There are over two million scooters teeming through the streets of Vietnam’s largest City, and they are an attraction in their own right.
Totally mesmerizing to watch, they buzz about their business, inches apart; streaming down avenues, weaving, wending, intertwining their way across town and performing hair’s breadth manoeuvres at every cross-road. Young women wearing peaked helmets sit straight-backed at the traffic lights. Families ride pillion – four up plus baby. A wardrobe passes by. The blasting of horns and the screech of brakes is constant, the air is fume-filled and the traffic relentless. But it’s fascinating.
As captivating as it is to watch if you want to see some of the city you’re going to have to step into this moving chaos and cross a road or two – not least because there’s not always room on the pavements for pedestrians. That’s where the scooters park.
There is a technique to crossing the road and I’ve got to admit the first time I did it was terrifying; but if we’d waited for a break in the traffic we’d have waited all day. So when you’ve mustered the courage, pick your moment and step off the pavement and cross at a slow, steady pace until
you reach the other side – oh and remember to breathe. Motorcyclists will try to negotiate pedestrians and they’ll pace themselves to avoid you; as long as you don’t step backwards, stop or make any unexpected movements that is. Always look both ways – even in a one-way street the traffic travels in both directions. If you’re lucky enough to find some traffic lights don’t cross at the last-minute – the scooters will hit the gas about five seconds before the lights change to green. Pedestrian crossings? – We didn’t find any where the traffic actually stopped.
Finally, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em – we had a mini tour of the city to experience the traffic from the streets – riding pillion or Xe Om as it’s known locally. Here’s my You Tube clip – I’m not an expert at filming footage from the back of a bike but it’ll give you an idea and the grin on our friend Bobby’s face is priceless…
Hi! I just read this blog. I remembered my December trip last year and crossing the streets was crazy! The moment you pass over, there’s no turning back. That’s what made it more exciting.
It’s mad – I realised after a while that I was holding my breath each time I crossed – and breathing a hugh sigh of relief when I reached the other side!
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Times have changed…before it was bicycles, now it is motorcycles.
I’d love to have seen it before motorcycles
Our daughter just returned from Vietnam with similar stories
I hope your daughter loved it as much as we did – the traffic is unbelievable…
I’ve never been to Ho Chi Minh city but seen similar motorcycle madness in Bangkok – crazy stuff, definitely interesting to watch.
If you find a rooftop bar you could spent all evening just watching the traffic – you couldn’t choreograph it!
I loved the video. We were much to sensible to go pillion on a scooter, but walking was ‘fun’.
Thank you – the scooter ride was one of the highlights and we all loved it. Makes me smile now just thinking about it!
Wonderful blog. The best advice I received before visiting Ho Chi Minh was to close your eyes and cross the road (in theory this would work, in practice it is not advisable!)
Glad to hear you like the blog, thank you. Gotta say my heart was in my mouth – I did try to take some video but needed to concentrate on crossing too much…
Motorcycle madness is certainly an appropriate title! I’ve often described Saigon traffic to others as a sea of scooters
That’s appropriate too – when you watch them go around corners they do sort of flow…
Well it’s definitely possible cos you guys all made it! Happy days..
It did get a bit hairy at times – I realised I’d been holding my breath until I’d got to safety on the other side!
I remember my first day in Hanoi – I dreaded crossing any road, but after a week I didn’t care. I found it best to look down, walk fast and hope for the best.
I’d forgotten how scary it is stepping onto the road for the first time but you’re right you do get used to it.
The traffic was bad there when I went back in 2003 and looks even worse now – our way of crossing the road was to lurk near a local and follow them when they crossed, usually worked pretty well!
Lurking’s a great plan Lucy – if I go back I’ll definitely use that one!