Regarding Mopeds
As the car is to an American, so is the moped to the Vietnamese. The road infrastructure in Vietnam is improving allowing for mass transportation on paved surfaces. Near as I can tell, most people own at least one moped per family (ca. 125 cc, 4-stroke engine). Most of the makes seem to be Honda or Suzuki. This moped or small motorcycle is used for everything. They haul produce to market, transport their purchases home on it. It is not unusual in the country to see a small motorcycle with bushel baskets on either side (like huge saddlebags) balance with a large burlap sag of something on the back. It's alot of weight. The top speed of these bikes is around 35-40 miles per hour, and, you would not want to go much faster than that on these roads!
It isn't that there are alot of potholes. On the contrary, I've seen very few. The road is divided into lanes by stripe painting (like the U.S.), but it serves more like a guideline. People are passing all the time, weaving and darting in an out. It looks like a well-choreographed dance. The rhythm of it all is amazing.
The trucks announce their presence constantly via the vehicle's horn. They are constantly on them. It is up to the motorcycle riders to move out of the way (usually to the right) to allow the truck to pass. The law of the bigger vehicle applies to all right-of-way confusion, i.e., if your vehicle is larger, others defer to you.
Every now and then, "the dance" is complicated (or augmented) by a water-buffalo drawing a cart laden to the hilt with produce or a pack of school children riding their bicycles in groups and the person walking. The people seem to anticipate all of this and are quite comfortable with the horn noise. To me, it is amazing that no one has been hurt.
Occasionally you will see someone on a motorcycle, while riding, talking on their cell phones with only one hand on the throttle -- even with a load on their bike. Everyone is required to wear a helmet, although, not all do. They are open-face helmets with a visor. The women wear face masks of different colors that look like modified surgical masks. This is both to protect against polllution exhaust and any debrie that may kick up from the road.
What really gets interesting are the mountain roads, which are curvy. Our bus driver would frequently pass on the left in a curve. If we met another truck coming the other way, there would be a crash. That said, however, there seems to be a prescient knowing as to when to pass. There hasn't been a real close call, yet.
I've been offered the opportunity to rent a small motorcycle and take it for a ride, but I declined. Riding the roads in Utah is enough of a thrill for me at the moment.
P. Jeff
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