The 1000 Day Holiday

Asia is the only place in the world where its super cheap to hire a motorbike and enjoy the freedom, exhilaration and the feel of wind blowing through my hair (SIC). $2.20 per day gets you on a scooter, out and about exploring the countryside.

Now about the way they drive in Asia. I actually prefer it to the western style.Lets compare them:

Western Driving

• Drive to the left of the line
• Don’t let anyone get in front of you – e.g a merging car
• Speed up on the straight sections where people might overtake you
• If another driver is in the wrong, don’t adjust your driving. Scare them or give them the finger. e.g pulling out in front of you.
• Get angry if motorcyclists split lanes to get to the front at stop lights

Asian Driving

• Generally drive to the left, but the whole road is there to be used.
• Motorbikes turn corners early, running up the inside of the corner
• Toot your horn/flash headlights on tight corners to alert others you’re coming
• Toot your horn if you need more space or to alert cyclists/pedestrians to move off the road
• Lanes are a guide only. Splitting lanes, smaller vehicles weaving through traffic is efficient
• Do whatever you want to do. Expect everyone else to do the same. nothing is a surprise, just adjust and carry on.
• Use indicators to show the edge of your vehicle to an oncoming vehicle in tight spots

The only downside is that they never check what traffic is approaching before joining from a side road. This screams of natural selection. Other than that it works pretty well.