How different can riding in Malaysia be? Tarred roads, riding on the left-hand side of the road... There are many similarities, but the differences became obvious to us the minute our tyres hit the road. How different can riding in Malaysia be? Tarred roads, riding on the left-hand side of the road... There are many similarities, but the differences became obvious to us the minute our tyres hit the road. The notion of personal space is very culturally-determined. I know I really like my space and can sometimes feel "crowded" in Asia. So this notion of sharing "my space" on the road was challenged immediately when a biker revved up and rode alongside me before continuing to weave his way on through the traffic. Now we know to expect any space to the side, in front or behind us to be utilized by any form of traffic! Startled, when a car sidled up alonside us, at some traffic lights near Shah Alam, our immediate reaction was to shoot a glaring look at this driver. But when we turned to the car, the faces of all the occupants were beaming and hands were waving frantically! Made us think about how people can view things so differently!

The idea of lanes is quite a fixed notion in Australia, but rather arbitrary here. Lonely Planet refers to the invisible third lane on a two-lane road. That's exactly it. Straddling the dotted line simply creates a third lane! How simple and how space-effective! This flexibility continues with all aspects of road use: one way streets are one-way...sometimes. And we asked a local Melaccan girl, Carol, about the pedestrian crossing lines as we didn't entirely trust that they would operate the same way as we thought they should! "Do cars have to stop here for people to cross?" we asked. "Yes" she replied "Must stop." And after a pause she added "But sometimes don't".

We have adapted to the flow and "road rules" of Malaysian traffic; but their riding style is unique - to be a local you must wear your helmet with the straps undone and flapping in the breeze, wear as little clothing as possible except for a long-sleeved coat worn back-to-front (to protect the arms from sunburn) and you need to be texting on your mobile at the same time as you are riding! We would certainly need more time to master this style and dexterity!