Riding in Vietnam
 

Just returned from two weeks of riding around Rach Gia and Phu Quoc (southern Vietnam) and think, maybe, I have cracked the code for riding in urban areas of Vietnam.

Think of it as a slalom course, where not only are all competitors on the course at the same time, but the flag poles are constantly moving (everyone is a flag pole on the course)!

Cheers

John

Hi John,

Yes, a good notation.

Actually it all works quite well.
we both rode around Hanoi for a few days, then out to Cat Ba on the ferry, then back, an all the way south to Saigon for a few days.

A month on the roads, had us both riding like locals.

vette

Sounds good. A bit like Cambodia except it is two way traffic in a one way slalom course!!!!

riding in Vietnam
 

Hi there! I just spent a week in Hanoi where I drove around in a scooter.
Bike to car ratio is more or less 50/1. As time passed I also started "getting" the rules: everyone is inside his own bubble and only seems to care for himself. All wear helmet and most are busy on the phone: doing calls or texting. A large number carries the oddest things on the bike: from the entire family (like 5 members) to living animals, 20 ft. long steel tubes or pieces of furniture.... the most interesting thing I observed is that all drivers seem to have simultaneous reactions to things constantly happening on the streets, as if being part of a pack or a flock. If a car suddenly stops in the middle of the street the motorbike flow splits in two, drives around the obstacle to rejoin some meters ahead. There are no arguments, nor cursing, nor getting mad.
Traffic lights seem to be there "just in case" as reactions to red lights are quite variable: some stop during the whole lengt of the red light, others only during a fraction of it (... and dive at full speed into the crossing traffic), the rest dont care at all... It is really a very well organized chaos!:thumbup1:

.
This is what we must learn in Europe.

I have lived in China for getting on for 4 years now.
It all seems so very natural "being part of a pack or a flock"

vette

sounds more civilized than west timor... in my first 2 hours across the boarder, 3 times i cruised around a corner to have facing me a truck or a bus overtaking on the wrong side completely blind, leaving me nowhere to go but off to the rough stuff on the left.
I will admit though, it was weirdly enjoyable... must be the adrenaline.