A Blindfold and a Valium

All one needs to navigate the streets of Lahore are a driver, a blindfold, and a valium. The roadways are one unending game of Chicken as drivers create four lanes out of two (watch that donkey cart on the side!) and squeeze, Harry Potter-esque, between impossibly small gaps in traffic.

This is only my first day on the road with our office driver, but I'm having doubts about him. He seems to be careful of his own driving (good), but stopped twice on the way to the office to lean out the window and scream at drivers who offended him. On the way to lunch today we drove past a road-rage inspired street brawl, and the driver laughed while I cringed in horror.

Last night my Pakistani colleague made an illegal U-turn across three lanes of on-coming traffic. When someone else did the same thing fifteen minutes later, cutting in front of her, she exclaimed in exasperation. She did, however, have the grace to laugh at herself when I pointed out the hypocracy.

Islamabad has a new "safe driving" campaign, which hasn't made its way to Lahore, where it is more desperately needed. Perhaps the government has given Lahore traffic up as a lost cause.

All I need now is that blindfold and valium.