During our time traveling the world, we mostly used public transportation or Uber to get around. On the rare occasion when we needed to rent a car, it was always a welcomed adventure where we were able to admire the beauty of the local landscape, sample some local road-trip snacks, and connect with the country by viewing it through a different lens. Now, there was no chance that I would ever rent a car in India, but that didn’t prevent us from experiencing the controlled chaos of Indian roads.
For short distances, there is nothing quite like zipping down a mountain and through town squished into a tiny tuk-tuk.
For longer distances by car, India inspired new road trip games.
Who can spot the semi-truck with the most number of people hanging on to the top?? Winning number: 30
Who can count the most cow pies drying out on the side of the road? Winning number: you don’t want to know.
Who can count the most number of guys peeing on the side of the road? Winner: Alysia…she actually caught a rural man completely naked coming out of his morning shower.
The views from the road were priceless and certainly seemed a blog-worthy Indian experience to us.
Roadside Friends
When you visit India, you expect to see cows. Since they are sacred animals, you hear about how they are everywhere. Despite having this knowledge and expectation, you can’t help but get excited and smile when you see a friendly cow strolling down the street, weaving through traffic, or grabbing a snack.
At one point, a herd managed to completely surround our car and stop traffic in both directions.
While cows were the most prevalent, they certainly were not the only animals you see on Indian roads.
We saw a monkey on a leash (sadly no pic to prove it). Pigs enjoying a roadside buffet.
Goats looking for a snack.
Donkeys doing what donkeys do.
The Morning Commute
Like most people, I’ve seen some pretty silly things on my morning commute. I’ve seen guys shaving and women putting on makeup as they drive, but of course, India takes it up a level.
This is not the safest way to get to work everyday.
This is definitely an upgrade. Roadside camels were not something we expected to see.
Now this is riding in style. Who wouldn’t want to have their own elephant to maneuver through traffic. Wait, let’s get real, there would be no maneuvering…I would be going over traffic. Bye-Bye Hyundai.
Traffic laws are essentially optional in India. So, as we were flying down the highway dodging mopeds and mini-trucks, another car came cruising down on the wrong side of the road. No biggie.
During our travels, we have seen the amazing hauling capacity of mopeds, carts, and other random vehicles, but I don’t think we have seen something this big and heavy being transported by tuk tuk. There is no way this guy didn’t take out a few moped riders or scratch up some cars.
Honk if You’re Breathing
If there were a soundtrack to an Indian road trip, it would simply be made up of honking horns. Everyone honks all the time, non-stop. It is a reflex. Multiple times our driver would honk for apparently no reason other than it had been a few seconds since his last honk. Semis make sure to announce how much they like honking by the “Blow Horn” decorations on their vehicles. In addition, the semi trucks have some pretty silly sounding horns, so yeah, driving really can be quite a musical experience.
In the evening you may get a slight break from the honking, but it won’t be replaced with silence. We saw beautiful wedding parades with elaborately decorated vehicles playing music. It was impossible to get a picture of a parade from a moving car at night, but here is an example of one of these music-playing wedding vehicles.
Roadtrip Snacks
The roads of India were full of excitement, so we had to have road trip snacks to munch on while taking in the free entertainment. We all fell in love with the Indian chips that only seem to be found at roadside stands like these.
Jeff and Alysia were extremely disappointed when they could not find any at the airport to fill up every nook and cranny left in their luggage. We loved Indian cuisine and somehow they managed to capture some of our favorite flavor profiles in chips. Our first sampling was Masala “Cheetos” and mint and lemon chips.
Pretty much any chip with a masala flavoring was amazing.
No need to spend money on movies or concerts in India. Just grab some masala chips and hop in a tuk-tuk, then listen to the symphony of truck horns and watch the craziness unfold around you.
Leave a reply