Vietnam On Two Wheels
Earlier this year (2008), I accompanied my girlfriend, who is half-Vietnamese, on a mission to rediscover her lost relatives. Her mother, who lives with her in the Philippines, never disclosed openly if she had any living relations back in their home country. All she had to go by is a cryptic address (those who’ve been to Vietnam know what this means) and a photograph.
Although the details of that trip deserve a retelling, I’ll save that for elsewhere. For the time being I’ll focus on the first thing a first timer to Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City will notice: the prevalence of motorbikes.
I was told that during the Vietnam War, everyone rode bicycles in Saigon. Now the bicycles have given way to motorbikes, and in vast numbers. Most people ride a motorbike to cross the street, do errands, and travel. Motorbikes are synonymous to walking for the Vietnamese. Even nicely garbed women attending parties go to those events on motorbike (fashionably colored motorbikes at that). The widespread use of motorcycles is really a sight to see, since the Vietnamese pratically treat their bikes as extensions of their bodies.
Prepare to be overwhelmed by two wheels.
Whew, if you survived all that two wheel mayhem, this last photo is the most picturesque. It brings the term “Family Car” onto a whole different level altogether:
Amazing Vietnam