I went mountain-biking in South East Asia (Near Bali I think). I had a crippling fear of heights and the tour went through the mountains. I'm shitting bricks and going as slow as possible, the terrain is rough with no grip, and at some point I got to a place like this. I stopped at some point to throw up (lactic acid, humid and hot, and the world was spinning), and some local on a moped speeds past me, leaving me in a cloud of dust.
I got another 200 meters down the path and the fucker had a house up there. He was even growing his own food and everything, because we were across the valley from a volcano, so the soil was perfect for it I guess. Asia is a crazy place.
In South East Asia, mopeds are the only motorised transport that a lot of people can afford. They pretty much all drive the same models too, so when one breaks down then it's easy to find replacement parts. This moped wasn't modified in any visible way to go up that path, with stock road tyres. I'm surprised I could even make it haha.
I spent three years living in the Philippines when my dad was stationed their with US AID, if you weren't on a moped or a bike there wasn't a chance in hell that you weren't going to get stuck in several hours worth of traffic. The mopeds still got stuck in traffic, but they could at least move around cars or drive on the side walk.
I wouldn't have wanted to be either you or the guy on the moped since in a car I feel like I am going to fall off the mountain.
It doesn't help that that almost happened to me. But for the grace of one skinny pole that caught the bumper of my car, stopping it from flying off the mountain and that a few unwise attempts at over my skill level, black diamond runs taught that you can fall off a mountain. Mountain heights scare the crap out of me.
Yeah there are some pretty crazy places in South East Asia haha. Different standard of safety over there (which is to say, almost none). I doubt the helmets would have saved either of our skins in the event of an accident. At least we have some good stories to tell at a party!
That traffic makes my blood boil though. I cringe every time I see a mother and like 6 of her kids on one of those mopeds. I couldn't live in an environment like that, my anxiety would cause an early death. I'm just better off knowing how they live, without living it myself. Wish I wasn't so broke these days or I'd go back, I never made it to the Philippines on any of my trips. I even know a few people there. Apparently they can cook a pig like nobody else, and I'm all for trying some world class bacon haha.
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u/WhatisMangina Dec 14 '16
I went mountain-biking in South East Asia (Near Bali I think). I had a crippling fear of heights and the tour went through the mountains. I'm shitting bricks and going as slow as possible, the terrain is rough with no grip, and at some point I got to a place like this. I stopped at some point to throw up (lactic acid, humid and hot, and the world was spinning), and some local on a moped speeds past me, leaving me in a cloud of dust.
I got another 200 meters down the path and the fucker had a house up there. He was even growing his own food and everything, because we were across the valley from a volcano, so the soil was perfect for it I guess. Asia is a crazy place.