Grandpa and I relaxing in the business class seats. Well worth the miles for a 20-hour flight!
Ho Chi Minh City is insane. As our guide said, “There are 10 million people in the city and 10 million motorbikes.” The traffic swarms everywhere and motorcycles come from all directions at once. The streets are narrow and lined with tall green trees.
Shops line the streets and people are all outside: young couples in pairs near the park, sitting on their motorbikes holding each other. Small groups sit at tables outside cafes and throngs walking in all directions.
The traffic patterns are crazy—people have no regard for traffic lights, lanes, and oncoming traffic. In fact, there are many intersections with no traffic regulation at all—no lights or roundabouts, just a crazy game of chicken they all seem to understand.
Our guide said the method is this, “You just keep going in a straight line with no hesitation and everyone else will avoid you.” We saw one accident within the first 10 minutes. A crowd of people gathered around an injured person on a sidewalk.
Power lines are everywhere—a rat’s nest of electrical haphazard.
Confused?
The hotel was very nice. After a sleep interrupted by the noise of the chaos outside, we were back on the way to the airport to head to Da Nang.
Next stop…China Beach and Da Nang.