I'm sitting in this community room where we just had lunch in Dandeli. This is the town where the paper mill is located. I'll tell you a little about my trip getting here. We flew out of Bangalore early this morning to Hubli, which is a teeny-tiny airport. They use a tractor to pull the baggage cart things. A driver from the paper mill was there to meet us and we took off down the road.
Drivers down here drive like they are in a race; I think most of them would do well on obstacle courses. We were first on a larger highway-type road which had enough room for our car to pass a motorbike while a huge truck was coming from the opposite direction. We soon took our exit, which was a dirt road that looped back under the highway we had just gone over. It was definitely not a normal exit, but people started using it as one. It put us back on a paved road, but not very wide and no markings on the road. There was just enough room for a car and a truck on the other side. Unfortunately, there are way more people/animals using the road than just a car or truck. I wish I could have taken some pictures as we were speeding down this road, we saw so many different things. Most of the area is farming, I saw fields of corn and sunflowers, women out in the fields carrying pots on their heads, cows with their horns painted bright blue and red, children in school clothes and children half-clothed, men sitting in front of shops.
The road was being used by cattle, men with carts full of hay being pulled by cows, people on motorbikes (a family of 4 was the biggest group I saw on one), children, dogs, chicken, monkeys, trucks with large loads, buses and cars. And the cars, like ours, were the ones passing all these people and animals. Our driver was going around 50 mph most of the time. Every time we approached one of the above, he would honk his horn and then whiz by them sometimes with a bus or truck only missing us by a few feet. I wasn’t as scared as I thought I would be, but it’s probably because I’ve had somewhat similar rides in Thailand and Honduras. Although, those rides were not in such rural areas with so many people walking on the road or on a road that was so narrow. There were a few times that I thought we were going to get hit, but these drivers are pretty good. He would just slam on his brakes if he got too close to hitting someone or didn't have enough time to get around a slower vehicle.
Not too far from Dandeli, we came to a stop because a couple of cars were blocking the road and a bunch of people were on the side of the road. I knew it had to be an accident and I didn’t even want to look over. I looked, though. It was so awful. Two men must have been hit on their motorcycle and were in the ditch. One guy had blood all over his face and I could see the other guy being held up by someone, I don’t know if he was alive. It was really upsetting. If these people would just drive a little slower, those men wouldn’t have been pushed off the road. It seems like such a preventable thing.
Anyway, I made it here and I am glad we had a good driver.
Later today, Raju, (the Indian rep I’m working with) told me that he had never been the way we came. Normally, it’s about another 45 minute drive that is on the main highway.
Drivers down here drive like they are in a race; I think most of them would do well on obstacle courses. We were first on a larger highway-type road which had enough room for our car to pass a motorbike while a huge truck was coming from the opposite direction. We soon took our exit, which was a dirt road that looped back under the highway we had just gone over. It was definitely not a normal exit, but people started using it as one. It put us back on a paved road, but not very wide and no markings on the road. There was just enough room for a car and a truck on the other side. Unfortunately, there are way more people/animals using the road than just a car or truck. I wish I could have taken some pictures as we were speeding down this road, we saw so many different things. Most of the area is farming, I saw fields of corn and sunflowers, women out in the fields carrying pots on their heads, cows with their horns painted bright blue and red, children in school clothes and children half-clothed, men sitting in front of shops.
The road was being used by cattle, men with carts full of hay being pulled by cows, people on motorbikes (a family of 4 was the biggest group I saw on one), children, dogs, chicken, monkeys, trucks with large loads, buses and cars. And the cars, like ours, were the ones passing all these people and animals. Our driver was going around 50 mph most of the time. Every time we approached one of the above, he would honk his horn and then whiz by them sometimes with a bus or truck only missing us by a few feet. I wasn’t as scared as I thought I would be, but it’s probably because I’ve had somewhat similar rides in Thailand and Honduras. Although, those rides were not in such rural areas with so many people walking on the road or on a road that was so narrow. There were a few times that I thought we were going to get hit, but these drivers are pretty good. He would just slam on his brakes if he got too close to hitting someone or didn't have enough time to get around a slower vehicle.
Not too far from Dandeli, we came to a stop because a couple of cars were blocking the road and a bunch of people were on the side of the road. I knew it had to be an accident and I didn’t even want to look over. I looked, though. It was so awful. Two men must have been hit on their motorcycle and were in the ditch. One guy had blood all over his face and I could see the other guy being held up by someone, I don’t know if he was alive. It was really upsetting. If these people would just drive a little slower, those men wouldn’t have been pushed off the road. It seems like such a preventable thing.
Anyway, I made it here and I am glad we had a good driver.
Later today, Raju, (the Indian rep I’m working with) told me that he had never been the way we came. Normally, it’s about another 45 minute drive that is on the main highway.
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