Hanoi Havoc

“Driving on the road in Hanoi is described as going out to battle.” -ezinarticles.com

“The damage caused by traffic accidents stands just behind that caused by the war," said Colonel Tran Dao, traffic director for the Hanoi Police Department, -helmets.org

“You find a space on the road and stay in it till someone else needs it.”-vietnamtravelsuite101.com

“Don't bother waiting for a gap in the traffic as there never is any.  Do what the locals do - wait for a big enough gap to step into the flow of traffic and then keep edging forward at as constant a speed as possible without stepping in front of anything that would need to swerve too much or brake to sharply to avoid hitting you.  There is one basic rule for traffic in Vietnam - "Don't hit anything".  Besides that, pretty much anything goes.”- tripadvisor.com

“The traffic is daunting, but the brave learn quickly how to join the flow.- Frommers South East Asia Guide

Here is what Maisie & Harry say after their cyclo trip:

Maisie says:
“On the cyclo it was sort of fun but really scary and the motorbikes kept whizzing past and I tried hard not to think about the oncoming traffic. The traffic almost hit me and I kept feeling the cyclo jerking left and right. I squeezed Harry’s arm so tight there was a red mark!”

Harry says:
“It was so fun because it was really fast, much faster than a car. I was here then, ‘nyoammm!’ (Harry sign languages a near crash). It wasn’t very scary but I smelled a smell that wasn’t nice. The roof was red with little holes that the driver could see through. Maise nearly made me have blood on my arm!”

Crossing the road

Maisie says:
“Crossing the road was so scary because all of the motor bikes kept moving everywhere and I nearly got run over. The secret of crossing the road is walking slowly and not looking left and right.”

Harry says:
“It was so fun, it was like a roller coaster! The traffic is about to crash into me and the cars went ‘neep! neep!’ (sign language of another near crash) but it wasn’t even scary.”