Random Thoughts, part 1

Muzak

In this hotel, Le Chateau, in the breakfast/bar area there is when westerners are around an insipid Muzak track playing with covers of various ballads done instrumentally, recorder is a big one, mellow trumpet, strings, piano,  you get the idea.  It plays hit songs from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.  I have heard it so much that I hear it in my sleep.  

When there are just a few westerners in the room, they turn up the volume on Indian music....sort of rappy sort of rocky.  Infinitely more interesting that this track.

Rant on Indian Light Switches

In every place that we have stayed at so far there has been in the first 1/2 hour or so a hunt for the switches that turn the fan on, the light in the bathroom on or off, how to turn the reading light on, which switch controls which outlet, and you need to turn the switch next to the outlet on, or you have no juice.  We found that out the hard way when my IPad didn’t charge because I did not turn the switch next to the outlet on!

Tonight’s hotel took the cake.  There were 7 banks of switches, we tried every single one of the switches and could not get the light next to the bathroom to turn off.  This morning I found the 8th bank, and of course, that is where the switch was!

Horns as notification devices

I finally figured out the various horns by sound.  The tuktuk have a sort of toy bike horn, beep beep, sound.  The horn is used, much as it is in China, as a way to notify those around you that you are there, a hello to a friend, etc..  As the tuktuk approaches an intersection, even if there is no one in sight, the horn gets a beep beep to let you know he’s crossing the street.  It is sounded also to alert pedestrians that he is coming.  A car horn is a deeper sound, and it is not just toot-tooted but leaned on in a way that exudes machismo.  The Mack Daddy of horns is the bus horn which has not a single tone, but a rising scale of tones, which is quite loud.  Both cars and buses use tooting to indicate they are approaching an intersection.

Something that was curious to me was that on the back of every truck is written “sound horn” with sound on the left and horn on the right.  Have no idea what that means of how it translates into action.

I may have figured out the mystery to the “sound horn”.  As we were lurching our way up steep mountain 2-lane roads, and the bus driver was always honking his horn as he approached people to pass, or when approaching an intersection, or when he was approaching a blind curve. I think, based on today’s empiric evidence that “sound horn” is a signal that there is someone behind, next to, or near you and you should pay attention.