The traffic rules in India are quite different from those in the USA. For starters, they drive on the left side of the road instead of the right side. There is also a ton of motorcycles on the road. I would guess at least 50% of the vehicles are motorcycles. Painted lines were quite rare. They just made lanes as necessary.
In the cities, there was usually a concrete divider between the different directions with regular gaps for making turns and u-turns. The rules seemed to be rather simple. Stay to the left most of the time; sometimes people would drive/ride on the wrong side of the road to because the turn-arounds/gaps were too far away.
Another rule seemed to be that the bigger you are, the more right away you have. Since they didn’t really have painted lines, if you could fit, you could go. If you couldn’t quite make it, use your horn. It was loud and chaotic. I grew to like it.
Motorcycles had a huge advantage since they were small and could move through traffic in the denser areas. The cars were stuck.
I expected to see cows everywhere, but I didn’t. They were definitely there and they were roaming around. The cars I was in almost always honked at them if they were in the way. These cows were hauling in freight to be loaded onto trucks for further transport.
This is another average street scene in an average sized town. The cities were much more crowded.
One of the few times there were painted lines on a beautiful mountain road. Our car was passed by many motorcycles zipping around that day.
Next up more motorcycles!
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That last photo shows a wonderful road. Was the temperature cooler in the southern area you were in and is it pretty much the same year around? The street scenes don't match the stereotype that I generally hear about.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying the series, thanks...
It was a fun mountain road. I wanted to ride it.
DeleteIt was cooler in the hills/mountains. India is hot. 80-100+ depending on the area. The hotest place I visited was Chennai on the coast. I believe the temps are stable since they are so close to the equator in the south. About 11 degrees lat.
Wow. I am not sure I could handle the chaos. But I am enjoying the pictures.
ReplyDeleteThe chaos took some getting used to for sure. I grew to like it. The other visitors from the Philippines didn't
DeleteI am used to crowds and traffic, but... the German way, meaning it might be looking chaotic but it is all in good order. ;-)
ReplyDeleteHaha German way isn't very chaotic at all compared to india!
DeleteI am afraid we Germans lack the concept of chaos.
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