A xe om ( say ohm) is a motor bike taxi in Vietnam. Men sit on their bikes at every corner offering their services as a driver. Mr Ting sits at a corner very close to my apartment. He's the preferred provider and used by every one who lives inside my apartment complex and has been doing so since the apartment complex was new 10 years ago. So collectively we provide him with quite a lot of trade.
This weekend I have had 2 occasions to call on Mr Ting's services, once on Friday and once on Sunday. Fridays night drive was a spur of the moment decision through rush hour at about 5:30 pm into the centre of the city to take in my aoi dao for an alteration. The return journey was most interesting. We probably spent more time riding along the pavements than on the road. Motorbikes think nothing of mounting the kerb, riding along and then dropping back onto the road again. This is especially prevalent and obvious during rush hour when there are huge banks of bikes waiting to move forward. Pedestrians just seem to step aside. It all works harmoniously and the trip was completed in quick time, very safely and probably a tick in the health spectrum too. Sitting behind or close to a diesel spluttering bus is no joke.
On Sunday afternoon coming back from the pool, the bike suddenly slows down and Mr Ting pulls into a side street and asks me to get off. We have run out of gas. From the front of his bike he unhooks a plastic bag, takes out a small coca cola bottle and adds the contents, petrol, to his tank, back on the bike and home. Now I understand exactly what the orange light on his bike means. Im staggered to say its glowing orange most of the time I ride with him. Each trip I take we are approx 335ml away from an empty tank. Petrol here costs 7000 VND a motorbike tank. I can't speculate if thats expensive or not. I can speculate about the safety of having a coke bottle of fuel tied to the front of the bike, when you sit on it or around it all day and smoke. Hmm not such a good practice.
This weekend I have had 2 occasions to call on Mr Ting's services, once on Friday and once on Sunday. Fridays night drive was a spur of the moment decision through rush hour at about 5:30 pm into the centre of the city to take in my aoi dao for an alteration. The return journey was most interesting. We probably spent more time riding along the pavements than on the road. Motorbikes think nothing of mounting the kerb, riding along and then dropping back onto the road again. This is especially prevalent and obvious during rush hour when there are huge banks of bikes waiting to move forward. Pedestrians just seem to step aside. It all works harmoniously and the trip was completed in quick time, very safely and probably a tick in the health spectrum too. Sitting behind or close to a diesel spluttering bus is no joke.
On Sunday afternoon coming back from the pool, the bike suddenly slows down and Mr Ting pulls into a side street and asks me to get off. We have run out of gas. From the front of his bike he unhooks a plastic bag, takes out a small coca cola bottle and adds the contents, petrol, to his tank, back on the bike and home. Now I understand exactly what the orange light on his bike means. Im staggered to say its glowing orange most of the time I ride with him. Each trip I take we are approx 335ml away from an empty tank. Petrol here costs 7000 VND a motorbike tank. I can't speculate if thats expensive or not. I can speculate about the safety of having a coke bottle of fuel tied to the front of the bike, when you sit on it or around it all day and smoke. Hmm not such a good practice.
1 comment:
Ones takes their life in their hands!
What exciting things you do, Jocelyn
Post a Comment