Honk Honk
A colleague sent me this for my upcoming break to Hanoi. My gawd, I would think this is a satirical piece and quite hilarious if not for the fact that it is very true and I would be encountering this first hand very soon.
So scary. I am terrified of crossing heavy traffic even in Singapore. Hope I survive Hanoi. I am sticking close to a local when I cross. The idea of wearing a neon jacket actually crossed my mind.
Crossing the road
The stakes are high: if you are to die in Vietnam, more than likely it will happen on the road -- be it in a car or under one. Vietnamese cities are crowded, and the roads are absolutely packed. You will take your life into your own hands every time that you cross a busy street in any of Vietnam's major cities.
In most of the Western world, the trick is to avoid the cars. That's simply not possible in Vietnam, as there are far too many cars, trucks (lorries or utes), motorbikes, cyclos and bicycles in far too little space. No, the trick in Vietnam is to enable the vehicles to avoid you.
This is managed by first picking a reasonable gap in the traffic (probably a smaller gap than you'd choose when jaywalking in, say London or Manhattan or Sydney), then walking slowly
and predictably across the street while looking directly at the on-coming cars, motorcycles, cyclos and bicycles. The predictability of your pace and path is the critical factor between life and death. Do not change direction or speed.
If you stop, retreat or try to dodge the vehicles, you'll probably die or at least be severely maimed, and your misfortune will merely annoy a lot of commuters by snarling traffic even further. But if you step confidently and carefully, the drivers will see and smoothly avoid you -- often with grace and a casual aplomb that's initially bewildering to many panic-stricken Westerners.
But remember, they do this all the time, every day...or they wouldn't be alive themselves. The simplest way to cross a busy street is to find a local and walk close to him or her, mirroring their path and pace. They know what they're doing! And once you get the hang of it, it's actually great fun to find yourself walking unafraid through a deadly sea of swarming vehicles and people, suddenly feeling like part of the normal flow in this otherwise foreign land.
So scary. I am terrified of crossing heavy traffic even in Singapore. Hope I survive Hanoi. I am sticking close to a local when I cross. The idea of wearing a neon jacket actually crossed my mind.
Crossing the road
The stakes are high: if you are to die in Vietnam, more than likely it will happen on the road -- be it in a car or under one. Vietnamese cities are crowded, and the roads are absolutely packed. You will take your life into your own hands every time that you cross a busy street in any of Vietnam's major cities.
In most of the Western world, the trick is to avoid the cars. That's simply not possible in Vietnam, as there are far too many cars, trucks (lorries or utes), motorbikes, cyclos and bicycles in far too little space. No, the trick in Vietnam is to enable the vehicles to avoid you.
This is managed by first picking a reasonable gap in the traffic (probably a smaller gap than you'd choose when jaywalking in, say London or Manhattan or Sydney), then walking slowly
and predictably across the street while looking directly at the on-coming cars, motorcycles, cyclos and bicycles. The predictability of your pace and path is the critical factor between life and death. Do not change direction or speed.
If you stop, retreat or try to dodge the vehicles, you'll probably die or at least be severely maimed, and your misfortune will merely annoy a lot of commuters by snarling traffic even further. But if you step confidently and carefully, the drivers will see and smoothly avoid you -- often with grace and a casual aplomb that's initially bewildering to many panic-stricken Westerners.
But remember, they do this all the time, every day...or they wouldn't be alive themselves. The simplest way to cross a busy street is to find a local and walk close to him or her, mirroring their path and pace. They know what they're doing! And once you get the hang of it, it's actually great fun to find yourself walking unafraid through a deadly sea of swarming vehicles and people, suddenly feeling like part of the normal flow in this otherwise foreign land.
posted by Fiery at Monday, March 06, 2006
3 Comments:
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
haha...yes, now i am reminded. peng and i stood at the traffic light the longest time then realised no one was even bothering with it. it was cross at your own risk, but you will get daring in no time!
fy
Was a bit blur about the other post until I read this one....don't worry, just "gar gar giah" & you will be okay lah ! Have a great trip.
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