Driven
Driving in India is about the most chaotic but friendly driving experience you can sit through. It seems generally efficient and although there can be some jams it continues to flow.
The driver that we hired, Himraj, is a very nice guy and good driver overrall. He is careful to go with the current most of the time, except for when he drives in exactly the opposite direction of traffic. Our first experience with him was when he made a u-turn out of our parking space across four 'lanes' of traffic. From the curb he just inched his way across the entire road, 90 degrees from the oncoming traffic, to a crescendo of horns. Pretty funny.
He is an active guy on the phone while driving which seems to be status quo that I have gathered when looking at the other drivers, including a guy with a horse drawn cart, face in phone. I can tell when he has had a longer than usual driving attention deficit because he will look up suddenly and, quite reflexively, beep the horn even though nothing is around. It could be a slight panic setting in - "I have looked down for too long and there must now be something in my way". Here is a pic of him texting, but the big one we missed is when we were all Facetiming with his little nephew, while still rolling down the highway.
Himraj has a preferred lane, both! We spent about 75% of the time in this particular lane.
Here is Himraj as he begins to use half the sidewalk to make some ground, and make ground he did.
Today was the topper, at least until this point. We were headed to the Amber Fort in Jaipur this morning, we were late and became stuck in what was rumored among the other drivers to be a 2 hour traffic jam. We were on a one way road with no exit in sight. Himraj, after a 16 point u-turn, was able to get our vehicle pointed the wrong way down this one way street and then proceed one inch at a time. Everyone had to make way, the oncoming cars, the oncoming motos, even the pedestrians were not able to squeez through. In this pic you can see our guide for today directing trafffic as we get back on the main road.
When we were about 180km out of Jaipur I told the kids that the first one to spot an active turn signal will get a crisp US Dollar. Tara picked that dollar up once we finally made Jaipur where the traffic got even crazier. I think Riley said "Dad, see that sea of turn signals, bathe in them." Tara had also noticed that after about 500 hundred kilometers under our belt we had not even seen a single accident
Driving on left does not seem like such a big deal here, granted I am not driving, but processing it does not seem to cause any issues. I think it is because the traffic is so fluid here and there are no laws that seem to be enforced, apart from 'over' speeding, that it just runs like water down the path of least resistence. On every road there is always oncoming traffic on your side, in the shoulder for sure, and often in the first lane, and definately on the divided highways. Cows are also frequent guests on the roadways and seem to like the center median to hang out and use as the ideal launch point into traffic.
I was not able to capture an image, maybe later, of what is referred to as the 'Local Jeep'. This is a public transport in the form of something like an extended Jeep 4X4, the off road kind that does not have a solid roof. Everyone piles into these things, it is a Guiness record in the making. I think I counted 18 + driver in one.
2 + driver in the front
4 behind them facing backwards
4 facing them forwards
4 more facing the backs of their heads
And the kicker - 4 hanging off the back of the Jeep ;-)
We did not find it surprising to see that there are toll exempted vehicles, but we did find it interesting that the President had to be listed explicitly as tollfree.
In America we seem to think that roads are for cars, just for cars, not even another transport mechanism like a bike let alone a pedestrian. But, in India, the road is for all and then some. Here is my best enumeration in not a very particular order:
People Kinds
- pedestrian
- bicyclist
Roaming Kinds
- dogs
- cows
- goats
Cart Kinds
- pedal cart
- moped cart
- tractor cart
- donkey cart
- camel cart
- human cart
Engine Kinds
- tiny car
- medium car
- not too many big cars
- van
- bus
- truck
- tractor
- anything with an engine
The long-haul trucks here are amazingly decorated. This is done because these machines provide the income for the family and seem to be loved like they are a part of the family.
The inter-city roads here, at least the ones we have been on so far, have been well maintained while some of the other roads have been a little bumpy. I was sitting in a fold down seat while e had our guide in the car and one big bump sent me head and all flying into the ceiling. I am sure mileage varies depending on where you are in the city and country. We did see some handcrafted work being applied at one of the toll stops. The extraction and the removal here are both being done by hand...and head.
---- image Roadwork pick and pans
In all seriousness Himraj is a good driver and a great host for India. Such is the nature and speed of transport in India that it does seem to allow more freedom of lane and direction choices as well as for multi-tasking when operating the vehicle.
The driver that we hired, Himraj, is a very nice guy and good driver overrall. He is careful to go with the current most of the time, except for when he drives in exactly the opposite direction of traffic. Our first experience with him was when he made a u-turn out of our parking space across four 'lanes' of traffic. From the curb he just inched his way across the entire road, 90 degrees from the oncoming traffic, to a crescendo of horns. Pretty funny.
He is an active guy on the phone while driving which seems to be status quo that I have gathered when looking at the other drivers, including a guy with a horse drawn cart, face in phone. I can tell when he has had a longer than usual driving attention deficit because he will look up suddenly and, quite reflexively, beep the horn even though nothing is around. It could be a slight panic setting in - "I have looked down for too long and there must now be something in my way". Here is a pic of him texting, but the big one we missed is when we were all Facetiming with his little nephew, while still rolling down the highway.
Himraj has a preferred lane, both! We spent about 75% of the time in this particular lane.
Here is Himraj as he begins to use half the sidewalk to make some ground, and make ground he did.
Today was the topper, at least until this point. We were headed to the Amber Fort in Jaipur this morning, we were late and became stuck in what was rumored among the other drivers to be a 2 hour traffic jam. We were on a one way road with no exit in sight. Himraj, after a 16 point u-turn, was able to get our vehicle pointed the wrong way down this one way street and then proceed one inch at a time. Everyone had to make way, the oncoming cars, the oncoming motos, even the pedestrians were not able to squeez through. In this pic you can see our guide for today directing trafffic as we get back on the main road.
When we were about 180km out of Jaipur I told the kids that the first one to spot an active turn signal will get a crisp US Dollar. Tara picked that dollar up once we finally made Jaipur where the traffic got even crazier. I think Riley said "Dad, see that sea of turn signals, bathe in them." Tara had also noticed that after about 500 hundred kilometers under our belt we had not even seen a single accident
Driving on left does not seem like such a big deal here, granted I am not driving, but processing it does not seem to cause any issues. I think it is because the traffic is so fluid here and there are no laws that seem to be enforced, apart from 'over' speeding, that it just runs like water down the path of least resistence. On every road there is always oncoming traffic on your side, in the shoulder for sure, and often in the first lane, and definately on the divided highways. Cows are also frequent guests on the roadways and seem to like the center median to hang out and use as the ideal launch point into traffic.
I was not able to capture an image, maybe later, of what is referred to as the 'Local Jeep'. This is a public transport in the form of something like an extended Jeep 4X4, the off road kind that does not have a solid roof. Everyone piles into these things, it is a Guiness record in the making. I think I counted 18 + driver in one.
2 + driver in the front
4 behind them facing backwards
4 facing them forwards
4 more facing the backs of their heads
And the kicker - 4 hanging off the back of the Jeep ;-)
We did not find it surprising to see that there are toll exempted vehicles, but we did find it interesting that the President had to be listed explicitly as tollfree.
In America we seem to think that roads are for cars, just for cars, not even another transport mechanism like a bike let alone a pedestrian. But, in India, the road is for all and then some. Here is my best enumeration in not a very particular order:
People Kinds
- pedestrian
- bicyclist
Roaming Kinds
- dogs
- cows
- goats
Cart Kinds
- pedal cart
- moped cart
- tractor cart
- donkey cart
- camel cart
- human cart
Engine Kinds
- tiny car
- medium car
- not too many big cars
- van
- bus
- truck
- tractor
- anything with an engine
The long-haul trucks here are amazingly decorated. This is done because these machines provide the income for the family and seem to be loved like they are a part of the family.
The inter-city roads here, at least the ones we have been on so far, have been well maintained while some of the other roads have been a little bumpy. I was sitting in a fold down seat while e had our guide in the car and one big bump sent me head and all flying into the ceiling. I am sure mileage varies depending on where you are in the city and country. We did see some handcrafted work being applied at one of the toll stops. The extraction and the removal here are both being done by hand...and head.
---- image Roadwork pick and pans
In all seriousness Himraj is a good driver and a great host for India. Such is the nature and speed of transport in India that it does seem to allow more freedom of lane and direction choices as well as for multi-tasking when operating the vehicle.
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