High on the list of drawbacks incurred in depending solely on a motorbike for transportation, especially at the present time of year in Bali, is the necessity of wearing a helmet. Well, it's not necessarily necessary. Often enough one will see people not doing so, especially in areas where there are no police posts. But it's prudent, in any case, police or no police, because falling off and hitting one's head on the pavement would at the very least be not cool, and, worse, might well be fatal. So I wear a helmet, unless I'm just going a block or two to the local market or laundry.
The thing about a helmet, especially as the season turns from hot to hellishly hot, is that the thing functions sort of like a pressure cooker. Even after a fairly short journey, one undoes his chin strap and releases a cloud of steam. His head will be dripping with sweat, and, I think, will have shrunk a hat size or two. Whether the brain undergoes a commensurate shrinkage, I am not sure. Of course, the foamy inside of the helmet will have become like a sponge dipped in warm water, and will remain so for the duration of the season, or until you buy a new helmet. It will also take on, over time, a rather pungent, rather offensive odor, which of course transfers to one's hair and skin through the daily applications of the helmet to the head.
Also high on the list of drawbacks is rain. In this case, the helmet is more blessing than bane, as it will keep your head and some of your face out of the rain, though this affords little comfort, given that the remainder of one's body and clothing will be submerged. We have here long vinyl smocks that extend from the shoulders to below the knees; but the smocks themselves are problematic, in that you have to pull to the side of the road to retrieve the smock from your seat compartment in order to climb into the tent-like protection of the smock, fasten the buttons and what-not, and by the time you do that, you will have already become fairly soggy. Moreover, the rain finds ingenious ways of entering any and every open space, from above, from below, and from the sides. The smock is more of a fashion statement than an effective measure against the rain, I suppose.
So, I consider these less than delightful realities as we prepare to enter the rainy season, which is also the hot season. At least we get them both out of the way at the same time. And though I complain about the drawbacks, I still generally prefer the motorbike to a car (which is good, because I don't have a car). Sure, you have AC in the car, and sure, you stay dry in the car--but it also takes you at least twice as long to get anywhere than it does on a bike. In a car, you can spend the better part of your day getting somewhere and back, whereas on the motorbike you zip along around the cars and between the cars and, where possible, under the cars, and Bob's yer uncle! (Which, in British slang, means 'you're all set').
And on those very rare days when the rain is constant--well, that's what the internet and movie channels are for.
The thing about a helmet, especially as the season turns from hot to hellishly hot, is that the thing functions sort of like a pressure cooker. Even after a fairly short journey, one undoes his chin strap and releases a cloud of steam. His head will be dripping with sweat, and, I think, will have shrunk a hat size or two. Whether the brain undergoes a commensurate shrinkage, I am not sure. Of course, the foamy inside of the helmet will have become like a sponge dipped in warm water, and will remain so for the duration of the season, or until you buy a new helmet. It will also take on, over time, a rather pungent, rather offensive odor, which of course transfers to one's hair and skin through the daily applications of the helmet to the head.
Also high on the list of drawbacks is rain. In this case, the helmet is more blessing than bane, as it will keep your head and some of your face out of the rain, though this affords little comfort, given that the remainder of one's body and clothing will be submerged. We have here long vinyl smocks that extend from the shoulders to below the knees; but the smocks themselves are problematic, in that you have to pull to the side of the road to retrieve the smock from your seat compartment in order to climb into the tent-like protection of the smock, fasten the buttons and what-not, and by the time you do that, you will have already become fairly soggy. Moreover, the rain finds ingenious ways of entering any and every open space, from above, from below, and from the sides. The smock is more of a fashion statement than an effective measure against the rain, I suppose.
So, I consider these less than delightful realities as we prepare to enter the rainy season, which is also the hot season. At least we get them both out of the way at the same time. And though I complain about the drawbacks, I still generally prefer the motorbike to a car (which is good, because I don't have a car). Sure, you have AC in the car, and sure, you stay dry in the car--but it also takes you at least twice as long to get anywhere than it does on a bike. In a car, you can spend the better part of your day getting somewhere and back, whereas on the motorbike you zip along around the cars and between the cars and, where possible, under the cars, and Bob's yer uncle! (Which, in British slang, means 'you're all set').
And on those very rare days when the rain is constant--well, that's what the internet and movie channels are for.
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