The ride in the cities is exciting but the ride on the highways can ratchet up the fear factor considerably due to higher speeds and the local habit of driving on either side of the road in a seeming game of perpetual Chicken.

The taxis are the Indian made Ambassadors, once just about the only car in India. They look like old BMWs. Back in 2003 I rode one halfway across northern India with two Englishmen who were making a documentary film. Met them in Agra where the Taj Mahal is, were staying in the same place. I remember watching the Rugby World cup with them - a match between Australia and England in a room filled with people from those two countries and me - it was a rare win for England. They asked if I'd like to come along with them as their assistant because their assistant had flown back to England because the ride was too frightening. So I took his place next to the hired driver and would sit there watching trucks barreling toward us air horn blowing and got to see a lot of India as their guest for doing nothing much else that I can remember.

The next morning Katrinka came in, having blessedly missed her connecting flight in Frankfurt, relieving me of having to return to the airport a few hours after I arrived. She wasn't fazed by the ride and soon was ready for a walk along crowded sidewalks, around motorcycles, fruit stands, over rubble, crossing streets with cars and motorbikes coming from both directions on both sides. She's from Manhattan.