crazy taxis

in bangkok every so often i'd get a mad taxi driver who'd swerve in and out of traffic and in general they drive fast... but it's nothing compared to how taxis drive here.

the drivers seem relatively mild-mannered, but after you've managed to communicate your destination to them (not always easy) it becomes a real-life version of the crazy taxi video game.

swerving around cars, cutting other taxis off, swerving *towards* pedestrians to watch them jump back, careening around intersections, and a whiplashing brake/gas/brake/gas driving style. the only thing slowing the drivers down is the traffic, which can be almost as bad as in bangkok at times.

the good news is that taxis (unlike nearly everything else here) aren't very expensive. on friday i took a taxi about a third of the way across town and it cost me only 14rmb, about 70 baht. also the taxis always use their meter, so no worries about being charged 200 baht to go from silom to sukhumvit, and each taxi prints out receipts!

as far as the crazy driving is concerned, i've learned that the best thing to do is to just not look.