Having heard all about Indian buses from friends before arriving, the time came to experience this for ourselves. We wanted to take the train, however the two trains going from Agra to Jaipur left at silly AM and silly PM respectively, so the hourly bus it was.
In India, bigger vehicles have right of way. Bullying tactics is the order of the day. Use of the horn seems to permit buses to cross onto the wrong side of the road and drive at whatever is coming. Bikes, rickshaws, autos, cars and jeeps are left with little choice but to swerve off the road to avoid a head on collision with a bus.
Things get interesting however when the oncoming vehicle is a bus or truck, at which point a fun game of chicken starts. The game is spiced up even more when your bus pulls out to overtake only to see a bus overtaking a truck in the other direction. Double head on collision potential.
Our journey was particularly unpleasant as we were sat at the front in full view of the oncoming traffic. On top of that three hours listening to the horn is painful. Less so, thanks to the Christmas present from Auntie Viv who thoughtfully bought me. Some earplugs.
What is most frustrating is the lack of common sense from the driver and complete lack of consideration for the passengers. The driver runs up as close as possible to the vehicle in front, often having to brake suddenly to avoid ramming it and then swerves out violently to overtake. Having passed the truck / tractor / car / bike / cow / camel / elephant, the driver then swerves in violently narrowly avoiding the oncoming truck / tractor / car / bike / cow / camel / elephant.
The following photo was taken when traveling along at 50mph about 1 metre behind the truck in front just as the driver swerved out to overtake. The view suddenly afforded to us was not too reassuring…
Note to self, do not get on a bus at night.
Suddenly Spanish driving doesn’t seem quite so bad.
heh heh heh. I like how the white line down the middle of the road looks like it’s been drawn in chalk about 20 minutes before you got there, and it only visible for about 3 meters. Nice.
The cities tend to be a bit better in terms of adhering to some traffic laws – in Mumbai, they do stop at lights!! Totally forgot to warn you about the buses out there – I know you were anticipating horrendous traffic, but welcome to the chaos of India!!! Have you noticed the way people reserve their seats, too? They place a hankie/newspaper or a sachet of water (I’m sure you’ve seen them) and then get off the bus and have a wander around. They then return to their seat as they have reserved it!!! Don’t assume someone’s left their newspaper on the bus by mistake! Also forgot to warn you about night travelling – be careful as people have been known to be robbed, carjacked or attacked in their cars/vans, etc. under the guise of someone breaking down or being injured at the roadside. In terms of bus journeys, I wouldn’t recommend it at night cos you never know when you’ll fly out the window. Also if you’ve travelling on the major roads at night, there will be a convoy of trucks with (and I bet you’ve spotted it on the back of them) Horn OK Please – to this day, I’ve never worked out what it means!!!! Hope you’re having a fabulous time