Things I Have Seen On Motorbikes

I think it could help your understanding tremendously to make a list for ya'll of all the things I have seen so far on the motorbike/moped/motorcyle in Southeast Asia. Now to really paint the picture, this is the main form of tranpsortation in these parts, so there are thousands of them everywhere, and very few cars. Not only that, but traffic laws hardly apply (you can bribe the cops with a dollar or something if you get pulled over) so it is completely acceptable to drive on the wrong side of the road, plus stop signs/lights are rare. I actually think it might be safer somehow, you just go slow and everybody watches out for each other. Also, i love that you can drive your motorbike into the store/restaurant you are going to and park it right there!

Things I Have Seen On Motorbikes:
-20 foot long pieces of wood
-small to large trees
-furniture
-large coolers
-30 foot long cables, dragging along on the ground far behind the bike
-dogs, sometimes in the front, sometimes amazingly sitting on the back (how do they not fall off???)
-lots of babies
-families including mom, dad, baby, 3 children
-4+ adults
-one parent, 5 school children, dad holding all of their Angry Birds backpacks
-1-4 male police officers (i think this is cute, i think we are too homophobic in America to do this)
-women riding side saddle
-buckets of anything
-baskets of anything
-people carrying baskets on their head
-drunken tourists
-monkeys
-prostitutes
-lady boys (asian guys dressed as girls, often almost indistinguishable except to the trained eye, watch out tourists men!)
-a very large dead pig

and i am sure there's more i don't remember, but you get the idea. I hope this has greatly increased your understanding of life in Southeast Asia. It's crazy here!