Helmets

  Motorbikes or mopeds are easy to hire and cheap. The extra mobility will intensify your holiday experience and save many arguments with rickshaw drivers. If you are visiting Goa, you can explore the unspoilt inland villages, tucked away coastal communities and whitewashed Catholic churches - that is: the real Goa that exists just a few miles away from your hotel. In Benaulim for example, there are excellent rooms and apartments for rent about a mile or two inland, but without a personal vehicle these are too inconveniently located to enjoy. 

   Helmets are optional in India, and even in states where their use is enforced by law, they still seem optional. The people that will rent you a two-wheeled vehicle will probably offer no helmets at all, or if they do, they will probably be too small (Indians have smaller heads) or will be of an unusual design which looks completely preposterous once perched upon your head - it might even be a construction-site hardhat! Rather than look like Mr. Bean, you will probably opt to feel the thrill of the wind in your hair – and I wouldn’t blame you. The effect on your local beachcred would be horrendous.  

  Taking a cool full-faced motorbike helmet would probably be an excessive addition to your baggage, but a high quality stylish cycling helmet with fancy colours and design flourishes, wouldn’t. No helmet can offer 100% guaranteed protection, and a cycling helmet is not recommended for a two-wheeled motorised vehicle - but it’s significantly better than nothing – or a construction-site hardhat. 

  The helmet should be close fitting all the way round. Small gaps can be filled using the soft foam pads generally supplied. Basic bicycle helmets are pretty cheap, as they are manufactured from expanded foam polystyrene - similar to the type of stuff disposable coffee cups are made from. This material is easy to dent by crushing as it contains millions of microscopic air pockets. The process of crushing absorbs the energy of the impact. It is worth bearing in mind that your head is the often the first part of your body to make impact during a crash. Your brain can also dent and absorb energy during impact, but expanded foam polystyrene is better.

  If you don’t need it back home, on your last day you might want to give it away to a friendly helmetless Indian with a bike – you might save a life.