Gotta love the Indian transportation system....


Just spent the weekend travelling to Mussorie (from Chandigarh) by way of local bus. My question is this: what can't happen on an local Indian bus? The only thing I didn't see was farm animals...although they could've been on the roof. Having to stand for an extended period, or having to sit on a railing or having someone sit on your lap for 7 hours, in a hot bus is a true Indian experience. I must give the drivers of these buses maximum credit...whatever they're getting paid, it's not enough. It's not easy manuevering a bus up or down a narrow road with endless switchbacks, especially at the high speeds these guys like to fly around corners at. This reckless abandon equals one thing...people tossin' their cookies. You can always tell if a bus has come from a hill station by looking at the side of the bus. Pleasant thought, isn't it?

And there really doesn't seem to be a standard method for purchasing tickets. Sometimes you buy them from the guy outside the bus, sometimes from the ticket window, and other times on the bus. The latter method often results in complete and utter pandemonium when the bus pulls up...especially the last bus of the day. People seem to be willing to risk being flattened by a bus just to get a seat. But who can really blame them? There aren't that many seats available to begin with. Even my limited mathematical skills tell me that 60 people can't fit in 36 seats. Any chance I could ride on the roof?

And then you have the guys that stand on the side of the road and try to flag the bus down. As the bus slows down you're thinking "I really don't think there's room for another person...let alone 5." Where there's a will, there's a way...I suppose. At each stop you hope that at least someone is getting off, so there might be a little bit of room for you to move your leg that has fallen asleep. At the longer stops, if you don't get back on the bus before everyone else, it'll start rolling away while you're running with it holding onto the railing. It's like doing your own movies stunts, except without safety measures in place.

When you finally reach your destination, you say to yourself, "Wow. What a story that's gonna make at cocktail parties."

I'd love to hear about other people's crazy bus stories. Post a comment if you have one.