I rode a motorcycle in Chennai! Anybody who visited a big city in India will know that that is something to write home about. Suresh Kumar was going to give me a ride home from the office last night, but then he made a mistake of offering me to drive. I accepted it wholeheartedly, had a great time and actually managed to take us home. Although, I must admit that streets were half empty, and we didn't encounter any of the horror situations that are common part of driving here.

But then today another opportunity arose to try myself exactly in that kind driving. I was planning a weekend trip to Bangalore, aka Indian Silicon Valley, located some six train-hours north-west of Chennai. I was actually attracted by Coorg, a hilly area a couple of hundred kilometers west of Bangalore. Muthukumar recommended the place for hiking, and I couldn't imagine anything better to escape city heat for a day or two. In order to get train tickets I had to go to the train station and Pachai kindly offered to give me a ride and accompany me on this not so simple task. He also offered me to drive the bike and I don't refuse that kind of offer. But this time situation was different. It was two o'clock, and while not exactly a rush hour, streets were pretty crowded. Surprisingly, what looks like chaos of the highest magnitude from a pedestrian perspective, started showing certain rules once I became a part of it. These are not to be confused with traffic rules one learns in traffic school. They should more appropriately be called traffic customs, but even that is hardly visible from outside. In any case I am considering buying a bike.

Unfortunately, I didn't get the tickets because foreign tourist quota for which tickets were only available doesn't apply to my business visa. Still it was fun to learn the process of buying train tickets in India and useful as a lesson for planning ahead next time.