“Bikes of Burden” image collection

The image below is very third world. We find it amusing, but it does reflect the economic conditions of the people in a country. The shot was taken in Vietnam. Though seeing something like it won’t be very unusual here in the Philippines, such an image is commonplace in the neighboring Vietnam where there are a few cars and more than 5 million motorcycles!

But the Philippines is on the way of being a motorcycle country too like China, India & Vietnam. With the rising price of gas, the steady increase of fares in public transportation, and the affordability of motorcycles (installment terms go as low as P1000+ per month); any minimum wage earner could now afford to have one. The downside is a lot are hopping onto one without the proper know-how or awareness on how to be a responsible rider hence the increase in motorcycle-related accidents in the past four years as reported by MMDA (there were 2,092 accidents with 51 fatalities in Metro Manila alone just from Jan-May 2006). But I digress, so let’s go back to these photographs.

Here’s a sample.

good thing he’s riding automatic! hehehe.

That one’s a gate in what I assume is made of wrought iron. You can just imagine what else they can carry on two wheels? The succeeding images have these bikes of burden carrying anything from multiple passengers, livestock, trays of eggs, construction materials, and even a shark! But what takes the cake for me is the one carrying a mirror for delivery in a barbershop. Take a look at these other fascinating images of riders.

Konting usog pa! Pituhan yan!

is he still on the seat?

you can’t sell cassette tapes without a boom box!

look closely at his footwear and see how popular those are among other Vietnamese riders

Bird Flu in motion! haha!

fowl odor in motion!

the photographer said that’s a shark!

if this were in the Philippines, this could be Navotas…

and this could be Divisoria…

… while this could be in Dimasalang!

if you don’t find that cool, I don’t know what will!

here’s that famous sandals again. How many have you spotted so far?

You don’t want to be beside this guy when he makes a turn… hehehe.

these little piggies went to market…

Add one more hoop and he can’t reach the handlebars! hahaha!

this one carries various local munchies and delicacies

he’s got bottles for backrest!

those are dogs and they’re headed to the butcher!

who needs a school bus?

riding high school girls wearing their typical plain white ao dai to school

this is a 2-door sccoter…

… this one’s a 4-wheel drive! hahaha!

Here’s my favorite! Rear view of motorcycle-landia!

There are a more photos where these came from… make it 100+ more! The photos are by Hans Kemp, a Dutch photographer who took these images by backriding on a hired motorbike taxi (xe om) while holding and pointing his camera to his moving subjects. He compiled some pictures of Vietnamese riders in a book called “Bikes of Burden.” This photo book is described as “a tribute to the Vietnamese motorcycles and the drivers as the backbone of the Vietnamese economy.” The author observed that: “it seems that every household in Vietnam has at least one bike. In the city, narrow streets and traffic congestion make the bike by far the fastest way of transporting people and goods around.” The title is available at Amazon.com.

Third world rocks!

-o-
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J0HNRANA

john[dot]rana[at]gmail[dot]com