I would recommend that anyone traveling to South East Asia for a
short holiday does not hire a scooter or a motorbike. Especially if most
of your time is going to be spent in pubs and nightclubs or just
lounging around the beach or pool. Depending where you are in the region
taxis and tuk-tuk’s are going to be cheap and riding a bike around any
populated location in South East Asia is fraught with obstacles.
Why don’t all cops look like this? south east asia expat
Think greedy cops staring through mirrored Ray-Bans desperately
hoping for a cashed up tourist to ride past. Maniacal local scooter
riders who although they jumped on their first motorbike at five years
old, still don’t understand a thing about riding etiquette. And greedy
motorbike rental agencies that can spot a minor scratch or bent mirror
at four hundred paces. Not to mention crashing into locals, obtaining or
riding without the correct license, travel insurance and the very real
chance of injury, who needs the hassle right?
On the other hand if you’re intending to live in South East Asia for a
long period of time then I would suggest you go all the way and you buy
a little scooter/motorbike and here’s why.
Bike anyone? south east asia expat
When you live in South East Asia for long periods of time you tend to
become domesticated after a few months, or years, depending on your
personality. Dining in restaurants three times a day turns out to be a
bit of a chore and you start to crave the good old days. You long to sit
down for an evening meal in the privacy of your own home or enjoy a
hearty breakfast in front of the TV working off a Saturday Night
Hangover. Then when you start having these cravings you also realize
that you need transport to make it happen.
south east asia expat
Okay let’s use the breakfast scenario as an example and if you don’t
mind I will relate a friend of mines experience to clarify my reasoning.
Our protagonist a content little expat called Happy decided to live
abroad and he found the South East Asian Country he wanted to spend the
rest of his life in. He then sorted out all his visa crap and he made it
through six months of living in a hotel room and partying every night.
Happy was happy for a while but eventually too many nights of fun and
frivolity started to take their toll and he decided he needed to settle
down with a lady. Luckily he didn’t have to look far and Happy met a
nice local girl called Snoozy who worked in the bar down the street. (No
snide connotation just running with a dwarf theme.)
Happy and Snoozy then lived in a hotel room or for six months until
things became a little too crowded. Then when they decided it was time
to move on Happy went out and he found a bigger apartment for them to
share.
Happy little toad. south east asia expat
One day after a very big night out on the town, (for the stories sake
let’s just say it was in Walking Street Pattaya), Happy decided he
wanted Snoozy to get out of bed and to cook a hearty English breakfast.
Sadly he then realized that the cupboards were bare and that the
refrigerator was empty. But luckily Happy also remembered that he owned a
motorbike and he knew that Snoozy would be happy to ride to the local
market why he snoozed around in bed and he watched the BBC.
The perfect combination.southeastasiaexpat
Okay that should be enough back story, let’s just say that Happy and
Snoozy lived happily ever after until he discovered that she was already
married to some Thai guy and he lost all his stuff.
But my point is this; if you decide to live in S.E.A then you are
going to need some type of transport. The choice then becomes either car
or motorbike and to be honest, unless you are living in the back-blocks
of nowhere, cars suck for a number of reasons. Consider traffic and
parking but I can think of plenty of reasons that cars are more trouble
than they are worth.
Most importantly it is wise to remember that almost anyone in SEA,
including the sleepy little girl who works in the bar down the street,
is able to ride a scooter/motorbike. And one day you will wake up with a
hangover and you will need someone to go down to the market so that
they can buy you sausages, bacon and eggs.
Author’s disclaimer: I would like to assure you that despite the
title I did not write this article so that I could attract search
engines or so that I could display pictures of sexy Asian Ladies on
motorbikes.
I have nothing, awestruck maybe.south east asia expat
I wrote this blog because I believe it imparts important advice for
anyone that is thinking of living in South East Asia. The fact that it
also allows me to post sexy pictures of Asian women and Motorbikes just
happens to be a bonus.
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