At the Mercy of Others

Wednesday, December 2 - We were quickly reminded that one of the drawbacks of travelling is having to rely on others for transportation. We’re used to taking ourselves wherever we need to go, so having to put our lives in the hands of others – people who have valid driver’s licenses in the countries we visit – can be a bit hair-raising.

We had to rely on Junkii’s brother to drive us from Kuala Lumpur airport to Ipoh. Well, not only was he late coming to get us (like 40 minutes late) but he had Junkii and I on the edges of our seats the whole way home. We’re used to driving above the speed limit, but this was giving interstellar travel a run for its money.

While we have our share of bad drivers in Ottawa, we take for granted the fact that, for the most part, people actually follow the traffic rules.

It doesn’t help that the other drivers in Malaysia don’t seem to pay attention at all to how close they are to each other. I daresay that if anyone actually had to brake quickly there would be a huge pileup. But what also doesn’t help is having Junkii in the seat behind me sucking in air every time we pass too close to another driver and shouting “Watch out!” any time a motorcycle cuts us off. I get where he’s coming from, but we have to remember that this is just how traffic works in this country.

Maybe the best approach is just to avoid watching the traffic and keep our eyes closed. Whatever the answer, we WILL have to try something to keep our stress levels down. After all, it’s not likely to get any better in Vietnam.