proper motorbike attire

this morning on our daily commute, i was looking around at what the others were wearing and laughing to myself. often, i think about the fact that as a ride around in my shorts and tank tops, that if we got in an accident, i would be ground beef! imagine the state of my legs...or don't! yuck! oh and don't tell my mom! :)

so, today as we rode the 15 minutes to work, i was laughing because here i am wearing a dress that has no sleeves and covers none of my legs once i'm on the bike, and the locals look like they are ready for winter! you may think (or hope) that it is so they don't turn into ground beef in an accident, but it's not. they cover up - from head to toe - so that they don't get any sun! they wear long pants, hoodies, hats, long gloves, and my favourite - face diapers! ok so maybe they aren't face diapers but they are these gigantic masks that cover pretty much everything but their eyes! i don't know how safe that actually is...the good news is i am actually acquiring a nice little tan from the bike rides to and from school and my sandal tan is looking quite nice!

the other thought that i have about motorbike attire is about helmets. did you know that most helmets in vietnam cost LESS than a baseball cap? don't worry - kelly and i had to buy expensive ones that were big enough to fit our "western" sized heads! i would also like to point out that i do not believe that HARD HATS without straps qualify as helmets? what do you think?? cause some people here think that they will do just fine....hmmm....not sure about that one. but hey who says you need to even wear a helmet??? THE LAW that's who! but that doesn't mean a whole lot to some people. so strange.

but don't worry about me. i have a very good driver! and i wear a proper helmet! and i actually really like going on the bike now. it was scary at first but it gives us so much freedom and even though it's crazy at times, it makes us realize just how lucky we are to be experiencing and seeing what we are experiencing and seeing here.

saigon traffic (downtown)

more traffic (N.B. face diaper and lack of helmets above)