Monday Moment: Vietnam Moto Taxi

In Vietnam the fastest, and most economical, way of getting around is the moto-taxi.

Just like regular taxis, moto-taxi drivers hang out on every street corner waiting for customers. We would simply walk up, point at the map as to where we wanted to go, negotiate a price, and hop on the back.

Even if we had all our bags with us; the driver would arrange them around his, and our, feet and off we would go.

My biggest tip for using moto-taxis is to strap the helmet on your head. I failed this step only once and lost my helmet in the middle of a huge, motorcycle-filled, intersection. Frantically, I started flapping my hands in front of the drivers face in the internationally recognized hand signal for ‘I’ve lost your helmet. You need to stop!’ He eventually understood that I wasn’t just waving to Jason on the other bike and pulled over allowing me to run back through the traffic to retrieve it. Good times.