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Driving in Manila (...is crazy)

OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;

Rudyard Kipling

I beg to differ slightly with Mr. Kipling. Manila is turning out to be a mixture of east and west. In an earlier post I wrote about Manila - as an Americanized Asia. Almost a week here and I seem to agree more and more with this observation.

Today was the first day of my driving in Manila. Philippines drives the US-way, on the wrong side of the road for Indians. Most of the traffic seems to believe in lane driving, unlike India.

The infrastructure is well maintained; it's easy for a foreigner to drive here (most of the foreigners would never dare to drive in India). Makati City has a lot of one ways that makes the driving slightly easier.

However, don't be fooled by this! Like any other Asian country Manila has its share of craziness on road. The best I can say is if you mix about 75% craziness of Indian style of driving with the US-way; you get Manila driving!

I was a wee bit nervous, as it has been a long time since I drove on the other side of the road. So I was a bit cautious; getting used to the other side doesn't come naturally to me. Also I didn't knew the way to work.

I thought once I get used to other side things would be easy. Alas, this wasn't the case! I soon realized Manila is as crazy as India. Bikers were zigzagging through the traffic and Jeepneys are kings of the road! 

So within few minutes into my drive, I decided lets just go with the traffic. I didn't let go entirely, but I said to myself lets relax and be wary of bikers & Jeepneys. If I can do so I'll be fine in this craziness.
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Location: BSA Tower, 108 Legazpi Street, Makati City 1200, Philippines

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