Some travel experiences leave an imprint on you for ever, others scar you for life and if you happen to have that experience while on the back of a cyclo in Ho Chi Minh you might just end up scared both physically and mentally. Among the long list of things I was told not to do while in Vietnam riding a cyclo was right their on the top. Ignoring all rational and sane advice I got on the first cyclo that I could find and took off.
Cyclo drivers can be found anywhere that their are tourists and for 2 USD they will drive you across town. I handed the driver my money, was told to hold on, and in a brief moment of sanity I had a clear though and questioned what I was about to get into, but I wasn't given the chance to think further; the driver took off so fast all I could see was streaks. My friend, who was on a cyclo next to me, began screaming something, I'm not sure what, but I think it was "we are going to die," which the drivers didn't take as a warning, but more of as a challenge. Thus we began to drag race through the street of Saigon. It wasn't the speed that scared me, the swerving around other bikes, or the man who we hit in the street and didn't bother to stop for (he seemed okay, no falling or blood, but then again we were going at a speed where I couldn't see anything but my life flash before my eyes) it was the corners. There seems to be no brakes on these bikes and corners are taken fast and the reach an angle where my knees where almost touching the ground. The end destination didn't come fast enough. We stopped, the drivers laughed, and we got off.
The way back we couldn't find any cyclos so we decided on their slower cousin, the rickshaw. Not nearly as fast considering that is nothing more then a cart attached to a bike, but it was a death trap in its own right. The rickshaw drivers insisted to drive on the road with the suicidal drivers leaving nothing but a thin slice of bamboo between us and the cars and cyclos on the street. The worst was when we had to cut across traffic. Unlike most cities I can not recall a single signal light in the entire city, so crossing traffic is like a game of frogger, and I was the frog. There is nothing like seeing traffic coming at you fast and furious, while the driver takes his time to peddle across the street.