The craziest things we've seen on a motorbike

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31st December 2010

Travelling around Asia Aaron and I have seen some of the most bizarre things being transported on scooters/small motorbikes - the most popular form of transport  in South-East Asia. While in Hanoi we were inspired by a comment on my friend’s facebook page to compile a list of the top ten most unusual things we've seen on a motorbike;

  1. A whole family; 2 adults and 2 or 3 children or 3 adults (Seen all over South-East Asia!)
  2. Electric appliances; Microwave oven, widescreen TV (Hanoi, Vietnam)
  3. Household items; Door frame (Champassak, Laos), toilet (Hanoi, Vietnam)
  4. Lady driving with one hand and carrying a baby in her other arm (Laos)
  5. Animals; Chickens, Pigs
  6. A lady sat behind her husband balanced on top of a huge bag of rice
  7. 5 steel barrels of beer (Hanoi, Vietnam)
  8. Someone asleep - slumped over the shoulder of the man in front, head lolling (Hanoi, Vietnam)
  9. Fragile items such as china or a huge sheet of glass (about 6ft x 6ft) strapped to the side (Hanoi, Vietnam)
  10. And finally my favourite; Have you ever done your homework in the bus/car on the way to school?...Well, I was still surprised to see a boy doing his homework sat behind his dad and 2 other children on a scooter! (Kolkata, India)








Dealing with road traffic in Asia has sometimes been a scary experience to say the least. There don't appear to be many rules and sometimes I wonder if there is even a side of the road to drive on. In Vietnam most motorbikes seem to head for a gap that is almost big enough to squeeze through then beep their horn till someone makes enough space! Having said that the beeping is usually done in a friendly rather than aggressive way.

Comments

sly said…
Wow! The guy with all the tires(?) didn't even make the top 10! Amazing what people can do with what they have!
11 February 2011 at 07:51
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