Two things I love to do when in an unfamiliar place: eat and walk around. Since we were in Vietnam for an event we organized, I couldn’t do a lot of walking around until after the event. And even during that we had a day of touring and two days of just shopping and visiting the sites.
Roundabouts and crossroads
The streets of Saigon, or Ho Chi Minh City, at first sight appear just like Manila. However, Manila streets are not filled with millions of motorbikes going around in almost all directions. The typical “rotonda” or circle to Filipinos is dubbed as roundabouts in Saigon. And it’s like playing patintero at its worst when trying to cross the roundabout. I would usually stop at some points of the road just to avoid being hit by a motorbike. They don’t stop to let anybody cross. It’s every man for himself.]
This photo doesnt justify the number of motorbikes on the street
At one point I was crossing a four-lane street to get to a restaurant but it still seemed like a great task. I was standing beside an old Vietnamese woman. She looked at me then suddenly held my arm and helped me cross the street. How embarrassing was it to be helped by an old woman rather than the other way around. Maybe I looked like a kid who doesn’t know how to cross the street. She uttered no word. She just looked at me and grabbed my arm to make me move forward. After crossing she just left still without a word.
- 6:46 PM
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