Driving in Indo-China

Especially once we got to Cambodia and Vietnam, the preferred form of transport changed from the "Tuk tuk" to the "Moto" - which involves sitting on the back of a motor bike, pretty much. It really gives you a feel for the traffic madness here without a safety net. In Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia everyone drives on the right most of the time, and the foot paths are for pedestrians ... most of the time. Traffic lights are mainly for decoration and serve no actual purpose. At a crossroads or roundabout it is really scary - hundreds of motorbikes criss crossing each other trying to force their way through in every direction. The trick for a pedestrian crossing the road is not to stop - it only confuses drives when you show this fear and hesitation and can cause more trouble. Fortunately we had had plenty of practice at this from using pedestrian crossings in UL.

Driving intercity is just as Bizzare. The meaning of the car horn here is completely different to home. At home it's really a means of hurling abuse at other drivers. Here it is purely for warning, for example:
"I'm driving on the wrong side of the road, watch out!"
"I'm overtaking on a bend, be careful of me."
"I'm coming the wrong way down a one way street, please take note."
"I'm driving on the footpath now, just in case you're wondering."

At first it all seems mad but after a while you get used to it and after a little longer you begin to understand it a little. One of the major differences from home you begin to realise is that everyone is driving a little slower compared to home. The mopeds are a lot easier to manoevour than cars and can stop much quicker. Also, the vast majority of the population are Buddhists - "Today could be my day to die an there's nothing I can do about it" - so why not drive mad? Being careful couldn't possibly make a difference, could it?

Originally I would have said, "Importantly the whole thing seems to work." But apparently I doesn't. There's 8 million people in Saigon and 4 million motorbikes. Our guide here told us that 20 people die per day on the streets here!

From Vietnam Photos

From Vietnam Photos

I'm glad I found this our after rather than before I took motos all around the city!