Road traffic

Hi all

Sorry for the decreasing rhythm these last weeks, but I begin to be relatively busy at work with a big project beginning soon.

I already announce, next time I will tell you about the coming government which is on the point to emerge after conclusion of the post-electoral negotiations.

But today, I just want to complain about roads in UlaanBaatar.

Just to start with this pictures of a typical road. 

So you understand that to preserve your dampers you have to slalom a little bit. What can be OK when it is a one way street, but problematic if it is a 2 or more ways street. 

Add to that a natural tendency to go and see afterwards if it was OK to go (if you want to cross a street you can’t wait for the street to be clear, otherwise you never move, you have to go and then see how you can survive and reach the other side of the street), cars with steering wheel either on the right or on the left (while driving on the right), and a crucial lack of traffic lights and you get UlaanBaatar traffic: a real mess.

Actually it is preferable not to have too many traffic lights since people have a tendency not to respect them, it does not create false expectations.

I am really surprised, I have not seen any accident yet. Actually, and I guess it is how local drivers save their life, they kind of abuse of their klaxon. Tuuuuuuuut “I am behind you” Tuuuut tuuuut “I am on your side” Tut tut tut tut tut “Are you going to move?”. 

Fortunately all cars are automatic so you don’t need to listen to your engine and can pay attention to all the indications other drivers around you give. It is almost like the “Google car”, which combines visual and “sonar” information to guide itself.

Funny detail: It is not rare to came across cars with a kind of klaxon extinction, after having honked too much.

But of course for pedestrians or just random people who like to keep their windows open, it is a real nuisance. But it also save you sometimes so you cannot forget it.

 

Also another major problem of UlaanBaatar loopholes and more generally the condition of the streets, are the consequences of our weekly storm, which transform a simple ride in the city in a kind of rally-raid. 

It is the same for pedestrian and you are obliged to calculate more and more complex strategies to make your way dry feet among all the huge puddles

 Ok sorry for this post which was just about complaining. I start again to be positive next time :)