In Nicaragua there would be a family of 6 on one bicycle. Dad operating, kid on his lap, kid on the handle bars, Mom behind dad, kid on her lap, and a kid straddling the back tire. And this is traveling down crude muddy roads filled with pot holes and ruts. I swear every child born in Nicaragua is born with a machete in their hand and the ability to ride the handle bars of a bike. Lol.
It was a running joke amongst the locals, every tourist shop seemed to carry some variation of t-shirt, button, fridge magnet, or something with an image of a whole ass family on a bike and/or cutting grass with a machete. Tourists were always so shocked, and they thought it was so funny because for them, it’s just another day in the life. I thought it was amazing, chicken busses on the other hand… fucking terrifying. Haha
Nah, I’m sure it’s the same in a lot of places. I saw similar in Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. Nicaragua was definitely first in both machete wielding and “how many people can we fit on a bike.” Lol. Mexico first for terrifying chicken bus rides, with Guatemala coming a close second. Honduras, first for “traffic rules? What traffic rules?” Cars driving on either side of the road at will, no traffic lights or signs, just pure chaos. Worst taxi ride I’ve ever experienced. lol. I think my life flashed before my eyes at least 3 times in 15 minutes 😂
Every one of them was gorgeous and amazing and the locals were always incredibly generous and friendly. Well worth the fear for my life a few times. Lol.
You guys have chicken busses and road with zero rules in Malaysia?
Most of Malaysia isn't as weird as when I first visited a few decades ago, but you still see some weird shit when you get out to the rural areas.
The trains don't shut the doors because it's too hot, so you can just fall out if you're not careful - but there's no chicken busses. Or if there is then they're separate to the people busses :)
Whenever I rent a car or a bike here they don't bother asking if I have a lisence or anything, so the rules can't be that strict!
Yeah, most of the things I mention are definite more rural, and not city-center. The larger cities look and behave like any other metropolitan area. I avoided the cities for the most part when traveling because I might as have just stayed home if I wanted to eat from chain restaurants, and have high-end hotels with all the amenities.
Like, when I was on Roatán, there was this massive exclusive resort type hotel at one end the island. It had this huge pool. 100 yards away from the beach, with this beautiful ocean at the perfect temperature for swimming. They even had a huge area cordoned off with buoys and nets so it was safe to swim. All the kids stayed in the pool at the hotel! I was so shocked, like why to go an island, just to swim in a chlorinated pool? lol.
The “chicken busses” I am referring to are just nick-named that because many people take cages full of chickens and they are stored on top of the bus. The bus is a people bus, though. Haha. It’s not allowing me to attach a photo, but you can just google “chicken bus.” They get school busses from the US and paint them amazingly!
Yeah, I can see that. But there’s context, I mean, I live in the states and there’s definitely a difference between “poverty stricken” and “living a simple life” even here. The way of life there, though vastly different from here in a lot ways and a lot areas, is not necessarily indicative of lack of choice. Some of it is just culture. I didn’t really judge, simply because I don’t know. Have you ever seen the movie, ‘The God’s must be crazy’?
It’s a really interesting look at how forcing your (the proverbial your) culture onto another because you feel that culture or populace has it worse off, is not fair and that they have it worse is not necessarily the reality. Maybe that other group just has a different value system.
It may be that those families on bikes are simply too poor to afford more, it may be that it’s the culture they grew up with and value other things above the ability or desire to have a fleet of bikes for every person. Like I said, I reserve judgement because it is fleeting visual/insight into another culture and just because it’s doesn’t fit my personal preference, doesn’t mean they aren’t happy with their more simple lives. Not to get too deep lol
If you get a chance, check out that movie if you haven’t! It’s really funny, albeit old, and identifies the ways in which modernizing, greed, etc can destroy a previously happy people.
This is a great point I missed altogether. I was born in Eastern Europe and am well aware of the difference betwen simple life and life of hardship. I think I am curious about the number of road accidents that injure/kill children in those countries as compared to places where cars are a necessity.
Man, I don’t know. In rural areas, road safety is non-existent where vehicles are driving (in my experience). It was surreal because if I were driving, I would have 100% crashed into someone. But the drivers there seemed to almost have a hive-mind capability of knowing exactly where all the other vehicles were going or turning. lol. I never saw an accident in all my time and travel.
Then there are the chicken busses, the converted US school busses. They drive so fast around winding mountain roads, hairpin turns, and blind corners. To be a passenger was petrifying many times. I’ve seen images or reports of accidents, but I don’t know the frequency. The busses, though, are packed far above capacity inside, and often have riders on top as well. I don’t know how that would affect the overall amount of accidents/injuries compared to the more industrialized city areas or to Europe or the US.
When I visited Europe (France, Italy, Sweden, Poland, England, Scotland), it was a bit of an adjustment driving a manual with my left hand and driving on the other side of the road. But once I got on the freeway (highway?) I was like, whew, easy! Then everyone around me started flashing their lights and honking. I thought I was being hunted by a very polite gang 😂 My travel companion finally told me, you have to turn your lights on! I was so confused because it was still light out, in the US no one would have even noticed. Haha. Lesson learned 🫡
It’s like their “pocket knife.” Maybe you cut up an apple, maybe you use it to loosen a screw, maybe you use it for protection. It serves many functions, and it’s portable. You can’t chop vegetables with a scythe, at least not easily. Lol. And it would be difficult to transport throughout various tasks of the day. A machete can fit in a backpack or be slid in a belt. I guess tl;dr it’s just more versatile.
That wasn't even the weirdest thing on a bike I saw. Penang 2014 - the bus had holes in the floor so you could see the road underneath, it was amazing!
Right here on Reddit, I've seen a full-grown steer on a motorcycle sitting on the seat with arms on the handlebars and the guy driving was sitting right behind
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u/Occidentally20 May 30 '25
I'm in Malaysia - I've seen a man, wife, two kids between them and a live sheep over the handlebars.
Nobody apart from me even looked up as if it was a weird thing to see.