Hello everyone! I can not rest until I make my final commentary on transportation in SE Asia. Given that I am always evaluating and critiquing each available situation as the Virgo mind is want to do, I am amazed and a little bit disappointed all together on this topic of transportation. After witnessing here in all of my travels how efficiently a family of five can get from point A to point B on a moto (scooter) and suffering through the gas hike of last year I really want all Americans to do just a little more. Get rid of your minivan and suburban and just get a moto. Soccer mom? No problem! I have continually witnessed and have photos to document that a mother and father and three children can safely ride on a moto together. AND the baby can be breastfeeding at the same time.
Ok, just a minute, this is a HUGE non-linear thought here...but yesterday as we were making it back to Phnom Pen on the bus Will had the very interesting experience of being peed on by a cute little one to two month old Cambodian baby. He did not appear to be amused. When the baby and the mom boarded the bus and sat next to us I did not think a second thought about the fact that the baby did not have diaper on, the only thought that registered was that it was definatelely a boy and that was about it. The boy was also attached to his mom's boob and was sucking away. Another nice things about this culture...no need to hide your breasts....they are for feeding your children! Anyway, in the heat of the day and with my hangover I was kind of in and out of sweaty sleep leaning against the window. I woke up at some point and looked at Will ( he had the most amazing ability to sleep in any situation that I am jealous of...) and he looked back at me with a funny face. We took off our head phones and he leaned toward me and said the baby had just peed on him. He was reaching into his bag and getting hand sanitizer out....Somewhere in the back of my mind I swear there is video footage of him doing the same thing when he is about the same age...it's what every boy does when they are not covered up...which made me think about the actual utility of the diaper.
Anyway, back to the commentary about transportation. If you do not have a family of five and you find you are just a single person, you can fit three of your mates on the moto. There is no reason that three adults can not fit in the seat of a scooter. I think with global warming and the intemperate price of gas we all owe it to ourselves and our children to make the conversion to this fine form of transportation.
Finally I want to give a shout out to my father, Jim Burch, who, in my opinion understood this at an early age and finding himself the father of five children, he did not go out and buy a van or a station wagon as was popular back in the early to mid seventies. He bought an El Camino and we all fit easily into that car...er....truck whatever it is classified as. I think he would be impressed by the fact that tomorrow Will and I are going to earn our traveler stripes and rent our own moto in this crazy busy city of Ho Chi Min. But first we will be heading to the first pagoda we can find to pay a little homage for sage travel in this seductive sprawling city.
Until next time...
willandCODY
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