Today I left Kalimpong and headed down the valley to Bagdogra to try and work out an alternate way to Guwahati Assam in order to meet my driver for Kaziranga National Park. Luckily another airline had a flight that got me into Guwahati around three pm. Called the driver to ensure they were aware of the change so they met me with no problem. The trip started with no great issues, the guide assigned to me was excellent and we started birding as we were driving away from the airport. Typical insanity rules on the road but not much worse than I have experienced in other places. I am amazed though at the acceptable tolerances of distance between moving cars, people and animals. We are talking inches here does not matter what speed or possible consequence of error. You come barrelling down the road into a village with horn blasting and headlamps flicking on and off into the main street packed with people, rickshaws buses you name it. At the very last second a small opening appears just large enough to fit the vehicle then closes immediately behind it. Mirrors must be drawn in for certain or "somebodies gonna get hurt real bad"( apologies Russell Peters).
Back to the trip at hand, things started getting interesting when it became dark. Almost immediately a storm blew in with torrential downpours and driving winds. Nice! Visibility was non existent but we kept motoring on,with road construction, potholes, really poorly marked construction detours and rain pooling feet deep in any dip in the road. Sure would have been nice if even half of the lorries had rear lighting, add the people on the road, rickshaws, cows which don't move for anything and the odd goat and dog it was a zoo, literally and figuratively.
So yep the rain stopped, whew! The driver although good at missing all the obstacles thus far, was completely baffled by roundabouts. He screwed up at every single one. In the newly created 4 lane highway separated by a meridian he misses yet another roundabout so veers left at the next possible moment. Right into the wrong way lanes of the highway. Turn around? bah, no way we just keep rolling down the road. His preferred method of signaling oncoming drivers is to turn his lights off and turn on a signal light. Ya that's it, turn the headlights off on a highway going directly into traffic the wrong way at highway speeds. Two oncoming lorries side by side, neither of which looking like they are going to slow down to let the other into the lane thus avoiding a head on collision.... Ok I've kind of been an adrenaline junkie my entire life but this was giving me a pucker factor so bad I was actually creating a vacuum that was bonding me to the seat.Thankfully after 8 or 10 kilometers and a few more close calls we came up to another roundabout, Oh yes he was consistent, screwed up again but at least corrected to the right side of the road.
When we arrived at the lodge I had a gin and tonic, then realized this place is nice, very nice so I immersed myself in the opulence had a great traditional meal, class of wine and a cigar on the balcony overlooking the river. All traces of the night drive from hell, washed away by the jungle sounds.
Back to the trip at hand, things started getting interesting when it became dark. Almost immediately a storm blew in with torrential downpours and driving winds. Nice! Visibility was non existent but we kept motoring on,with road construction, potholes, really poorly marked construction detours and rain pooling feet deep in any dip in the road. Sure would have been nice if even half of the lorries had rear lighting, add the people on the road, rickshaws, cows which don't move for anything and the odd goat and dog it was a zoo, literally and figuratively.
So yep the rain stopped, whew! The driver although good at missing all the obstacles thus far, was completely baffled by roundabouts. He screwed up at every single one. In the newly created 4 lane highway separated by a meridian he misses yet another roundabout so veers left at the next possible moment. Right into the wrong way lanes of the highway. Turn around? bah, no way we just keep rolling down the road. His preferred method of signaling oncoming drivers is to turn his lights off and turn on a signal light. Ya that's it, turn the headlights off on a highway going directly into traffic the wrong way at highway speeds. Two oncoming lorries side by side, neither of which looking like they are going to slow down to let the other into the lane thus avoiding a head on collision.... Ok I've kind of been an adrenaline junkie my entire life but this was giving me a pucker factor so bad I was actually creating a vacuum that was bonding me to the seat.Thankfully after 8 or 10 kilometers and a few more close calls we came up to another roundabout, Oh yes he was consistent, screwed up again but at least corrected to the right side of the road.
When we arrived at the lodge I had a gin and tonic, then realized this place is nice, very nice so I immersed myself in the opulence had a great traditional meal, class of wine and a cigar on the balcony overlooking the river. All traces of the night drive from hell, washed away by the jungle sounds.
