Things whizz by rather quickly when you're on a bike. But the colours and flavours of the city still make quite an impression. Here are views of the recent* Tet decorations with traditional red buntings lining the streets.
We even caught sight of Uncle Ho conducting the traffic like it was some sort of orchestra. What a riotous melody we made.
As its the year of the pig, naturally piggies had to line the streets. Just park your bike in front of a pig and get your shot done. Then hop on again. No worries - its the normal thing to do. Generally, at the parks, you can drive your bike right up to a comfortable seat, or just sit under the shade of a cool tree and relax (or make-out - as most young Vietnamese would be found doing in the evenings).
The festive season however transforms "normal" traffic to a mad snarl. Actually, these riders are trying to find a parking space so they can catch a glimpse of the Tet evening sights. To get a real feel of riding during a festive season, check out this video. (The video's of us trying to navigate the Christmas traffic 2006. There was slightly more street decorations than Christmas 2005 but besides this, there really wasn't any great sights on the streets. We wondered why so many families were out on their bikes that night! Maybe it's just a sense of having fun. Watching Vietnamese traffic is really like having a non-stop movie pan out right in front of your eyes! - if only it was sans fumes and sound...although i guess that's part of the entertainment)
*Ok so this is a late post - at least i got it out whilst its still the year of the pig!
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