A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
Most of my first day here in Saigon was spent wandering around town trying to track down a "sim card" for my fancy new phone (thanks, Mom and Dad!) During my hours of streetwalking (no, not that kind) I learned a few things:

1. It's damned hot here. I'm praying that I get used to it soon so my accursed Beucler face isn't flushed for six months.

2. It'll be a flipping miracle if I don't get run down by a motorbike during my stay. Stoplights are underused here, and even when they exist they appear to be taken more as helpful hints than actual legal requirements. Cars do stop for lights at least 80% of the time, but to my unpracticed eye, there appear to be approximately 27,000 motorbikes for each auto on the road, none of which pay the slightest bit of attention to the lights or crosswalks. Crosswalks -- ha! It is to laugh. Not once did anyone stop for me. Instead of obeying traffic signals and signs, the Vietnamese have adopted a technique of honking the horn before approaching an intersection, and either the larger vehicle or the first beeper gets the right of way, though mostly they just weave among eachother in a death defying way. And did I mention the "one way street" conundrum? Although some streets are one-way, which is also regarded as more of a recommendation than a requirement by minibike drivers. Actually, upon reflection, it is quite possible that none of these streets are one-way, but I was fooled by the the fact that they drive on both sides of the road. In any event, looking both ways is truly an imperative -- Mom will be relieved that I quit the walking-while-reading habit cold turkey today. Which brings me to my third lesson of the day:

3. Crossing the street is more difficult than it looks. Really, "weaving the street" might be a more accurate description of the process, due the perils described above. After waiting 15 minutes to cross one busy thoroughfare (I opted to wait for a brave/insane Vietnamese person to provide cover), I began to curse my love of Ms. Pacman when I was a teen. Frogger would have been better choice - far more useful in the real world.
posted by Katy at 3:20 AM