They tell you Burma
is different, they are right. Our bus left the airport and plunged us into the
traffic of central Yangon . I have experienced city traffic from Cairo to Surabaya
but this was new. To start with there
was the sheer density of cars, buses and trucks. For reasons best known to itself, the
Military Government banned bicycles, trishaws and tuc-tucs from Yangon City
centre. That means there is no space
between other vehicles. You would think
that would cause a logjam but the whole lot swirl about like marbles on a
tray. It is terrifying.
Ten years ago, the same
Government decided it would be good to change from driving on the imperial left
to driving on the revolutionary right. To
be fair, quite a lot of Yangon drivers have
got the hang of it by now.
When the Military was in full
control people needed a permit to own a car and permits were not easy to
obtain. The roads were probably big enough for the traffic. Now no permit is
required and there are thousands of extra cars; the roads have not
altered. The influx of new cars comes as
bulk importation of second hand cars from Japan where they drive on the
left. As a result, many of the cars
driving on the right in Yangon have right hand
drive.
Public transport is
exciting. There are lots of tiny taxis,
about the size of the missing tuc-tucs but with one more wheel.
Mobs of people at unmarked
places signify bus stops and buses plough through the traffic to reach
them. There is no such thing as a route
marker on a bus and the conductors hang out of the doors yelling out their
destinations like fairground buskers.
To cross the road, always follow
a crowd of locals and submit to your destiny.
It was less exciting in Mandalay . Cycles and motorbikes are allowed and there
is some space between cars. Unlike his
passengers, our one-eyed bus driver was blissfully unaware of traffic
approaching from his left.
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