xe ôm (translation: motorbike hug) OMG

Hey, we got a motorbike.

We spent six weeks learning how to walk through the traffic and now we want to become part of it.  You ask what Hanoi traffic is like?

Here’s a video of the steady flow in an intersection in the Old Quarter on a typical evening.  Two perpendicular currents moving through each other without substantially stopping.

It took a while to absorb the rules, which are different from the law.  One way means one way unless you need to go the other way.  Stoplights mean stop unless there’s a break in traffic that your bike can get through.  Drive on the right side of the road unless you’re only going a few blocks and you have to cross over anyway.  Sound your horn to let them know where you are.  Don’t look back.  Concentrate what’s in front of you and don’t worry about what’s behind.  The traffic regulations are suggestions to be used or discarded as the situation develops and as you, the driver, need to shape it so that you can keep moving. There’s no screaming, no anger, no tantrums, and no loss of face.  Just a focused calm, constant beeping and an awareness of the flow:  pedestrians, children on bicycles, city sanitation workers who actually sweep the street gutters daily with their special hand-made brooms and toss the garbage into their rolling push-bins, vendors in conical rice hats with two baskets hung from a bamboo shoulder-yoke carrying anything from hot food to scrap metal, quiet electric bikes, the occasional ego-fortifying Ducati or Harley wide-ride, cars, taxis, minivans, city buses, huge touring buses, and utility vehicles.  And filling in the gaps is the eternal river of motor bikes.  U-turns that stop traffic on a major artery are okay.  If the road gets too crowded, traffic moves onto the sidewalk.  And, yes, it’s okay to take a phone call while driving.  The power of patience is remarkable.

It’s difficult for foreigners to get a valid license but the police don’t like to stop them anyway because their English is limited and they might lose face, so foreigners drive without a license. There’s a box on the rental form that says License and you write yes or no. You can answer either one but it doesn’t change the outcome. It does protect the leaser if necessary, proving that he didn’t break the law, you did.

We tried out three bikes before deciding what to rent; a Chinese Vespa knockoff, a new Honda scooter and a Yamaha automatic motorbike.

The fake Vespa model called Elizabeth, was definitely the cutest.  This is Doug not liking it.

 

This is Doug continuing not to like it.

 

Here’s the winner.  A 2009 Yamaha Nouvo.  We rent it by the month so we can trade up.  The automatic transmission is definitely appreciated.

 

Vietnamese kids grow up on motorbikes, the family station wagon of the country.  It’s not uncommon to see mom on the back, dad driving, one kid standing between dad and the handlebars and the baby sandwiched between dad and mom, as they weave through the traffic. Kids ride bicycles during rush hour, completely comfortable.   Not me;  the first time out on a run to buy gas, I was acutely focused in the moment by the terror.

This is Beth liking it and hoping the white knuckle grip will soon relax.

 

Tucked into alleys and nooks are these bike piles.  This one would be fun to clean up.  Right?!

 

And for the foodies.  Since landing in Vietnam we have tried outdoor street food, indoor street food, average restaurant food and above average restaurant fare.  Most of it was good, some really good and a few were great.  The kind of food that is centered around flavor, where every bite is fun.  Nearby, down a small unmarked alley is a restaurant called 1946.  It’s based on the conditions in Hanoi and the food available in 1946 when the world war was over and the war for Vietnamese independence was gathering steam.  Fried salted field crabs, banana flower and marinated beef salad, grilled spiced pork, sautéed garlic and morning glory, sour pork soup, beer, and corn water.  $17 US.  Expensive for an evening meal but worth the occasional splurge.

 

 

Here’s a 2012 article from the NYTimes featuring the traffic in Hanoi.