Bikes and Scooters

Motorbikes and Motorbikes and Scooters and Scooters and just a few bicycles and cars. That’s the traffic picture. It’s difficult to get used to and at first it feels like a bl…y mess, but after some time I must admit that it’s better than cars. Even it’s a lot of them swarming around everywhere it’s quite easy to cross a street, easier than if it was cars and this is a city with no traffic lights at all.
Already my first day here I had a ride on the back of a Motorbike and later it has became many…at first I was scared but now it's ok. There are a lot of small accidents though, but most minor injuries because they don’t go very fast. Dalat City and surroundings is also a place with elevation; hills and slopes and sharp bends so you have to be carefull. That’s why most bikes here have manual gear because in these conditions they say that automtic wouldn’t work properly.
So you think you can drive a Motorbike, right? Yes, I'm sure you can but it's not just to dive into the streets here. You must learn how to navigate between hundreds of others and they are so close to you that you could tell which aftershave they use..if they use....
My Housemaid told me she had an accident a few months ago, somebody drove into her Motorbike and she got a fracture in her skull and had to spend more than a week at Hospital and for a long time she lost her sense of smelling. Now she has started to wear helmet when driving, but it’s very few doing that.
Everybody rides Motorbikes both young and old, women and men. Some have a basket mounted in front, not so much for putting groceries but for smaller children. A lot of times they also go three on a bike and parents taking their children to school, the smallest in front of you and the biggest sitting behind clutching desperately to father or mother.
I live about 20 min walk from the center and most times I like to walk, but it’s no problem to get a ride if you want. All the time bikes are slowing down beside you and they ask if you want a lift and a ride to the center cost 10000 Dong and that’s about 4-5 NOK or half a dollar.
It’s also incredible how much goods and things they can transport on a bike. All the time you can see bikes loaded with all kinds of vegetables or so much bananas hanging around everywhere that you hardly see the one who is driving.