Moving along alright

This is a great picture.  Not only is it a snap shot of the traffic but it also has a sign for the hilarious Hafasco Company.  Say that slowly: Hafasco (ie, not where you go if you want quality - sc)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oetF3UTIwbc
This isn't my footage but it's a good sample of the roads now days.  Click it.  Picture us in it.  Crazy!

In the year we've been gone, traffic has becoming down right scary. When we first arrived in Vietnam more than 7 years ago motorbikes were king of the road with bicycles, more numerous by far, being the little guy making way for the zooming scooters. We were cyclists at the time and for our first two years. When we graduated to motorbikes we joined the big kings of the road and though traffic was hectic, it wasn't scary. Once you see through the chaos you notice a flow like blood cells squeezing through a vein.

Now, cars are king of the road and those of us on motorbike must give way or be squashed. Traffic is more hectic. Horns are inhumanely loud. But the cars aren't the scary ones it's the intercity buses that turn my body cold and send pains of fear throughout my legs when they literally push me forward with their screams and 'taps'.

It took me a week to venture out on my motorbike. A week and a half to drive with Hannah on the front. And two weeks to put both girls on the bike with me. But we did it today. We made it. No huge scares, just lots of medium scares. Allison rode in the front of me. Hannah rode in the back.

The buses screamed at us all along the way, but the girls remained calm and chatted the whole way! I pretended to be calm and did not answer any of their questions. My eyes could only focus on all the pedestrians walking in front of us, the other motorbike drivers zig-zagging in and out, the cars pushing us over and the buses bullying us.

We are back to being real road Hanoians.