SAIGON
“Scooter’s City”: in Saigon, Vietnam (a.k.a. Ho Chi Minh City) the motor scooter reigns supreme* and the pedestrian is an endangered species. There are no chickens left in Saigon, having attempted to cross the road, their genre has been decimated.
The hordes of two-wheelers come in waves of hundreds, sometimes, even thousands it seems and the roads are wide and there is a paucity of traffic signals. One way to get across will be to rent the back half of the seat of a Taxi-Scooter (if you can't lick them - join them).
The choreography is incredible. There seems to be an uncanny para-psychological comprehension or pre-consciousness of the movements of nearby vehicles.
Petty crime is rampant in the form of pick pocketing and purse snatching, further contributing to the dis-attraction of Saigon as a tourist destination.
The Park Hyatt Hotel and its “Square One” restaurant and beautiful swimming pool were our refuge in this lawless, hot and unfriendly environment.
Our positive attitude carried us through. We considered ourselves observers and “made lemonade” as the saying goes.
*5 million scooters, motorbikes or motorcycles.
HOI AN
The city of Tailors: Hoi An is a small city several hundred miles North of Saigon (near Denang, news of which you may remember from our “police action” several decades ago).
The curriculum in the secondary schools features tailoring and apparel design courses.?????????????
Several hundred little shops where you can have a dress, suits, slacks, shirts or other apparel custom made overnight.
We are expecting delivery of our new outfits several hours from now. Hopefully, these will be clothes we will enjoy wearing when we see you next (rather than demanding up as souvenirs of our trip).
We are enjoying temperate weather now that we have moved several hundred miles North.
“Scooter’s City”: in Saigon, Vietnam (a.k.a. Ho Chi Minh City) the motor scooter reigns supreme* and the pedestrian is an endangered species. There are no chickens left in Saigon, having attempted to cross the road, their genre has been decimated.
The hordes of two-wheelers come in waves of hundreds, sometimes, even thousands it seems and the roads are wide and there is a paucity of traffic signals. One way to get across will be to rent the back half of the seat of a Taxi-Scooter (if you can't lick them - join them).
The choreography is incredible. There seems to be an uncanny para-psychological comprehension or pre-consciousness of the movements of nearby vehicles.
Petty crime is rampant in the form of pick pocketing and purse snatching, further contributing to the dis-attraction of Saigon as a tourist destination.
The Park Hyatt Hotel and its “Square One” restaurant and beautiful swimming pool were our refuge in this lawless, hot and unfriendly environment.
Our positive attitude carried us through. We considered ourselves observers and “made lemonade” as the saying goes.
*5 million scooters, motorbikes or motorcycles.
HOI AN
The city of Tailors: Hoi An is a small city several hundred miles North of Saigon (near Denang, news of which you may remember from our “police action” several decades ago).
The curriculum in the secondary schools features tailoring and apparel design courses.?????????????
Several hundred little shops where you can have a dress, suits, slacks, shirts or other apparel custom made overnight.
We are expecting delivery of our new outfits several hours from now. Hopefully, these will be clothes we will enjoy wearing when we see you next (rather than demanding up as souvenirs of our trip).
We are enjoying temperate weather now that we have moved several hundred miles North.
It's taken me awhile to figure out how to follow this blog but I'm so glad that you're doing it! You are having an amazing trip and we can't wait to hear all about it IN PERSON.
ReplyDeleteWe leave for Paris on April 14th and return June 4th...we'll see you this summer in Tahoe. I think it will take more than one visit to hear about this trip!
Your description of the scooter choreography was spot on! LOL
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