After the Water Puppet performance, we took the Cyclo City Tour. Man! The ride was crazy and scary. There seemed to be no traffic rules for this mode of transportation.
Our entourage ran past red lights, went head-on with oncoming traffic especially at the roundabout and junctions, and constantly millimeters away–not inches mind you–from another vehicle, be it a car or a motorbike. And when the buses approached, oh man… I’d cringe and will the guy to peddle faster.
Half the time I was either curling my toes or straightening my legs as if stepping on the brakes! Despite the seemingly reckless traffic maneuvering, there was no contact or accidents. Phew… Like I said previously, it’s controlled chaos.
And the traffic noise. My goodness… it made me realized the eight years I have been driving my current car, I can count the number of times I have used the horn of my car – less than my two hands put together. But these people in Vietnam… they use the horn as frequently as possible, probably more than the signals.
The ride took us from the theatre through the city, passing many of the sights covered two days ago and it was interesting to see them at this street level situation instead of from inside a van or standing at street level. It’s a different experience.
But at one point, we had to get off the Cyclo and walked alongside traffic because the uphill bridge was too much of a weight to handle. Once we hit the top, we climbed back on and the downhill ride was a breeze.
We survived the hour long ride and headed for the river cruise with dinner on board. By then an appetite was worked up.
We each had our own Cyclo
No gridlock can stop the Cyclo!
Had to get down and walk on the bridge
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