Escaping the mayhem of Ho Chi Minh City's Frantic Traffic

Escaping the mayhem of Ho Chi Minh City's frantic traffic is no easy matter.

When I landed and grabbed a taxi, the first thing I wished for was to ride on 2 wheels instead of 4. Even though the pandemonium beyond the safety of the door windows looked like a modern take on the ancient Roman chariot race, I'd rather brace this sea of scooters full on than wait miserably in the slow lane devoted to the 4 wheelers. Cars move slowly for fear of knocking a scooter, bicycle, cart, person, animal, cattle or whatever else takes to the road come what may.

That's the second thing I noticed, no one seems to pay any attention to entering the main flow of traffic. No life preserving look to the left or right, just dive straight in and expect everyone or thing to slow down in time before you hit them. Well Indonesia and Thailand are a lot like this too, but not quite as death defying as the Vietnamese.

To make matters worse, it is completely normal for all vehicles, people and animals to head against the flow of traffic at anytime and anywhere. There are times when you might not be sure if you are heading in the correct flow of traffic since there are more people going the wrong way than not. The best assumption you can make about traffic is that nothing can be taken for granted and it is coming at you from all directions all of the time, so you'd better have arachnid like vision if you want to survive here.

After getting settled in and getting my own 2 wheels, I took to the streets in trepidation of the onslaught amongst the sea of scooters. Stupidly I don't have a photograph of this phenomenon, probably because, unlike the millions who drive their scooter whilst texting, I didn't have the courage to whip my phone out on the move or stop the flow of incessant scooterists behind me.

I shouldn't have worried about that of course, people are always getting in the way of each other and the river of hooting machines just carries on flowing around them.

Strangely even the most pedantic motorist will get used to this frantic frenzy and fall into a kind of scooter Zen. But you shouldn't let your guard down, because accidents do happen, even if you haven't seen any yourself. Just go to any hospital to see the steady flow of vehicular induced head injuries if you don't believe me.

After the novelty of the street slalom wore off, I began to yearn for an escape from the mayhem. Luckily I'd already made the decision to live in District 2, Thao Dien, which is just a bridge ride away from the centre, but has marginally less madness to contend with.

Here are some of the leafy quiet narrow streets in my neighbourhood,

and not far away some great views of the city from nearby.