The Asian Motorcycle

The Asian motorcycle is the Swiss Army Knife of vehicles. I have seen them carrying everything from a whole family (parents, three kids and a dog) to a couple of pigs (with a human driver) to a wardrobe (empty I suppose). Spend any length of time in Asia and sights like these become the norm. Crossing the road this morning though, I was passed by a bike towing a trailer. This being Penang, it was no ordinary trailer but a wheelbarrow full of building materials, the handles gripped by the pillion passenger. Despite the obvious difficulties of pulling such a contraption (breaking, cornering, balance), the driver had no difficulty in keeping up with the rest of the traffic. Apart from me, nobody took any notice, not even the policeman busy handing out parking tickets.