[The Roads that Lead to Rome - India]

Just spent a week lazing on a beach in Goa, called Palolem. I have been here once before in 2004, although it was a lot more authentic and 'rusty' then. I instantly saw when I checked in my hut how much the tourist scene has developed since my last visit when the hotel staff boasted they could get anything I wanted, condoms? “thanks but I don't need”, how about an Indian girl?

The beach is still very idyllic and feeling the cool breeze and hearing the waves crash at night as I slept made it a refreshing change from the dry and dusty ashram town.

By good luck, on my way home, I met 2 people at the airport who had organised a taxi for the 3hour journey back to Puttaparti, which I gladly joined. I have never travelled by car in India before, and this was a full front seat experience.

Its 9pm and I am still amazed at how much traffic is on the road and just how big Bangalore city has become in such a short time. After the usual nauseating ride much like any theme park attraction we got onto their 'highway', where the fun starts.

I am constantly blinded. Everyone drives on high beam, which means the wind screen is a blaze of swirling diffracted white light and concentric circles. I cant see for shit, which is pretty ok cos I'm not driving, but the driver..? It appears no one dips their lights unless its for your own convenience. There are no street or highway lights so it gives the whole road a surreal experience. Sometimes its looks like the oncoming traffic is driving on the wrong side of the road, and sometimes they do! – I saw 2 motorcycles coming towards us on the inside lane. Just to add to the confusion.

So we cruise about 100km/hr, when the driver for no apparent reason almost stops the car – bloody big speed humps on the middle of the highway – unsigned and without reflector marks. Or the highway would suddenly end, without so much as a witches hat, take a sharpish bend, go through some more construction works and then turn into a single land road. And as suddenly as it ended we get back onto the highway again.

As expected we dodged the odd young looking but very dead cow that obviously didn't make it across the road. (Cows usually have an uncanny sense of road craft, plus its really bad karma for a Hindu to kill one) Trucks managed to take up both lanes of the road and make right hand turns from the left lane. (India drives on the left)

The game of passing (playing chicken) started when we got onto the single country lane roads. The road themselves were not terribly comfortable but not too bad either, with the odd huge pot hole to keep the driver awake. To over take in India, it seems, one first measures how much distance one needs to safely do so. If you're a car, you would overtake when the safety gap was short by a few good metres just to entertain (frighten) your passengers. For the bigger vehicles (and size really does count here) well, they just pretty much over take regardless… The driver had to yield and slow right down to avoid head on collisions with buses and trucks.

Dirty trucks would loom out of the darkness which had no tail lights or reflectors. Trucks are barely lit and they don't look like Xmas trees like they do in the west. Once I miss took a truck for a motorcycle as it had only one head light. Mostly though you could tell a truck or bus was approaching due to the flashing lights they have on their dashboard complete with family pictures and statues of their reverend Gods. It's the kitschy dashboard temple alter.

To survive on the road here I guess you just have to be prepared for everything, and I do mean that literally, plus a little local knowledge helps too. By midnight I arrived safely, if only slightly alarmed, at my apartment. Needless to say I didn't nod off to sleep in the car!

I had to smile when I saw a traffic sign in Bangalore city which read "Obey Traffic Laws" :-)


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