Driving:

Driving:

I love driving; always have; always will. I remember when the famous Kerry football manager, Mick O’Dwyer, was asked was it not very far for him to travel when he took on the role of managing Kildare. Micko replied, ‘not at all, the farther the better, because I love driving.’ I totally identify with that sentiment. In fact, Micko subsequently managed Laois and Wicklow, which are also a long way from Kerry.

But I digress; recently I drove to Derry and Donegal in a day, then spent the next day exploring the coast of Donegal on the wild Atlantic way and returned to Dublin. I’m not sure of the total distance but about fourteen hours behind the wheel in total. My partner asked if I never get tired and I had to say no, it actually energizes; invigorates me. I once drove from Billund in the north of Denmark to Nice in France in one day. I had been on holiday and one of the associate companies I was working with called a board meeting in Nice at short notice. I probably could have flown but I needed to return my hired car in Switzerland eventually so it was the best option and I knew the drive would be interesting.

Road Trip - on the way to Derry and Donegal.

I know some people dislike driving and not many will actually drive overseas, particularly where left hand driving is involved. I’m lucky in that I can drive wherever I travel to and it gives me the freedom to see a lot of places and meet a lot of people that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

Now, a brief note: The rest of this article was written a few years ago, although on the same theme. I was writing about driving from Moscow to St Petersburg or vice-versa on a really bad road but how much I still enjoyed it. For most drivers, thankfully the M11 motorway from Moscow to St Petersburg was finally completed and all sections open to the public in July 2024. Most people who have to travel between the two cities will have given a sigh of relief; me too, but the old road evokes many memories. Read below from 2015.

It is said that walking is so much more interesting than driving as there is so much that you miss when driving. Over short distances, I thoroughly agree. However, there is a parallel between flying and driving. For example, you can fly from Moscow to St Petersburg in an hour, but it is far more interesting to drive.

Now, I would not recommend you do this if you are in a hurry. The road is, quite simply, appalling. It will take you, at a minimum, eight hours and more likely ten to twelve hours. I must mention that Russia has an excellent network of reasonably good roads, particularly between major cities. Unfortunately, the road between its two principal cities is very poor – why that is, no one seems to know. The President is from St Petersburg but I would presume that when he travels to his home city, he flies. A new motorway is finally under construction but it will take years to complete.

For the moment, we must persist with the existing roadway. It is a distance of approximately 700kms. Of this, only around 100k is dual carriageway. The rest is mainly a three lane road where each side takes turns overtaking in stretches of about 750 metres. Needless to say, this is highly dangerous with drivers frequently pushing the envelope just that little bit to get past slow moving trucks. Accidents are commonplace and the number of roadside memorials erected, presumably, by relatives of road crash victims is frightening. I was continuously blessing myself, as is customary with Irish people when passing these memorials. Now the road is very dangerous during day time but absolutely lethal at night.

My car parked at Novosibirsk airport in Siberia.

Mind you, from a driver’s perspective, these are not the worst aspects – no, the award for that goes to the road surface. When I hear people talking about Irish potholes, it evokes a wry smile – on this road, the surface in places is so bad that there are stretches which are just continuous rutted track which go on for miles – when you get a build-up of trucks, and bear in mind that the most common vehicles on this road are trucks, everything slows to an absolute crawl – as in, 5kms per hour maximum. I am not exaggerating. You can get a ‘convoy’ of these trucks which can run continuously, I kid you not, for 40 kilometres. Overtaking them in stages can take hours.

Back to Moscow in 2015.

But enough of the negatives; there is never any danger of falling asleep on this journey, and I don’t just mean having to stay on alert to negotiate the road. No, when you drive, you experience an absolute myriad of images and impressions. Travelling by train is arguably similar but more relaxing in that you can enjoy the view from an armchair seat. But when you drive, the place is alive. On a plane, you see nothing except the airports. On a train, the landscape can be beautiful but can be lifeless apart from the odd farmer. That is not to say that the land is not alive with rivers, lakes, plants, animals etc. However, when driving, you see so many lives being acted out in real time. From your fellow drivers, people you pass, people you encounter at rest stops, petrol stations and roadside cafes – as the man said, it’s a whole ‘other world out there.’ I love meeting people from all walks of life and hearing their stories.

But I have to nail my colours to the mast here. I also love driving. Some people find driving stressful – I find it relaxing, particularly when I’m not in a hurry. So, everywhere I have ever been located, I have tried to see as much of the country as I can and to meet as many people as I can, usually by driving through it. In even a short journey, you encounter so many people carrying on with their lives. On a long journey, you encounter thousands. You may not speak to many of them but you ‘connect’ with them – there’s a common purpose in what you are doing. Despite what people may say, and particularly what people might say about Russian drivers, most are polite and road manners are quite good. Trucks in particular I found polite and accommodating and when you factor in that this is their livelihood, it is all the more remarkable.

You can encounter some strange vehicles on Russian roads.

I have driven to many cities, small towns and villages. The landscape may be broadly similar everywhere but each place has its own peculiarities, its own history and its own story to tell. In the country places, people seem to have more time and will readily chat to a foreigner. If they speak English they will gladly chat to you all day as they practice their language skills. Perhaps I am lucky as coming from a small country, I am usually the first Irish person that many people will have met, particularly in the countryside. Quite often I have set out with a plan to visit several places and have ended up only seeing one, either due to a particular discovery or due to getting sidetracked talking to some of the locals. Despite the size of the country, I have also found myself revisiting special places many times. Novgorod, Suzdal and Zelinagorsk immediately spring to mind as well as Peterhof, Pavlovsk & Pushkin, all near St Petersburg. It may not be for everyone but I found it a fascinating way of seeing the country and of connecting with its people.

Postscript: I have continued my driving adventures in retirement and the number of countries in which I have driven are far too many to list. People have asked me where the worst drivers are and where are the best but it is not that simple. I would say I have found bad driving habits in every country; by contrast I have found polite and skillful drivers everywhere also. It may not be for everyone but for me, if you want to really see a country, get out there and drive round it. Do your research in advance though and have a route mapped out. With all the navigation aids and apps available nowadays, it is relatively simple. In some countries, apps like Google maps can be sketchy in some places but it will always eventually recover and bring you back to where you want to go – trust me, you’ll never get lost.