Sometimes in India you need to learn the local terminology just to get around, each route seems to have it's own favoured vehicle. A taxi is fairly unambiguous, but without the right word other methods of travel are unintelligible. For example, a 'jeep' (manufacturer Mahindra) as it is known in most of India, is replaced by a 'Sumo' (manufacturer Tata) in Meghalaya. A 'ricksha' is a 'tuktuk', and if petrol powered is strictly an autorickshaw, leading to the esoteric Andhra shortened name of 'auto'. The overgrown rickshaws used as small bus services go sometimes by the name 'Tempo' or alternatively 'Vikram'. A passenger train is a painfully slow method of transport, a 'mail train' is the way to travel. A bus could mean a minibus, or a delux government bus. But if it is no longer painful to ride it ceases to be a bus and becomes a Volvo.
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