Sunday 11 October 2015

Driving in Malaysia....and motor bikes!!!!

Driving, well if you can call it that, has lets say a rustic natural law feel to it, you can do what ever you like it seems, as long as you don't crash into somebody else doing what ever they want to do....this although sounds terrifying actually works, basically because of the very painful price of cars for rich foreigners or poor locals no-one can afford to crash, so car prices alone may dictate driver awareness and safety.

In a weird sense not having many laws and (revenue collectors - police around) mean that a kind of natural unwritten law seems to work for most of the time as well as the fact that most roads are on a grid system, so your normally just going straight until you need to turn, there are roundabouts but not very many and no one knows how to use the bloody things anyway....Lanes well yes like roundabouts they do have them but are utterly disrespected and ignored by most, and most of the markings are fading, come night time you just stay in the middle as they have NO PATHS and big drains along the side to fall into.

More on lanes....as there are so many, you can enter roads that have 3/4/5 lanes, and you'll be cruising along nicely and suddenly your fucking lane disappears (this could a left lane or right lane) causing you to make a dodgy swing into the traffic on your right or left....or on another occasion you'll be going along and someone will join the road to your right, very un common in the UK and they may also join you from the left.....mirror, signal manoeuvre albeit lost on the locals here is your life saver at times.

Luckily though most not all but most cars are automatic, which gives the traffic a slow meandering feel, it just flows like a small twig in water going down a relaxed stream, it is rare although possible to see cars racing and reving and beeping, its too bloody hot everyone is just chilling at lower speeds, lower than in the UK and so we all just roll along peacefully and slowly, even when someone makes a blinder of a move across 3 lanes of rush hour traffic...peeps just wait and carry on...no stress at all.

Motorbikes...scooters....!!!!! fercking nutters all of them, although I have to say here we are trying to get one off a local at the moment, these bikes do race, all the time at every possible opportunity and at every light stop, they all pile in front of the cars at lights and go early, sometimes too early. they can be seen weaving in and out of traffic, they can be seen jumping red lights as they know the light pattern and lane movements in advance, they can be driven by 10 year olds with younger siblings on the back seat, babies can be seen in between riders legs, youngsters can be seen holding on the handle bars whilst daddy or mummy drives, this can also be very common in the cars as well. It is fascinating to see and I cant wait to join them in the race off the lights....brum brum...

Some bikes riders are carrying way too much stuff and on occasion bail on the side of the road, and you see them trying to upright there stock as well there bike, its a sad sight for sure, some have their whole stall attached somehow to the sides and with the days stock to sell search for a space where they can cook for passers by.

Motorbike riders dont wear leathers, they wear flip flops and shorts and t shirts, bless them I have to admit they do now wear helmets but apparently this is a new trend, they carry gas canisters on the fuel tank as they ride, tie bags of tea or Kopi 'o' on their handle bars and have a slurp at the lights, they have really cool helmets with massive mirrored sun visors which cover there whole face (I want one of these).

Most of these scooters and bikes are old Hondas from back in the day and most are 70cc, or 90cc, and peeps with some more money buy the 125cc ones. they cruise at about 50mph and they cost 2nd hand between MR1600 - 3000, they cost MR7 to fill the tank that's 78p to you and me, and the toll roads are free to bikes and they DO drive them along the motorway, they also drive the wrong way up the side of the road your on to save themselves the huge hassle of having to carry on up the road to find the correct junction further away and no one seems to mind this, even me come to think of it?...and last but not least ..... I WANT ONE......ha ha ha..

pictures soon, you have to see it to believe it, and all of this is going on amoungst lorries, trucks buses and cars....brilliant.


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