Good Morning Vietnam!

When we arrived in Vietnam on February 26th, several parents and families were waiting at the dock since this was the location of the SAS parent trip.  Both Mike and Andrea left that day with their families.  (I was so jealous when I saw how excited they were to be seeing their families.)  Jane also had a trip for one of her classes that day, so that left Anna, Amanda, and I to find our hotel and check in.  I admit that Jane, Mike, and Andrea are usually the planners and navigators of the group so that meant one of us had to step up.  As many of you know, maps and directions are not my strong point.  However, I managed to get us all the way to our hotel with no problems.  (Shocking, I know.)  On our way to the hotel, we got our first impression of driving in Vietnam.

I thought I’d seen crazy driving in China but it is nothing compared to the motorbike traffic in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.  The first few times I crossed the street I swear I saw my life flash before me.  These motorbikes DON’T stop.  There are no rules, no way of telling which direction traffic is going, and no time that is convenient for pedestrians to cross.  You just say a prayer and start walking.  And it’s not like other cities in the U.S. where you stop, make eye contact with the driver, and signal which of you will go first.  No, in Vietnam you have to keep walking because the motorbikes are planning to drive right where you were just standing.  Then there are the major intersections where motorbikes, cars, taxis, and people come together in total mayhem.  There is so much honking you can barely even hear yourself think—all you can do is laugh at the ridiculousness of the entire situation.

The funny part is how unaffected the people on motorbikes are by any of this.  They ride with young kids standing up and holding onto their shoulders and with babies sitting on their laps.  They often put their entire family on the back of one bike.  One time we saw 5 people on a single bike!  (Thank God Vietnamese people are so thin.  That definitely wouldn’t fly in America.)

As much as I could never imagine myself feeling safe driving around on motorbikes the way these people do, I’ve realized that motorbikes to them are what cars are to us.  Not only are they completely comfortable driving them, but these vehicles have become such a huge part of their culture.  For example, people will take naps on their motorbikes.  They literally park them on the sidewalk, sprawl themselves out across them, and fall asleep in the middle of day.  They are also a place for romance.  While we were out one night, we walked through a park that was filled with teenagers making out on their motorbikes.  At first we didn’t notice, but then all of a sudden we realized that this was definitely a hotspot for young couples.  It sort of reminded me of what I imagine drive-in movies to be like, only instead of cars, they are on bikes so it’s much more public.

Now that I’ve talked so much about the motorbikes, I have to confess that I did ride on the back of one… but only once and it was only for short distances. (Sorry Mom and Dad!)