Dear Thien,

THANK you for being such a wonderful guide on my recent holiday in Vietnam. I would have remained reluctant to cross streets, if it weren’t for your demonstration of the fail-safe technique of; step out, walk forward, don’t run and don’t go backwards. It was desperate measures and an act of faith to follow these instructions as there was speeding traffic coming from all directions.

There were vans, trucks, cars, bicycles, cyclo bikes, pedestrians, scooters and motor bikes, all vying for, and entitled to, a bit of the narrow road.

Sitting in a cyclo bike and having vehicles coming within millimetres of me, I concentrated on observing how the system worked. It was a lesson in patience and civility and everyone got about safely in a situation that could have ended in utter chaos.

Having crossed many streets, some, more packed than others, I never witnessed an accident. Pretty astounding.

Motorbikes and scooters were the main mode of transport. At any one time, there would be a heaving sea of them with different coloured helmets bobbing up and down, and all heading at speed in the same direction. In the main, there were two people on each bike, but often there were up to six people fitting on to the one. This sometimes included small babies, sitting in front of the driver.

When you took us to Hanoi, I observed that traffic lights and zebra crossings didn’t impinge on the consciousness of the motor bike/scooter fraternity. Cars did, indeed, stop at the lights but the two-wheeled varieties lived by their own rules.

Once in Ho Chi Minh, the rules of the road were recognised. Even so, crossing the street was always an ordeal.

My abiding memory of my holiday in Vietnam is your excellent guiding, the friendly, generous Vietnamese people and the floods of traffic pouring over the streets.

I look forward to going there and meeting you again. Hopefully, I won’t be as afraid of the roads then. Best wishes, Vera