"This is Madness!" "Madness?! THIS. IS. SAIGON!!!!!!"

So here is a clip I took on the back of a moped taxi on my daily commute to work. Its a little slow the first minute, but I think it provides a good survey of some general themes in Ho Chi Minh City traffic.

Video Analysis:

0:30 Notice the authentic Vietnamese baby-inspired hood ornament. Oh wait WHAT THE FUCK that is a infant riding shotgun. Little children dangling from every position on the mopeds are common, and usually their small, tender heads don't have any helmets. The level of badassness between American born kids and these rambos is mindblowing.

0:43 Johnny Pedestrian just does not give a damn. Hes got shit to do on the other side of the street.

1:24 Asian Chuck Norris riding the red moped has had enough. So what if a thousand motor vehicles are coming right at him. Like Moses through the Red Sea he intends to part the approaching moped army. We all silently admire his courage while cursing our own cowardice, and follow his lead. The revolution has been televised.

1:30 - 1:40 Hard to tell what exactly is going on, because at this point I was less concerned with capturing the action as I was with stiff-arming the two asshole car taxis. Shit was literally coming at me from 3 directions.

1:49 Uh, I meant to edit that out.

2:00 At this point in the video, you might be thinking to yourself, "Oh I didn't know they drive on the left side of the road in Vietnam... that's pretty cool." The truth is, over here people drive on whichever side they feel so inclined. I guess there was too much traffic, so obviously the safest and most convenient method is to attack the problem head on. This sort of proactive thinking is why Vietnam has been enjoying serious yearly economic growth. I havn't tested this theory yet, but I am almost convinced people are hired to drive against the flow of traffic or perpendicular from the street just to add to the overall chaos. One day when I get my own scooter I will follow another driver, because I honestly don't think they are purposely going anywhere.

Some other things you may have noticed but wasn't really shown in the video:

Facemasks: A LOT of people wear either surgeon type face masks or a type of ninja-inspired cloth face guard. At first I thought this was some sort of SARS paranoia, but its to protect from the pollution. The pollution isn't terrible walking around the city, but driving behind a wall of moped fumes all day does add up. The masks add a very sinister look to the traffic. I am half expecting someone to pull out an uzi and gun me down like a James Bond or John Woo film.

A decent amount of people also wear some extra arm cloth protection thing. It may be to shield the skin from getting shredded in the event of an accident, but my hunch tells me it has more to do with preventing their skin from a more serious, social ailment: Getting tanned to the point that, God forbid, you look Cambodian.

Sidewalks: Seeing as how crossing the street and riding is a serious health hazard, you would imagine the sidewalks to be a safe haven of sorts from all the motor madness. Wrong. At any given point, a simple sidewalk can turn into a passing lane, impromptu parking lot, diner, or even a public restroom for children.


My Street


This is Bui Vien, the street I am currently living off of. Pretty much every 3rd building is a backpackers' hostel. The other buildings are either small shops or eating establishments. On the sidewalks are also a shit ton of food carts. I'll give a more in depth post about this street, but its actually really cool. More videos and pictures later too, but I just got out of my second day of class, and I am tired/hungry as hell.