Hanoi Frogger

I had heard about the infamous Hanoi traffic even before arriving on the bus. The words of advice bestowed on me were, “Never look back, only move forward, then they won’t hit you.” When I first saw the millions of motorbikes, all whizzing by our bus, beep, beep, beeping their horns I thought, there is no way I’m NOT going to get hit here. It was chaos like I’d never seen before. Traffic lights meant nothing as moving objects moved at free will and drove on either side of the road. Pedestrian crossings were rare—all were advised to cross the street at their own risk.

I realized when I got off the bus that I was going to have to brave this traffic as a biped. So I held my breath, looked forward, and took my first step into oncoming motorbikes… Moto bike 1 passed , phew, pause, EEKS!, almost hit, keep MOVING, phew , OH NO, bike coming from other way, hurry forward, deep breath, only 5 more bikes to clear, the sidewalk is in view… REJOICE! I made it across! The feeling was exhilarating. I conquered Hanoi traffic—I was a real-life “Frogger”.

After my virgin street crossing I felt confident. I had an instant high, knowing that I could defeat any traffic coming my way!