Traffic and Honking and Helmets, Oh My!

Fumes and Masks and Motos, Oh My!

If there is one thing I'm scared of in Vietnam, its the motorbike madness.  One miscalculation of speed, direction, or the intent of the other drivers and its Crash, Bang, Boom and Burn Baby!  The rules of the road are: Look and Listen.  Look ONLY at whats ahead of you and Listen for the "honk honk honking" of horns signaling "on your left."  This works well when you're on a straightaway, but as for intersections, its every man for himself.  Natives have a blithe disregard for the rules of the road, weaving in and out of lanes, driving against the grain of traffic, and 5 giant crates full from using the rearview.  For a foreigner who lives by the motto "safety first", this kind of situation is intimidating to say the least.

Fears, Fractures and Fatality aside, we had our first go against the traffic this weekend.  Piotr as driver and me as passenger, we hit the streets of Da Nang on a Red Honda Wave fit for two.  The bike was loaned to us by the lovely Kathleen at Bread of Life, one of our new fave restaurants.  Up until this point, we had been relying on our legs and feet as our main form of transportation, which made us stick out even more so than the color of our skin or the length of Piotrs legs :))   The motorbike to a Vietnamese is an extension of themselves, a bionic limb that delivers door to door service come rain or shine.  Walking is an absolute last resort.

Possessing a motorbike is like having a disguise that allows you to roam the streets, concealed from the gawking stares and pointing fingers that foreigners, especially those on foot, are often subject to.  Add to that a helmet, face mask, and elbow length gloves and you are practically invisible.


My ensemble consists of a smurf blue face mask with a cream, felt squirrel stitched on the front to match my smurf blue helmet with a sassy pink rabbit decal on the back.  The helmet was a surprise gift from Piotr :)  Rabsy Babsy sportin her rabbit helmet.  He wouldn't have it any other way!

Piotr, on the other hand, went for a more subtle, manly look, with a red and black helmet and a navy, white and black plaid face mask.  As for the elbow length gloves, well, what can I say, we foreigners like our sunshine and we're still getting used to the heat.  Guess we'll have to settle for a "fit" thats not quite complete :)