I’m going to take you back in time a couple of days to the day we traveled from Agra to Ranthambhore. I never really told you about the wild 10-hour bus ride (including three rest stops) we had that day, partly because of time constraints and partly because I think it’s taken a few days to process the number of near-death experiences that ride entailed - both for us and for the numerous other creatures in our path. I’m telling you, that ride was like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride meets the game of chicken meets blind man’s bluff. No joke. For starters, it was foggy when we left Agra. As we left the center of the town and got onto the narrow two-lane road that would ultimately connect us with a super highway, the fog turned to pea soup. We’re talking nearly as bad as Sea Ranch white-out conditions.
Can you see the oncoming headlights in our lane?
In India, no one really slows down for fog. And no one changes the way they drive due to the lack of visibility. In other words, they still drive with one hand on the horn at all times, zigging and zagging their way around slower-moving vehicles and into the lane meant for oncoming traffic. In clear conditions, this is a little concerning, but we’re seasoned travelers and have been there and done this before, so we take it in stride. In near white-out conditions where you literally cannot tell that there’s anything in front of you or heading toward you in the oncoming traffic lane until it’s a mere 15-20 feet away is downright scary and you’re praying you make it through the experience without ending up wrapped around an oncoming truck.
Now we're a little closer. Look carefully in the lane next to us. There are two bicycles, a horse-drawn cart and a motor scooter (single headlight). The double headlights are the truck coming at us head on in our lane, trying to pass the nearly invisible obstacles in its lane. 😳
Now I’ll give you play-by-play instructions on how to drive in dense fog for when you come to India and feel like taking a drive on the wild side.
- Do not, I repeat, do not reduce your speed. You don’t want to reduce the thrill factor.
2. When something appears in your lane out of nowhere because it has no tail lights, you have two options: (a) run whatever it is down or (b) swerve wildly into the oncoming traffic lane and pray that there’s nothing over there that you can’t see. Oh, and be sure to honk the horn the entire time you’re doing this. (For Indians, option A is not an option. Running something down ruins your karma😉)
3. If you’ve chosen option B in the scenario above and there is something that you can't see in that lane, slam on the breaks and swerve wildly back into your lane, doing your best not to cream option A in the process.
4. If there is nothing in the oncoming lane, gun it past whatever was in the original lane, swerving wildly back into your original lane as soon as you have cleared it by no more than an inch. Why not give the object of your annoyance a little thrill, too?
5. Repeat steps 1-4 endlessly until you are either out of the fog or wrapped around that truck.
So yeah, it was a crazy ride. And just so you know, the rules for navigating through Indian traffic aren't any different when there is no fog. The only difference is that you can see well in advance what you’re about to hit. And there are lots and lots of things to hit. Good times.
Will he get past the cart before he slams into us head on? 😱
And he moves over just enough so that he doesn't wipe out the horse and cart and so that we can swerve into our shoulder and get past without an accident. 😬💦💦
(Yes, they drive on the wrong side of the road in India)
Here’s a list of all the things that we almost hit in the fog on the way to Ranthambhore.
Other buses
Cars
Trucks
Scooters
Bicycles
Pedestrians
Horse-drawn carts
Numerous cows
Water buffalo
More dogs than I can count
Domestic pigs
A wild boar
An entire flock of sheep, including their shepherd (this one was so close i don’t know how we possibly missed wiping them out)
Goats
Donkeys
A camel pulling a cart
A monkey
Clearly whoever said getting there is half the fun never drove in India. 😉
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