I was advised before coming that the traffic is like "organized chaos." And that is being kind to chaos.
First of all there is all the noise ... honking is constant. It is not considered rude (unlike in the US). In fact, I've seen on the back bumper of trucks and buses the words: "Honk Please." So everyone does! Honking is used more as a way to let other drivers and pedestrians know that you're coming up on one or another side or that you're behind and want to pass (they say 'overtake' here). ... which brings me to ...
Passing and lane switching ... the best way I can describe this is that even though there might be something painted on the road that resembles a lane marking ... it is utterly ignored by everyone. For all practical purposes there are no lanes because everyone is switching and passing ... even driving on the shoulder. The most dramatic moments so far have been when the driver decided to pass a truck on the right and moved completely over into the other side of traffice ... so now I'm seeing cars coming straight for us!
But everyone just goes with the flow ... no yelling or dirty looks ... and certainly no one offers any hand or finger gestures. It's like there some cosmic understanding here that people will eventually get out of your way and everyone will just avoid each other (although dangerously close seems to be the order of the day).
What makes traffic really interesting is all the different types of vehicles ... there are cars, buses, trucks ... then there are motorbikes (lots of them!) ... and auto-rickshaws (which are three-wheeled). Someone has suggested to me that I must ride in an auto-rickshaw at least once before I leave here. We'll just wait and see on that one.
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