Tuesday, December 29 – One last note about traffic in Vietnam. Everyone uses their horns. Motorcycles honk at pedestrians and cyclists, cars honk at motos, trucks honk at cars, and busses honk at everyone.
The honking isn’t meant to offend – like it is in Canada - it’s just about serving notice that you’re coming up behind someone and are about to pass. Still, it can get pretty noisy during rush hour.
But what’s most interesting is, if you stay in it for a while as a passenger, you start to notice some patterns. Everyone has their own way of honking. Many people simply use a short toot-toot, but one taxi we took, for instance, used 4 sharp taps in quick succession. Every time it was the same. Another cab driver simply laid on the horn – which seems a bit excessive given the short bursts most drivers use.
Some vehicles have help to create a unique sound. Many cars have a two-tone horn that alternates quickly back and forth, like a fast british siren (doo-dee-doo-dee-doo). And the city busses have a loud horn, that has a slow decay rate. So once the driver lifts his hand, the horn fades slowly away.
It’s the music of the city and, annoying as it can be as a pedestrian, it’s still fascinating.
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