11-04-08 to 11-04-21 - Vietnam
On the roads

Nothing defines modern vietnamese cities more than the overwhelming scooters.
Four people to a scooter is a common occurrence, and even five is pretty regular. In our short time there we even saw a family of six on one, although they may have been chinese acrobats on vacation. Most of the adults wear helmets, but rarely do the kids have them. Perhaps they figure there is no need to waste money while the skulls are still soft and pliable. Susan was facinated by the wooden scooter-seats for children that were in common use.
The helmets are quite flimsy and seem to be meant more for appearance than actual safety. There is an unbelievable variety available from stores/stalls on just about every block. They even come with cutouts for ponytails.
The amount they can load up on a scooter can be impressive as well.
The first picture in the following row is worth taking a close look at. It is the view through the front windshield of a bus. At a relatively small break in traffic, they ran across four lanes of traffic to string some new wire to a hydro pole, while the cable was kept above traffic by a couple of handheld poles and a ladder. If you look on the far right it seems that the top guy is standing with one foot on the top of a 20 ft post, which he apparently accessed using a 10 ft ladder.
If you are going to have a glass door, or big screen TV delivered in vietnam, I suggest you don't accept FOB terms.