Horse 2697 - The Travel Blog: Day 21 (Highway 13)

I hope that you noticed while we were in the Citta d'Scarletti that the streets are not straight and that they tend to follow the contours of the land. As we drive out of here, we're going to pass through an intersection which is both insane and wonderful, before we head out to the north.
The rental car company didn't have a hatchback but they gave us a Tiger Diplomat SS wagon; which has a big rumbly V8 up front, chucking out more than 500 buff horses. Boom!
That does mean of course that getting through Citta d'Scarletti is going to be a little tight.

We pull out of the driveway and down the Paladin Hill, through the Alboretto Triumph Arch, and after heading through a nonsensical one-way circulatory system, we finally reach the Scarletti Piazza.
Standing out in the middle upon a glorified rain barrel is a policeman on point duty who has about as much control over the intersection as a symphony orchestra conductor has over a swarm of bees. The bees have an internal set of rules¹ and they know a bunch of dances but the amount of control that someone waving a stick around at them, is exactly nil.

I have little experience at working out how to pass through here, which you might think would be a distinct disadvantage but because everyone else knows how to do this, their own sense of self-preservation should make this really easy.
Basically, we sort of head in the direction that we want to go and the rest of the traffic will miraculously work itself out automatically.

A Ladybug 500 has just whizzed past of the left; doing 80km/h in the other direction. We can aim between those two buses and come out the other side in almost impunity. There are more silver Bromberg 1-Klasses than I care to mention and although you would think that there should be lots of exotic sports cars in here, this swirling motor tornado is mostly small hatchbacks, vans, and box trucks.
If you look way over to where that clock tower is, you will see a long line of cars and trucks trying to cross over into the next country. Although we know of the existence of other countries, we're not allowed to ever cross the border into someone else's mind. That is the border with the country of Evan which is a constitutional monarchy. They have very tough restrictions on the importation of wet goods because of their customs and border policies. Some say that it is easier for a needle to pass through the eye of a camel than for a fish van to enter the Kingdom of Evan.
In the meantime I have no idea exactly how we passed through the piazza without hitting anything at all.

I want to head north along Highway 13 for a bit and drive past what appears to be the burnt out ruins of businesses which may have been important once upon a time. A lot of these businesses made things like hopes, dreams, fears, and worries; they have been just left abandoned. Some of the infrastructure has been moved to other cities and is now employed elsewhere and maybe some of these might restart in the future but it's always kind of interesting to drive up highways like this and wonder about what used to be important but isn't now.

This highway also heads further north through the Forest Of Doubt which has a tendency to either make the road impassable or difficult to drive through. The road up here is always misty and it is unwise to go tearing through here with your foot nail to the floor, however there is a road to the west from here which takes you to the Bravado Theatre; which from time to time does put on some excellent shows and occasionally shows by the touring company Half Baked Ideas And Ill-Conceived Concepts Pty Ltd.

The real reason why we're heading up this road is because the road passes through the Swamp Of Despair. At the moment, the road is not flooded; so it is perfectly safe to drive through.
There is a sign which is on the other side of the swamp; which is worth reading and perhaps worth remembering if you ever need to pass through here.

NOTICE:

Stop. This road has never ever flooded for more than ten days. If there is anything that you have said or done, please remember that the immediate despair is only temporary. All underlying issues and problems should be dealt with rationally and only after you have stopped and left this highway.
It is unknown how long this highway is. Please exit now.
- City Of Light

One thing that I find striking about this sign is that it isn't actually within the city limits of the Citta d'Scarletti. It is on another road which heads towards the City Of Light. The thing is though, that when the red mists come down² and you are driving down Highway 13 through the Swamp Of Despair, it can be really hard to find the sign or perhaps remember that it is there.

This is where we turn off this road and start heading in another northerly direction. I know that it is tempting to drop a down a gear and lay some big №11s on the pavement but the roads might be slippery and we don't want to dent the rental car.

¹Not only do bees follow internal rules but they also all have barcode licence plates; which is why they are covered in stripes.
²They could also very well be green mists. I don't know. I can not tell the difference because I am red-green colourblind.