Vietnam is known for many things. In my four years there I saw and learned many things. Their culture, beautiful locations, food, language and the crazy weather. One of the most popular things they are known for is that the main mode of transportation is done by motorbike. You can search on Youtube; “traffic jams in Vietnam” and hundreds of videos will appear showing what traffic can be like during rush hour a time during each day when traffic is at its heaviest. In these videos you will see thousands of people on motorbikes and the craziness mad, wild, or erratic behavior or nature that comes with driving a motorbike. 

In order to drive a motorbike in Vietnam you need a special driving licenseto permit the use of something. There are two types of licenses to choose from; A1 or A2. For an A1 license, you are allowed to drive a motorbike from 5ccCubic Capacity – the power of the engine to 150cc while an A2 license is anything above 150cc. Any bike below 50cc does not require a license. One of the first things I did once I got to Vietnam was get my A1 license. This is the most popular type of license as most motorbikes fall between the 50-150cc range.

As a foreigner I didn’t have to take a written exam for the A1 license, only the practical portion. The practical portion involves keeping your motorbike between metal sensorsa device which detects or measures things while completing 4 obstacles. These obstacles involve speed bumps, a straight away, swerving to avoid items in the road and the hardest obstacle; completing a figure eight. While completing these obstacles, you need to stay between metal sensors. If you go out of these sensors five times you will fail. Most students will fail during the figure eight obstacle due to its difficulty. Lucky for me, I passed with a 100 percent!

Vocabulary Words: Rush hour, Craziness, CC, License, Sensors