There’s a saying. Before you come to Vietnam and try to cross the street, you better call your mom to say good bye. It may be the last time you talk to her. lol!

There’s truth to this, because you just pray you make it to the other side. Other rules to follow when crossing the street is: whatever you do keep moving and never ever stop. The cars and motorbikes fan around you, it’s like a stream of fish, circling forward around an object. Just keep at a constant pace, mind the cars and walk.

Street lines dividing lanes are “suggestions”. I’ve seen a bus, 2 cars, 6 motorbikes side by side in a two lane street. It’s like the Wild Wild West here. Grit and sheer will power determines who is turning when and where and who gets right of way when merging. Are you bigger and faster? Pushier? Want to do a u turn in the middle of the street with 30 motorbikes coming and 4 cars? Sure! Make that uturn(see the red car in that photo, which was actually our ride we were waiting for and was aghasted). Want to turn right when you are 3 lanes over on the left? Sure, just shoot a right and make the other 12 motor bikes and 4 cars slow down for you. Why not! It’s only Vietnam traffic! No room for the meek and weak hearted here.

It’s just incredible we haven’t seen one accident. It’s like a sea of fish and they just all know how the current flows. It’s orderly chaos.

I should also mention rush hour traffic makes our Alberta rush hour traffic seem like a race way. You literally sit in one spot forever. And when you think you are moving, the cop blocks the road and makes you go elsewhere. We made a mistake and rented a car to tour the city for an hour without thinking about the time. We booked 6-7 pm and made it 1.5 km, which equals to a 12 min walk. We payed to sit in a fancy car for an hour. Haha

I hope you enjoy these photos. There is one photo with 3 motorbikes. If you look closely there are 4 people sitting on each bike! It’s just wild.