Hercules the rickshaw puller

Driving in India is always an experience. Or rather, I should say riding in India is an experience. Believe me, you don't want to drive in India. India has taken aggressive driving to the next level. Why do I say that?

For starters, lanes are optional in India. You can drive in the left lane, the right lane, or really a combination of the two. And even if you're in your lane, that doesn't mean that other people won't also feel the need to be in your lane, riding one inch from the spot you're in. Another fun thing about India drivers is their love of the car horn. The tour bus my group was riding had four different horns!

Yes Indian drivers love horns. They honk for everything. They honk for you to move out the way, they honk for you to go faster, they honk to indicate that they are totaling ignoring the stoplight and going anyway. India needs a country-wide horn-honking, twelve-step program. And this of course doesn't even go into the complications that most American drivers would have navigating their way through the combination of rickshaws, taxis, cars, cows, buses, elephants, trucks, and the occasional camel on the road all at the same time.

I have experienced being a passenger in India in a bus, an auto rickshaw, and a rickshaw. The rickshaw experience is what I am most excited to relay to you. The rickshaw ride occurred on the way to see the Gangaji river (known as the Ganges) and on the way back to the hotel as well.

When we began the rickshaw ride I must say I was concerned. The driver was at least 60 years old and rail thin. To top that off, he had to pull me and the tour guide in a basket that's on the back of his bike. Translation: the man is pulling at least 400 lbs while peddling through the kind of traffic that only Lucifer could dream up.

On the ride to the river, I think nothing much about the driver. Oh don't get me wrong, I'm duly impressed that he's pulling us and making it happen at a fairly good speed. However, the tour guide is busy pointing out items of interest during the whole ride. So I have to focus more on the tour guide rather than marveling at the beauty of the ride.

On the way back from the Gangaji, it happens