I recently had a short holiday in Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)… What a place! Its just so different to any other place I have been to before… So different, yet so charming. Due to time constraints we weren’t able to go north as I would have liked; so ended up doing day trips and spent the time based in HCMC’s district 1.
There was a heat wave during the few days I was there, and at first I had problems adjusting to the high humidity, high 30 degree celcius days. Coming out of the air conditioned comfort of the hotel, the heat would hit you like a wall… even at 6 in the morning!
There is a population of around 7 million in HCMC, and there are about 2 million scooters. Its peak hour all day in the city, and there are always scooters everywhere! We often wondered where everyone was scootering to?? it looked like people just rode around all day!
It looks like there are few if any at all road rules, and people ride and drive how they like, its amazing there aren’t more accidents!… Sydney drivers don’t have half the skill of these people! I never saw any road rage either!
Crossing the road is an act of bravery in HCMC… Before I left Sydney, a friend said to me “look out for the cars, but ignore the scooters and just cross”… I didn’t believe him at first, but after watching the locals do it a few times, I gathered up the courage and did it myself…
The trick to crossing the road is to just walk slowly and at a constant pace.. even if scooters are ripping down the street at speed, just keep to your pace and keep on walking… they will avoid you! Perhaps closing your eyes might help
Do not ever try to avoid them, cos you might instead jump into their path and get run over. If you stood at the side of the road and waited for an opening, you would probably be standing there forever, as the flow of traffic never ceases!
In the gallery below, I have some pictures taken in and around HCMC. Take a look at the telegraph pole in the 19th image.. One day we were walking down the street and was wondering why all the shops were either dark or were running on generators… there was apparently a power outage.. Look at the poor guy working on the junction box… those black cables are power lines! imagine trying to trace one particular line!
Also in the images, I managed to find a BreadTalk shop that looks very similar to the Breadtop shops here in Sydney. And towards the end of the set there are some pictures taken of the temple and laquerware factory that were part of the city tour we went on the first day.
[svgallery name="vn-hcmc"]
no comments