[traffic jam] sudden gridlock the russian way

I've driven from San Diego through LA to Santa Monica a few times and once made the mistake of being caught in LA peak hour. That's some traffic - seven or eight lanes crawling along in the summer heat and sickly yellow smog.

I've been caught in tailbacks on the M25 around London or else on the way to Heathrow. That's also not the best.

I've been driven from our hotel in Bangkok where even the simple act of taking the first turn right took us fifteen minutes in choking fumes.

I went to work today and it was worse than all of those.

Total gridlock, not only on the main arteries but on every sideroad, every little shortcut through the 'yards' and every lane and cycle path, as cars from both directions tried to squeeze through single lane archways through houses.

And we weren't talking cars - we were talking trucks, lorries and buses trying to squeeze through the equivalent of pock-marked and rutted country lanes with three metre clearances.

It was fun.

And when I finally arrived, grim-faced and apologizing, there were all the young ladies sitting up, asking: "Traffic jam or were you with a girl?"

Wish I'd had a witty rejoinder.