Archive for November, 2009
Things we’ve seen on motorbikes while in Asia
Motorbikes are pretty popular here. You see them all the time, weaving in and out of traffic carrying large loads of cargo or people or just about anything you might imagine. In fact, what we do see on them has become a regular source of amusement. I thought I’d capture a partial list here as an example (and to remind us later).
- Two people, with the person behind carrying an object. I’ve seen this be a large mirror (think 3′ by 4′) or a child’s push car or almost anything else equally amusing.
- A man with a computer tower between his front legs
- Two young women, the girl in front on her cellphone and the girl behind steering
- A man with a large plasma TV strapped to the back of his motorbike
- A family of 5 – two adults and three kids (this is the maximum number of people we’ve seen)
- A motorbike with 4 propane tanks strapped to the back in rushhour traffic in Bangkok (this makes the idea of accidents pretty terrifying)
- Hello Kitty bikes and ones with fake Louis Vuitton seat covers
- MacDonalds McDelivery backpacks (just about all food delivery is done via motorbike)
- Huge cargo loads (bed spreads, yarn, boxes, just about anything you can imagine) – sometimes taller and wider than the person driving
- Lots and lots of dogs – in the baskets up front, on the floor where your feet would normally rest, and in people’s laps. Sometimes there are two small dogs in the basket and once it was just one large dog crammed into a small basket (think fat man in a little coat and you’ll get a good mental image).
- A pig in a wicker basket
