Saigon's Motorbike Madness

Here's an inescapable part of Saigon life: motorbikes. The city has four million of them, vrooming and sputtering and honking as they whiz through the streets. The incredible noise is what I'll always remember as an essential feature of the city.

Half the locals own one, and it's not hard to see why. Compared to cars, motorbikes are much cheaper, use very little petrol, and are easy to maintain. But I am sure the main reason is because they seem to be mostly exempt from traffic guidelines. It is normal for motorbikes to jump curbs and drive down the sidewalk, or ignore traffic signals -- not that there are many to begin with.

All of this sets up special challenges for the uninitiated tourist wandering around the city on foot. There are very few designated crosswalks, and they don't matter anyway because no one pays attention to them. The traffic is always moving. I was pretty scared during my first attempt to cross the street through something like this:

It was a total act of faith to do it as the locals do: Find a little space in the knot of traffic, then step out into it. Walk steadily to the other side without stopping or changing pace. The motorbikes will anticipate your movements and will react accordingly, parting like water rushing around a rock. The key is ignore your instinct to freeze, and continue moving. It really works! I felt like I deserved a Girl Scout badge for accomplishing that.

(As an aside, in the next two photos, check out the crazy amount of wires and cables suspended above the street. Doesn't look like underground wiring is part of the Vietnamese system.)

Throughout my visit, I was fascinated by watching the motorbikes and their owners. For one thing, it's almost a kind of game to see how many people can fit on one motorbike. It's not unusual to see three or four, usually a family consisting of dad driving and mom in the rear, with one kid squashed in between them and maybe another riding in front. A variant of the game is to find who's transporting the largest, most unusual household item. I think Andy took the prize when he spotted two men with a piece of glass that must have been six feet long. The guy riding on the back was holding it upright in front of him, like a windshield, on his knees.

Motorbikes at rest are equally fascinating to watch. Parking lots are anywhere they can be squeezed in, typically on the sidewalk outside of buildings like this:

It's another reason to watch out for motorbikes while walking down the sidewalk -- you never know when one might be jumping on to get to a parking lot.

Resting drivers can also use their motorbikes as benches on which to have a meal or read the paper. People can also use them to catch a quick nap, propped up against a wall and draped over the seat and handlebars.

Although I learned how to drive a motorbike (a looong time ago), I don't have the courage to do it in a place like Saigon. In addition, I don't have the coordination skills needed to talk on my mobile phone while driving, like I saw many people do. I really can't believe it, but apparently it is possible to have a phone conversation while immersed in all the street noise. Then there's the guy I saw trying to light a cigarette while driving and talking on the phone. Now, I know I don't have what it takes to do something like that.