He had a red helmet with a sticker of a blonde cartoon doll on the back. "Transport? Transport?" he asked. It was just after noon and I was walking along the side of the road towards an intersection to get a taxi. I wanted to pick up some souvenirs before leaving Bali, maybe an interesting ashtray or T-shirt.
The young man, in his late twenties, kept alongside me, saying "transport" in the shy butchered English that all motorbike jockeys know. In Southeast Asia, men hang around sidewalks hoping to get a fare from a tourist, and in many cases the few dollars they earn from that one ride is the only money they get all day. I rode motorbike taxis to work all the time when I taught English in Bangkok, sometimes side-saddle and in heels. So I thought nothing of hopping on the back of this guy's motorbike to beat the traffic to Kuta in southern Bali.
Read the whole article: IT HAPPENED TO ME: I Was Almost Abducted While Traveling | xoJane
The young man, in his late twenties, kept alongside me, saying "transport" in the shy butchered English that all motorbike jockeys know. In Southeast Asia, men hang around sidewalks hoping to get a fare from a tourist, and in many cases the few dollars they earn from that one ride is the only money they get all day. I rode motorbike taxis to work all the time when I taught English in Bangkok, sometimes side-saddle and in heels. So I thought nothing of hopping on the back of this guy's motorbike to beat the traffic to Kuta in southern Bali.
Read the whole article: IT HAPPENED TO ME: I Was Almost Abducted While Traveling | xoJane