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Published: January 26th 2009
Hauling Goods
There is a three wheeled moped (triped?) under there. Sasha is everywhere.
The all purpose scooter, the indomitable moped. Americans have their Cadillac Escalades with pimped out rims and Vietnamese have their Vespas. It is the status symbol of their culture. You have a scooter and you have everything you need.
People sleep on their scooters, work on their scooters, transport goods on the scooters, cook on their scooters, text on their scooters and I am sure that they even manage to pray on their scooters. At least I would as I crossed every intersection.
In the world of traffic back home, we have rules and regulations. Here in Ho Chi Minh City, the government decided that the rules weren't important. Instead they just mandated that everyone wear a helmet (a 4 dollar helmet). Even this rule was created recently and probably done so in an attempt to pacify the worriers. There are roughly 13000 deaths a year are due to vehicle accidents.
With no rules or regulations, stoplights are optional, cutting through 100 on-coming moped drivers just so you can transport your lucky tree (Vietnamese Tet is January 25th) home quicker is a commonplace and accepted way of driving. Basically driving comes down to the
Traffic
Who has the green light? size of your horn! Whoever has the loudest and most commanding horn assumes the right away. The bigger the vehicle, the bigger the horn. The key is to use it non-stop. Horns tell people to move out of the way. It screams at mopeds to get on the proper side of the road or else deal with getting creamed by a truck. Horns also bleat out warnings that you are turning across a 6 lane road in the opposite direction. The horn rules. Unfortunately the horn is also a way to say hello, flag down tourists, and I believe it is sometimes used out of habit. If I could recommend one thing to anyone who wishes to drive in Vietnam it would be the use of the horn. Hit it every other second and you will fit in just fine. As long as you can dodge millions of mopeds, flying buses and the occasional truck in the blink of an eye.
I have had the true Vietnamese welcome by seeing an accident on each of the first three days of my trip. It apparently isn't a big deal as cops aren't involved, there is minimal shouting and people are
on their way. I even witnessed and elderly lady scrape herself off the pavement. She simply put a little ice from a generous bystander on her bruised cheek and grabbed another moto to take her to her final destination.
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Josh
non-member comment
I guess getting locked in a bathroom is much better than getting locked out of one! I hope you brought a magazine to read, maybe next time you should bring a lock picking "how to" book.