Vietnam Driving!!!

I recall those long ago days when we all sat in those driver’s ed classes and the teacher let us know that absolute chaos and no end of accidents would occur if we didn’t follow the rules and stop at traffic lights, yield, watch right of way etc. Well….I’m letting you know that the teacher was at least partially wrong. The chaos part is true but the accidents…well...somehow, in Vietnam, through the chaos…they are avoided.
I recall talking about driving in Japan. Let me tell you, Japan is a piece of cake with the icing. It’s fabulous. Vietnam is…well…different. First, there are about 500 motorbikes, 100 bikes and 50 cars in any given mile of road. The motorbikes have one person on them, two people, up to 4 people, the family dog, the kids sandwiched in between the parents or friends, kids reading books and kids still in diapers. They also talk to each other constantly. You can see 2 or 3 or 4 motorbikes pacing and the people carrying on a conversation – in the midst of all the other bikes. They are dressed in jeans, ao dai’s (the traditional dress in Vietnam), slacks, dresses, in elegant dresses and suits. And they are carrying…..EVERYTHING! We saw ladders, boxes, ice, fruit, veggies, a computer monitor, a small refrigerator, a crate of chickens, baskets with who knows what inside, baskets of herbs, trash and beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.
Now…the driving. It is called “driving by the horn”. If you want to do anything, you honk your horn. It seems to be a form of conversation. The motorbikes go wherever they want…cut around the cars, cut in front, cut behind, cut around the other motorbikes, turn left, right, from whatever lane…if you honk your horn it’s ok. Lights are definitely suggestions only and they definitely seem to be ignored the majority of the time. The traffic is interlaced constantly with the people coming in from both directions, crossing, turning or whatever. They also have huge traffic circles, just to make life a little more interesting. Those are really wicked!
And then comes the fun part…pedestrians get to cross the street in the middle of all of this. You just look at the bikes coming down towards you to your left – they at least drive on the right side of the road – when they think of it anyway. You watch until there’s a bit of a break in the crowd, they’re still coming towards you, there’s just not so many of them. You step out and start walking, you don’t stop, you just watch them come and they flow around you, some behind, some ahead but they do it. You continue, now looking to the right and watching for the ‘lull’. Sometimes you stand in the middle of the road with vehicles flowing around you but eventually there’s a space to step into and you do it. Whatever you do, you never speed up or suddenly stop. They are judging your pace and adjusting accordingly and with so many coming at you they’re all adjusting at the same time – you just have to hope they’re watching each other also and not watching the cute girl on the bike they just passed.
I’ve decided Japan has wonderful, clear, elegant, easy to navigate roads.