Cars and Transport

Here in Malaysia there is a bus system but it is nothing like what we have in say: Chicago or New York. From my understanding each bus has a certain route and the number and color stripe of the bus defines where it is going. We all have yet to master the knowledge of which bus goes where and approximately what time it will go by a stop. There aren't any set times or a list available for this. It seems that most people have their own car and prefer to drive everywhere. Very few people that we have met walk and when they hear we walk places they ask: "Why?" Seriously, I love to walk and going on a 20 min walk/hike to the store is peaceful. Ok, so onto the cars.

From what I have seen and asked about the main car used throughout Malaysia is Toyota. Youth here can get their license at the age of 17 and the process for that is similar to the US. They take a course in class, practice behind the wheel and then take a drivers test. The main differences I have spotted in cars here to the US are:

1) Most cars are stick shift and you have to specially order an automatic if you want it. (That is what I was told)

2) The steering is on the right side of the car (so confusing at first)

3) They drive on the left side of the road. Basically it is the opposite of what we do in the US.

4) The kids aren't required to be buckled up here. Most of the time I see them standing up in the back-seat staring out the window.

5) Parking is crazy and a lot of the time cars are double parked. (I'm still not sure how the person in front navigates their car out when they are ready to leave.)

6) One of the main road features when driving are turnarounds and U-turn spots.

7) SUV are the preferred vehicle

8) The driving style is very different and I'm not sure how to describe.

That is all I can think of at the moment but I may update this post as time goes on. The pictures above show how they transport horses here. These pics are of the same truck, they were hauling four horses. I've seen this numerous times so far and every time these trucks go by it makes me laugh.