attack of the mopeds!

emerging out of the hotel each morning, i take a glance toward the street, and it is already inudated with a massive number of them.  my ears are filled with the noises of their rattling engines and endless honking coming from every which way [to caution you that they are coming through and that you should get out of the way].  they are like working ants, crawling with intent in all different directions.

mopeds aka "xe may honda" is the primary source of transportation in vietnam and much of southeast asia.  it is quite a scene to marvel at if you haven't already witnessed it.  imagine the hustle and bustle of hundreds of mopeds within a 2-block radius... some with multiple people piled on, including babies... others hauling great, big packages holding groceries or other goods.  these mopeds maneuver through the streets with great agility, dodging cars, pedestrians, and other mopeds.  in vietnam, there are not too many traffic laws and rules making this disarrayed sight easily described as organized chaos - cars and mopeds traverse the streets in any way that they can, and sometimes it's quite dangerous!  everytime i'm riding in the back of a taxi cab, i cringe at the way vietnamese drivers/riders switch lanes and make turns onto different streets - it seems as if they are always so close to hitting someone!  i'm surprised there are not more accidents that occur.  since i've been here, i've only witnessed two accidents.  pretty darn good for the crazy streets of vietnam, i'd say.  good thing helmets are required; chaos and  mopeds don't mix very well in regards to safety.  

driving on the highway is pretty bad.  there are usually two lanes for each direction: one for cars and one narrow lane for mopeds and bikes.  what do you do when the car ahead of you is going slow and you want to go faster?  you can't pass on the right because the lane is too small and there are always tons of bikers, who ,without a doubt, travel slower than cars.  the drivers pass on the left, facing on-coming traffic.  sometimes i feel as if we are playing chicken - i grasp onto whatever i can put my hands on and brace myself for some kind of collision, and thank goodness nothing  serious happened.  

props to vietnamese taxi drivers - i could never do what they do.  my car would be all dented in and i'd probably have multiple lawsuits against me for hitting people.  haha!

i would develop the absolute worst case of road rage here in vietnam - there is so much traffic as you can see from the photos.  i think i'll stick to driving in america - more traffic laws, less chaos, more safety!

[i do not take credit for these three photos.]

the following are some videos that i've captured of this moped craziness on the streets of saigon.  trust me... it looks a lot worse in person!