Surviving traffic chaos in Vietnam

by Tim Rossiter (New Zealand)

A leap into the unknown Vietnam

Lets get one thing straight, Ho Chi Minh City is no longer the romantic bicycle city you see in black and white photos of ‘Old Saigon’. Residents no longer pedal wide French-style boulevards in traditional silk clothing. It’s 2019, time has moved on. Population density and affordable mopeds have transformed the city and its streets. You can still catch the odd Ao Dai dress but the city is full to bursting and modernizing fast. In this city of ten million, a bustling mess of scooters, motorbikes and cars are a constant on the streets. Congestion is intense and traffic heaves and lurches at every intersection. To a traveller this can be confronting and the chaos seems dangerous, even crazy. The simple matter of crossing the road, a risk to life and limb. But like many things that confront you when you travel the reality is not quite as it may appear at first. Lets start with a disclaimer. Ho Chi Minh is in no way a pedestrian friendly city. Footpaths are crowded and multipurpose, being used as motorbike parks and also makeshift outdoor space for restaurant and cafe space seating. Despite the charm of the street outlets, it can be frustrating. Often times you will be forced onto the shoulder of the road just to get past. Just walking from your hotel to a restaurant a few doors down can be logistically challenging enough, but the true test awaits when you need to cross. This is that moment every first time visitor to Ho Chi Minh can attest to. At the pedestrian crossing, scores of mopeds whizz by from both directions, and sometimes from all at once in a chaotic crush of motorised mayhem. The green man on the traffic light appears, but the traffic doesn’t halt. There is no automatic right of way for pedestrians and nobody will stop politely for you. This cant be, you think. The zebra crossing has no power here. So how on earth do people cross the street, you wonder with a hint of panic. And as you keep wondering what to do, the minutes go by and you realise you’re going to have to do something if you ever want to make it to the other side. Never fear, if you watch the locals you’ll soon learn what to do. When in Rome and all that. They’ll tell you the best thing to do is to close your eyes and cross. Its a joke but it’s based on pretty sound logic. What’s required is something of a leap of faith, or more precisely a step of faith. A slow, steady walk into the traffic with nothing but trust in the goodwill of the drivers. That may seem a stretch, but hear me out. First things first, make sure you are visible from the curb. Don’t just dart out onto the road, and ensure you begin when there is a small break in the traffic so everyone can see you. Once you leave the safety of the pavement your instincts will tell you to shrink back from vehicles coming closer, or maybe speed up to get past them. But those instincts are misguided, and likely to result in a gruff look at best, and at worst a collision. Keep it slow and steady like locals do, making eye contact with drivers where possible, and like a miracle the sea of vehicles will part for you. Drivers will let you in by diverting in front or behind you, allowing you safe passage through that particular vehicular wilderness to the other side. And just like that you’ve made it. With a bit more practise crossing will become second nature, and what was once chaotic and scary becomes manageable and liberating. You’ll even start to admire the defensive driving skills on display, and how that annoying beeping of the horn is a navigational language all its own. You will come to understand how the rules of the road do exist here, but just follow a different blueprint. In short you will have grasped a different way of thinking and doing. And isn’t that what travel is all about? Happy crossings.