I am positive that Indian drivers are the BEST drivers I have ever seen. And that is saying a lot because the traffic is the CRAZIEST traffic I have ever seen. We saw a few accidents but they were just minor scrapes compared to the crashes we've seen here in Florida. The nicer vehicles have seat belts, but the rickshaws and motorcycles sure don't. I felt pretty safe though because traffic doesn't really get going fast enough and everyone is paying attention (or seems to be). I was in awe (and slightly terrified) every time we got in a vehicle. You name it and we probably saw it while driving :) It was crazily enough one of my favorite parts of India.
Some guy just chilling in a hammock in the back of a truck.
I don't know how they do it but we came within centimeters of hitting something while on our bicycle rickshaw ride. We never hit one thing though. It's like they just have a sense of where everything is and how much room they have. Oh and gotta love the electrical system they have.
This kid was outside the place we stopped on our way to the next town. He had a cobra (yikes!!!) so we took a picture. He then started asking for money and wanted 100 rupies which is like $2. Doesn't seem like that much, but in India it's a lot and we aren't made of money so I handed him a few rupies and asked the driver to hurry on. There was a monkey all dressed up for pictures, but we didn't want to have to pay for another picture so we just smiled and waved. It seemed like everyone wanted money from us wherever we went just because we were foreigners.
Yes, that's a camel pulling a cart.
Cows are everywhere! They have no problem stopping traffic either. Broke my heart to see what some of these 'city' cows had to eat though. They pretty much run wild and rummage through the garbage heaps for food. At least in the city. This poor ranch girl (yes I will always claim being a ranch girl even if I have to live in the city) who likes to eat cows wanted to find a new home for them in a pretty pasture full of beautiful green grass. Oh well, the cows didn't seem to mind.
Women dancing and singing. I think it was for a wedding later that day/week. I can't really remember, but they seemed to be having fun. And they sounded beautiful.
Our driver told us that sometimes they fit 45 people in vehicles like this. I think I would want to be the guy hanging onto the side just so I wouldn't have to squish. This happened more on the roads between the cities than it did in the city. Good way to save on gas I suppose.
This is the equivalent of a semi truck. They were so fun to see because they were always painted and most of them said something to the effect of blow your horn so I know where you are and don't accidentally run you off the road. Here I think it's kind of rude to use your horn unless absolutely necessary, but in India it is absolutely necessary whenever you drive, and it's kind of a courtesy so people know where you are. Our driver told us that we needed three things to be able to drive in India: 1. Good Luck! 2. Brakes (for a good reason). 3. a Horn.
Pretty countryside full of farmland.
Another car jam packed full of people.
An elephant walking down the side of the road....no big deal :) We thought it was awesome though!!
This is pretty much how everything looks.
Not sure what happened but it wasn't the only thing we saw like this. Makes me grateful we had a driver so we didn't have to try and figure out how to get around. Highly recommend working through an travel agency if you visit another country. Unless of course you are fluent in the language of the country or have a friend to show you around.
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