Look both ways before crossing the road, yo!

I left off in Hanoi, Vietnam, last time I wrote. I want to try and express the scariness as well as thrill of crossing the road there. This is a city where the traffic didn't stop until late at night (midnight to be exact, because at that time everything in the country literally shuts down and the streets are empty, all except for the street cleaners and rats.) Anyways, the traffic doesn't stop for you.... really, it doesn't stop. It may slow down if it has to... but it won't stop. So, you have one option: walk out into anywhere from 4-8 lanes of traffic that is rushing by you and at you. You do this one step at a time, keeping eye contact with the drivers that are heading straight for you and they start to swerve around you. Take another step, and another, and before you know it you are now standing in the middle of a road with traffic rushing by you on both sides, heart pounding, palms sweaty, keeping your eyes on all of them all at once, and you must continue to baby step it all the way across the road.