To truly understand the vibrant, and frenetic pace in Vietnam one only needs to see and experience the traffic. It is at once terrifying, mesmerizing and wondrous. The roads, streets and alleys are choked with motor bikes, scooters, bicycles, lambrerta's, trucks, cars, eighteen wheelers, pedestrians, hand carts, and rickshaws.
It is nearly impossible to figure out the intricate ballet that all of these conveyances coexist in. As I said in an earlier post, the Vietnamese display situational awareness the likes of which I have never experienced. Literally, the direction of all vehicles on roadways is truly random. There are of course traffic rules but they are largely ignored. One has to assume that the only rule is "there are no rules." What is truly amazing is nobody ever hits anyone. No accidents? How does that even happen?
I hope the video below conveys the utter insanity that Martha and I witnessed during our trip.
You know the drill by now. Click the photo below to see the scooter and traffic video slideshow (click full screen on the lower right of the video window)
