![scootertrafficsaigon1_thumb-7213694](\"http:\/\/one-giant-step.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/ScooterTrafficSaigon1.jpg\")
<\/a> Scooters are everywhere. People don\u2019t walk anywhere, they just jump on their scooter and ride to where ever they want to go even if it\u2019s just a few doors down. It\u2019s like the scooter is an extension of their body, an extra set of legs that gets them where they want to go more efficiently. The roads are filled with them and rush hour is an indescribable chaos of buzzing and honking that I have been unable to capture in any photograph. People can drive scooters into places that I would have thought impossible\u2026while walking through a narrow, winding lane, or through a packed morning market, there is every chance that the unmistakable sound of a scooter will come up from behind and a polite \u2018beep-beep\u2019 will request passage.<\/p>\n<\/a> Parked scooters take up every available space that isn\u2019t used for driving\u2026sidewalks are un-passable, lanes are choked and even the smallest of establishments has a young fellow acting as a parking valet to manage the \u2018parking lot\u2019. They are parked anywhere and everywhere and at night are tucked into their home parking spot in the main room of the house right next to the TV and the sleeping mat just like a member of the family.<\/p>\n<\/a> Scooters are a multi purpose vehicle here. They are family vehicles ferrying mom, dad and kids around\u2026the school near where we are staying is surrounded by parents on scooters picking up their kids after school\u2026a little different than the family sedans and\u00a0 SUV\u2019s in the parking lots at home and yet it all looked the same once the kiddies came out, greeted their parents and siblings and jumped on for the ride home.<\/p>\n<\/a>They are moto-taxis, which we used and loved\u2026it was exhilarating being on the back of a bike driving through the crazy traffic. With an experienced driver at the wheel it wasn\u2019t scary at all and we could really get a good sense of how close it all is. Sometimes we even use them with our big packs\u2026the driver holds the pack in front of him and we hop on the back with our smaller packs\u2026after what I\u2019ve seen scooters capable of carrying I had no trouble feeling safe!<\/p>\n<\/a> They are delivery vehicles for all manner of things\u2026construction materials, beer, ice, large mirrors, propane\u00a0 tanks, ladders, you-<\/a>name-it. They are farm tractors, school buses, and moving vans\u2026I did not get a picture but the best I\u2019ve seen was a full sized, heavy, carved wood sofa with a set of stools and table atop it on\u00a0 the back of a scooter driven by an old man\u2026.amazing!!<\/p>\n