Electric car – without the smog – is the greenest way to get around Vietnam’s capital city. This is one resident’s guide to making the most of them.
As a current expat living in Hanoi – the sometimes smoggy but always charming capital of Vietnam – since I arrived, I tend to forget to pop on my tourist hat and take part in that side of this energetic city.
But not long ago, I was lucky enough to have two of my best friends arrive with their traditional Vietnamese conical hats on, who were in full swing of utilizing every tourist attraction going. By the time I finally met up with them, I was promptly informed of what was next on their tourist to-do list: an electric car tour. I must admit, I was dubious.
Regardless, we set off one afternoon bound for the starting point of our journey. After some wandering with a map and a few dead ends, we arrived at the start of the tour near Dong Xuan Market (where apparently, you can buy anything from a toad to a mattress) and negotiated with the driver shuttle us around Old Quarter for a mere 15,000 VND – roughly 75 cents. Off we headed, cameras at the ready, into the streets that, for the past 1,000 years, have been the center of Hanoian life.
Most electric buses in the city are entirely open on both sides – great for photos, but begs a strict “hands and feet inside the car” rule. Hanoi’s streets are truly chaotic – beeping, buzzing, rumbling and shouting. Every manner of sound possible in a city surrounds you in a constant cacophony of noise.
That’s what made the experience on board this strange vehicle such a shocking revelation. While the motorbikes and cars around us shuddered and buzzed, our own bus was silent, whizzing through the streets without so much as a “whir”. While my travel companions had their faces firmly planted to their cameras, I sat back and wondered: “Is this the best way to get around the city?”
In Vietnam, tourists tend to draw some stares. We’re louder than we mean to be – taller, broader and more obvious. But in the streets, scooting along the road at the rate of traffic in a silent scurry, we were more invisible than I remember ever being.
