When you go to Vietnam, the first adjustment you’ll need to make is to the traffic. A lot of people freak out about crossing the street here with all the scooters zooming past. As I discovered as early as the first day, through my acute powers of observation, dramatically enhanced by a somewhat understandable desire for survival, managing this is no big deal if you strictly follow a few rules:
Before and during crossing, look BOTH ways, regardless if you are on a one-way street or crossing on a green light. Scooters may come at you from every direction, at any time. In fact, develop the skill to look in all directions at once - it’s surprisingly easy.
Once you start crossing, walk forward slowly and consistently, without changing pace, stopping, or heading back.
Look at the incoming cars and scooters to acknowledge you’ve seen them and to give yourself the illusion of protective bubbling. Leave it to them to adjust and pass you on your left or on your right - you don’t manage this for them, they will do it.
DO NOT go back or run forward suddenly - sharp illogical movement is the only way you can get in trouble
If you see white people (or, God forbid, blonde white women specifically, sorry ladies!) coming your way on scooters, abandon all trust in the above rules immediately, panic, and save yourself in any improvised way!
You will master this quickly, hopefully with limited stress and inevitable “exceptions.”
Now, when it comes to riding scooters, I’m not brave enough to do it myself. I like to have an occasional beer now and then during daytime trekking, but that’s not the reason - I just don’t want the hassle of dealing with the system.
However, I’ve made it a point to ride on many scooters early and often - the Vietnamese Uber called Grab offers you the choice of car or scooter on routes, and I opt for scooter for anything under 15 minutes. I do this to study the logic - and grace, I’m serious! - of Vietnamese traffic.
As I’ve done this over a week, I’ve come to a deep appreciation of the way traffic works here. Everyone uses all available parts of the road to find their path with elegance, and it works as if a master of Tetris is arranging it in real time. There is no slamming of brakes, and there’s zero road rage and shouting - everyone cuts each other off and zooms aggressively into spaces that should be left alone constantly, so it’s nothing extraordinary or offensive. There’s honking, yes, but it’s more of the “hey dude, be mindful, I’m close to you” variety than the Western “hey asshole, don’t do what you’re doing!!!” one. Paradoxically, when there are no rules to adhere to - and consequently to break - besides the unwritten general rule of “don’t hit anybody”, drivers and bikers go with the flow, dynamically adjusting to the constant surprises and newcomers in their lanes with the ease of experienced kung fu masters, and it all works seamlessly. When did we get it so wrong with Western driving? I feel like there’s this constant war between an obsession with safety and a total disregard for it on Western roads that makes your hair go grey much faster than the experience of a scooter in Vietnam changing into your lane 10 cm in front of your ride ever can.
Come learn how to drive properly in the masterful chaos of Indochina.