Sorry, I don’t want to rub it in… but I have just returned from a wonderful, life-changing, exciting and eye-opening trip to South East Asia. Vietnam in particular has so many beautiful features, from the impressive islands of Ha Long Bay to the historically significant Cu Chi tunnels near Saigon. But one of the scariest parts of Vietnam, especially for a foreigner, is the traffic on the roads.
When I arrived in Hanoi, one of the first things I noticed (once ensconced in what I fervently hoped was an official taxi) was the traffic. It was chaos. The roads are essentially a free-for-all, to the extent that it took me a while to work out which side of the road cars were supposed to drive on. They drive on the right, theoretically. Bicycles and motorbikes are often driven, illegally, against the flow of the traffic. Rules of the road, if they existed, did not appear to be respected. 
Once checked in at my hotel, I decided to wander round the local area – and couldn’t believe the amount of car horns I heard, even on relatively small roads. Once I hit a busy intersection, the noise was unbelievable. Drivers in Vietnam sound their horn constantly, merely to signify their presence to other drivers. Speed limits exist but are frequently ignored. And then it hit me (not literally, luckily) – how am I supposed to cross the road?
The key, I discovered, is not to hang about too long. The traffic won’t stop because it sees you idling on the pavement (you’ll just be pestered by people selling bracelets and fans). The traffic won’t necessarily stop at all, in fact – as two thirds of road users are on motorbikes, they will simply weave around you as you gingerly put one foot in front of the other. Don’t cross too quickly – give drivers time to change their path – but try not to stop, and certainly don’t move backwards. Remember, drivers are unable to predict your sudden movements.
Cross with conviction, and you should be OK – but the roads in Vietnam are still incredibly dangerous. According to the World Health Organisation, 30 people die on the roads in Vietnam every day and road traffic accidents are the second biggest cause of death in the country. In fact, according to the [US Government], (http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1060.html), road traffic accidents are “the leading cause of death, severe injury, and emergency evacuation of foreigners in Vietnam.” One of the major causes of accidents – one that I didn’t witness – is apparently drink driving.
On the way from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay, our bus passed the scene of an accident: we could see a bike on its side, a blanket covering a body, and a woman crying on the pavement. There were lots of people surrounding her, and a bowl had already been placed on the ground for donations (for the victim’s afterlife, our local guide explained.) Our guide didn’t seem too phased, and said that motorcycle accidents were relatively common. I couldn’t believe that such a preventable tragedy was happening so often that people were becoming desensitised to it.
As if other road users – and ambling pedestrians – don’t make driving around this country difficult enough, motorists also have to contend with poorly maintained roads, no road markings or traffic lights in some areas, wandering livestock (yes, really!), and a rather ineffectual, and potentially corrupt, police force (although Hanoi recently announced it was sacking any traffic police officers who were short and fat) Taxi, bus, motorcycle and tuktuk rides are therefore, for tourists especially, a risky experience.
So what are the alternatives? Can you avoid the roads altogether? We had a pleasant boat trip in Ha Long Bay and along the Mekong Delta, and a rather bumpy ride on the Hanoi to Hue sleeper train – it’s fair to say we sampled many of the delights of Vietnamese travel and transport. But our staple mode of transportation was bus or taxi – and my favourite, despite the risks, was the tuktuk: an unlicensed “taxi” which consists of a trailer tacked on to a motorbike. Along with Cyclos (bicycles with seats in front of the handlebars), the roads comprise a veritable smorgasbord of modes of transportation. Varying shapes, sizes, speeds and ease of movement - it’s easy to see how chaos prevails.
As a tourist, driving yourself around would be hugely foolish, as the driving conditions differ so drastically from what we are used to in the West. Indeed, international driving licences are not valid in Vietnam so renting a car (without a driver) is almost unheard of. I was travelling as part of a legitimate, organised tour, and the tour leader arranged all of our transport, so we had no issues.
In Hue, we were taken on a motorcycle trip. The 14 of us got on the back of a two-person motorcycle (in Vietnam, they refer to“Xe Om” – ‘motorbike’ and ‘hug’, literally, so you get the idea) and whizzed through the local countryside, down winding roads into little villages, up hills to former US trenches, and back along the highway to our hotel.
It was fantastic, and our drivers demonstrated great skill in navigating narrow and/or steep roads, but it did highlight that motorcyclists use the roads in a very different way to car drivers. Again, you can see how problems arise when the two are sharing the roads.
To combat the high fatality rate, the Vietnamese government has been trying to improve motorcycle safety. In 2007, motorcycle helmet laws were introduced, which are estimated to have increased helmet usage from 40% to 90%, and are estimated to have saved over 1500 lives so far.
However, the helmets worn by motorcyclists are not always of the best quality, and it is only the driver who has to wear one (I wore one, don’t panic!) – so the passengers are at risk of severe head injuries. I’m not even just talking about one passenger – between Hue and Hoi An, we saw five or six people (mainly children) travelling on ONE motorcycle. Aside from being an impressive balancing act, it was worrying to think of the carnage that would be caused if anyone were to bump into them.
Our last stop after the beautiful Hoi An was Ho Chi Minh City, another bustling metropolis that nearly rivalled Hanoi in terms of traffic chaos. Watch a time lapse video of the traffic in Ho Chi Minh City. However, one week into a Vietnam trip, I was an expert – I was used to the sound of honking horns, could cross roads like a pro, and didn’t even flinch when I saw locals carrying hundreds of bags of stock or groceries on their tiny motorcycles. I guess you just get used to it.