Crossing the Street Overseas and Living to Tell the Tale

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Crossing the street, in the US, is typically a straight-forward affair with lights, signs and a crosswalk.  In other places this may not be so and getting from one side of the road to the other can be a very different sort of experience.

Author navigating the Giza pyramids on a camel

Cairo was one in point.  Getting around by camel at the Pyramids was easy. Crossing the street by my centrally-located hotel was not.

Traffic, Downtown Cairo

 The Cairo zoo was across the street and I really wanted to take a peek inside the day I had some free time.  The traffic situation in the street looked a lot like the photo above of Cairo traffic and I could not find a way to cross, nor could I find anyone to help me negotiate the traffic.  I never got to the Cairo Zoo. In Cairo I did not know the rules for crossing streets, although there must have been some.

Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Bangkok 

Bangkok had non-stop traffic and few traffic lights.  This time, I asked the hotel concierge how to cross a street.  His response was that you walk into traffic, hold your hand up and traffic will stop.  

Stopping Traffic, Bangkok Thailand

Skeptically, I did what he said and lo and behold, the traffic did stop. There was a real sense of power from personally stopping a street full of traffic.

Colonial Building, Hanoi

In Hanoi you go a step further.  There is no effort to stop traffic, you just walk into the street and the scooters will drive around you, they really will.  

Walking into Traffic, Hanoi

Omnipresent Scooters, Hanoi Vietnam

The adrenaline rush that comes from feeling scooters whirring past your legs is addictive and crossing streets became a kind of game with me.  However my fun was cut short after seeing a one-legged woman selling cards in the street.  I'm sure there was no connection, but it put a damper on things.

Marina Promenade, Singapore

Singapore is one of the most organized countries on the planet and their traffic and street crossings are no different.

Street Crossing Singapore

In Singapore, you get a ticket for jay-walking, so you need to forget what you just learned elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

One thing I've learned in traveling is to be aware of local traffic customs.  In Latin America, some cities are very pedestrian-oriented and in others, like Puebla MX, the driver always comes first. Even in the US, there is wide variation to street-crossing customs. Ask your hotel about the local rules and never assume you know how to cross the street and make it to the other side.