wasn't anything major. Cars bump
each other, yeah, but no one really seems to get hurt. I guess when
the driving is that intense, you have to pay attention. No texting
and driving there!
The first few cab rides I felt like my
life was in constant danger and I was barely surviving. But within a
few days I had full confidence in the drivers and their abilities,
I'm convinced South Asian drivers are some of the best (well most of
them anyways).
Driving was quite an experience. Like I
said, words can't really do it justice, but at least I tried.
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