India vs. Latvia (Round 1)

I took a long distance bus yesterday from Riga. Well, it was only 3 hours but that covers half the country. Let's compare long haul buses in Latvia and developing countries (India in this case).'

Bus Condition: Actually, the buses are in pretty much the same shape if you go with the styling buses in India.

Cost: For a trip of about the same distance in both countries, it was only about a dollar more expsensive here.

Comfort: In India and Riga, you leave from a central bus stand. In India, you sit down and maybe there is no one booked in the seat next to you. Stoked! But before you get out of the town, there are like 5 stops around the outskirts of the city where people get on and it is pretty unlikely to be sitting alone. In Latvia on the other hand, for longer trips there is one bus stand and if you ain't getting on there, you ain't getting on, homie. Sat alone.

Safety: No contest. I tripped out because for this one stretch we were on a two lane road behind this slow moving truck. I couldn't understand why the driver wasn't changing lanes to pass him despite possible oncoming traffic. Then I snapped out of it and remembered I wasn't in a country where- in terms of traffic safety- people had absolutely no regard for peoples' lives. Now, I am trying to think if there is some reason that the poorer a country is, the crazier they drive? Ideas?

Scenery- Developing countries are more interesting from a cultural point of view, and depending where you are- beauty of the landscape. But culture shock of the National Geographic worthy visions of buffalo, rice fields, and shanty villages wears off soon enough. On this particular trip in Latvia, there were tons of huge fields of daffodils. There are a lot around here and there. These fields were so full that it seemed like they must have been purposefully planted there. Then I thought, why would people plant huge fields of daffodils? I'm not particularly poetic, but it was really beautiful.

RESULT- Latvia has knocked down India once in the first round, but India got back up ready to scrap. Two more knockdowns and it's a TKO. I already have some more contests in mind, but we need a commercial break....