Arrival in Vietnam: Oh the Traffic!

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Umm, where's the lollypop lady?

Our man from the hotel was waiting for us with my name written in large red letters on a piece of cardboard. He swiftly had us bundled into his large modern wagon and on the way to central Ho Chi Minh. We moved into the traffic and were immediately sucked into a snowstorm of whizzing, zooming, buzzing motorcycles and scooters swirling around us. Roads are dominated by these two wheelers; the side of the road nearest the pavement is their territory. Vietnamese drive on the right, and when a car wants to turn right, the driver indicates this by honking the horn while slowly moving into the flow of mopeds. It is up to them to get out of the way. When the driver wants to turn left, across the traffic, the driver honks on the horn while slowly moving into the path of oncoming traffic that may or may not stop for it. The bigger vehicle has the right of way. At roundabouts there is a sea of two wheelers parting in either direction before our honking vehicle, making us feel like we are riding with the Moses of traffic. Veering slowly across the roads and honking the horn are the two indispensable rules of driving in Vietnam. Looking in your review mirrors is not. After all, if somebody was behind you they would use the horn to let you know, wouldn’t they? Common sense!

Crossing the road can only be compared to ye olde 18th Century pirates punishment known as ‘walking the plank’. ‘Cross’ is not an adequate description for what actually happens when a road lies between the point where the pedestrian stands and the desired destination. You are confronted with a continuous stream of mopeds moving at 30+ kmph, with no visible gaps in the flow. The technique is to walk slowly into the stream at such a pace that the motorcyclists can avoid you, while glaring at them, challenging them to go around you rather than through you. They will take advantage of any weakness you show and you may never get across the road unless you display the necessary strength of will. This isn't 'cross the road', its more like 'merge with traffic'.

The most dangerous point is somewhere around the poorly defined ‘middle’ of the road, where you might be shanghaied from either direction. The first time for us, an old woman, taking pity on our dithering on the edge of the footpath, grabbed Sohyun’s arm and led us across, otherwise we might never have clued on. As you gain experience you get cocky and start bragging about the roads you have crossed. “Oh boy, it was four lanes of traffic in both directions, had to really work it, but it only took me 12 minutes”.

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Photos

Ho Chi Minh Traffic
Light traffic in Ho Chi Minh. You can see some fine examples of 'bikes as light trucks' and 'bikes as mass transport'

Confused Traffic
A minor example of traffic at a roundabout. It gets much more interesting if you are in a taxi at rush hour.

Hanoi Traffic
Fancy crossing a street like this? I did!
The first step is the worst.