Page 148 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL FALL 2020 South Africa

we came to realize that the motorbike traffic is
pretty slow, even in the countryside. No one was
in a hurry to pass anyone or beat the traffic light –
if there were any.
We aren’t exaggerating. You can Google Viet-
nam traffic and find a zillion mentions. But what
we found more amazing was motorbike as pack
animal. Three on a bike? Routine. Someone carry-
ing a coop full of chickens? Sure, why not?
One day eating lunch in the Thao Dien district of
HCMC, we made a list of what passing motorbik-
ers were toting:
Seven empty plastic water jugs
A closet storage system
A mobile bakery
Several dozen coconuts in big red plastic bags
Two aluminum ladders
Side baskets filled with melons
A pet transfer service with a big cage on the
back
A 4-foot-high batch of brooms
Five baskets of flowers
A knife sharpening service
Dozens of people with grocery bags
Dozens of guys delivering what looked like
Amazon boxes.
But the most memorable? A whole family on one
bike.
We must have seen a dozen. It was always in the
same order: Dad driving, with one child in front of
him; Mom behind, with a second child in front of
her. This, too, was always the same: Dad and Mom
wore helmets, the kids didn’t.
Safety is not a phenomenon in Vietnam.
Love,
John and Jody

FOOD
Dear Ron,
Say “Vietnamese food” and most people think
“pho.”
It’s the unofficial national dish. A rice noodle
soup of light beef or chicken broth flavored with
just about anything. Ginger, coriander, spring
onions, slivers of chicken, pork or beef. Viet-

148 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020