Back in Saigon after six weeks away -
It feels so good. Not that it wasn't fun to see family and friends in the US; but it was cold, wet, and hectic for the entire time. I made three trips to the Bay Area on business and we stopped in LA for a night on the way back to Vietnam.
Christmas was a minimalist event for us - the Vietnam adventure was our gift to ourselves. It isn't inexpensive setting up a second household but more than that we have had so much fun exploring, tasting, smelling, walking, talking, and getting massaged that it didn't seem like we needed to do more for ourselves on the holiday.
But, 18 hours in the air is not something we ever look forward to. Maybe the next iPhone app will be a teletransporter that magically zips us across the ocean. I'd download that one in a heartbeat. But, alas, the app is not here yet so we made an airline reservation in October for a January 1 departure. The fare was a bargain because Northwest is trying to break into the market, and in spite of the bozo who tried to blow up the airplane on Christmas Day, the check in and security in Seattle and LA was relatively painless.
It was a breeze until we discovered that we were seated in different rows. How can this be? We buy the tickets in one transaction three months before the flight and they can't find two seats together on a 350 seat 747? Give me a break. On top of that the two seats they do assign are in the last two rows of the airplane. When we reached the gate I explained the problem and my disbelief to a very sober-faced agent who asked for our boarding passes and promised to "see what (she) could do" around boarding time.
As the other agent began the boarding process, she finally called us over and handed me the boarding passes. At least we had two seats together. I didn't even look to see where they were until we were standing in line to get on.
Wow! Wowser! The sober-faced agent, whom I was beginning to see as a ball-breaking Big Nurse, had delivered Business Class seats to us for both legs of the trip - LAX to Tokyo and Tokyo to Saigon. This is not possible is it? Did this really happen? We were afraid to ask, but when they closed the door we were still in the first row of Business Class with glasses of champagne in our hands. It was miracle. It felt like we had won the lottery. We sometimes fantasize about upgrading to Business on one of our trips, but for the number of points it takes to do it we can have two round trips to Europe.
In the interest of full disclosure I have to tell you that I used to fly First Class across the Atlantic all the time. I was spoiled and blessed, and as a Pan Am employee it didn't cost me a cent. Times change, and though I am still spoiled and blessed I know it and appreciate the gift when it's given.
Thank you Northwest Airlines sober-faced lady gate agent. We loved the flight, the service, the food, the seats, and the generosity and we're glad to be back in Saigon a little less beaten down than normal.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Let's Look Forward Not Back
Old habits die hard. Old opinions are hard to change. Old patterns are hard to break. They are even more difficult when they are embedded in the culture and part of a political mindset. They may be based on painful experience, but they are often maintained when conditions change and stand in the way of progress. When this happens it prevents us from moving on or from providing aid and relief to others There are many examples; Cuban-Americans can’t let go of their pain and hatred of Castro’s Cuba. Israelis continue to build settlements on the West Bank when it is clear that it will prevent a negotiated solution to their mutual problem. And – Vietnamese-Americans have such distrust of the communist government in their homeland that their distrust prevents them from helping other Vietnamese and Vietnamese-Americans when there is an opportunity. New generations tend to inherit the attitudes and opinions of their parent generations.
Sometimes these opinions and behaviors are difficult to understand. Evolution and global warming are the best examples I know of. Both are supported by the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence, but some groups refuse to accept their truth. Agent Orange is another example where the science is not in question but political opinion and hard feelings have limited the US government and Vietnamese-American groups from accepting them and dealing directly with the consequences.
The facts are these: between 1961 and 1971 the United States sprayed 77 million gallons of defoliants, including 11 million gallons of Agent Orange over the forests of Vietnam. Agent Orange is an herbicidal defoliant and by itself is not toxic, but dioxin, a by-product of the manufacturing process is the most toxic chemical ever developed. Not only is it a carcinogen; it is also a terratogen a fat soluble chemical that causes chromosomal damage and birth defects that are passed from generation to generation. The US Veterans Administration recognizes 19 diseases (mostly cancers) that are Agent Orange “related” and those veterans affected are now eligible for care and compensation.
Vietnamese populations, both American and those in Vietnam continue to be affected by the deadly chemical. The current generation, the third since the war, shows continuing evidence of birth defects and latent cancers. As many as 4 million Vietnamese are still affected and no one has calculated the number of overseas Vietnamese with lingering symptoms. East Meets West is working with the Ford Foundation to determine the best practices in dealing with the consequences and allocating funds to treat the survivors. Large segments of both populations are affected. Agent Orange is no longer a political issue. Denying the problem is not helpful. Both governments are working on solutions to the last remaining issue standing in the way of full normalization of relations between the two countries. Those affected can be helped. Let’s embrace the solution not the past.
Sometimes these opinions and behaviors are difficult to understand. Evolution and global warming are the best examples I know of. Both are supported by the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence, but some groups refuse to accept their truth. Agent Orange is another example where the science is not in question but political opinion and hard feelings have limited the US government and Vietnamese-American groups from accepting them and dealing directly with the consequences.
The facts are these: between 1961 and 1971 the United States sprayed 77 million gallons of defoliants, including 11 million gallons of Agent Orange over the forests of Vietnam. Agent Orange is an herbicidal defoliant and by itself is not toxic, but dioxin, a by-product of the manufacturing process is the most toxic chemical ever developed. Not only is it a carcinogen; it is also a terratogen a fat soluble chemical that causes chromosomal damage and birth defects that are passed from generation to generation. The US Veterans Administration recognizes 19 diseases (mostly cancers) that are Agent Orange “related” and those veterans affected are now eligible for care and compensation.
Vietnamese populations, both American and those in Vietnam continue to be affected by the deadly chemical. The current generation, the third since the war, shows continuing evidence of birth defects and latent cancers. As many as 4 million Vietnamese are still affected and no one has calculated the number of overseas Vietnamese with lingering symptoms. East Meets West is working with the Ford Foundation to determine the best practices in dealing with the consequences and allocating funds to treat the survivors. Large segments of both populations are affected. Agent Orange is no longer a political issue. Denying the problem is not helpful. Both governments are working on solutions to the last remaining issue standing in the way of full normalization of relations between the two countries. Those affected can be helped. Let’s embrace the solution not the past.
Monday, November 30, 2009
The Space Time Continuum
Progress is a difficult word to get a handle on. What is it exactly? How do we measure it? What timeframes are appropriate for evaluating it? Is it linear? Is it always a positive thing? We’ve obviously made a lot of it in some fields - from mainframes to iPhones in computing, from the Model A to the Prius in automobiles; from segregated schools to the election of an African American President. Sometimes progress astonishes us. In just 53 years the US moved from a society that recognized separate-but-equal as a legal construct to a government led by someone who might have been barred from voting in some jurisdictions at the beginning of the period.
But social or political progress is a seesawing proposition. It is definitely not linear. Science is different. We can see it happen. Its progress is linear but not always positive. The atomic bomb and Agent Orange are products of science but so are the polio vaccine and heart transplants.
Nowhere in my lifetime is progress more personal and tangible than in aviation. The world recognizes the Wright brothers’ flight at Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903 as the first of its kind. It was 120 feet from start to finish at an altitude of 10 feet. I was born exactly thirty-four years after that first flight, the same year that Amelia Earhart missed tiny Howland Island in the South Pacific and was lost at sea on her historic attempt to circumnavigate the globe. 22 years after Earhart disappeared I received a lapel pin from the Chance Vought Company for flying their Marine Corps fighter 1000 miles per hour just off the coast of California. 10 years after that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. From Kitty Hawk to the moon in 66 years.
Last night I saw Amelia, the film biography of Amelia Earhart. She was a celebrity and a pioneer. People were awestruck by the woman and her accomplishments – the first woman to solo the Atlantic, first to fly from Hawaii to the US mainland, and the first to attempt an equatorial circumnavigation of the earth. Those pioneering days seem so distant – but her last flight occurred in my lifetime and now I commute between Seattle and Saigon in less than a day. Even Amelia would be surprised at that kind of progress.
But social or political progress is a seesawing proposition. It is definitely not linear. Science is different. We can see it happen. Its progress is linear but not always positive. The atomic bomb and Agent Orange are products of science but so are the polio vaccine and heart transplants.
Nowhere in my lifetime is progress more personal and tangible than in aviation. The world recognizes the Wright brothers’ flight at Kitty Hawk on December 17, 1903 as the first of its kind. It was 120 feet from start to finish at an altitude of 10 feet. I was born exactly thirty-four years after that first flight, the same year that Amelia Earhart missed tiny Howland Island in the South Pacific and was lost at sea on her historic attempt to circumnavigate the globe. 22 years after Earhart disappeared I received a lapel pin from the Chance Vought Company for flying their Marine Corps fighter 1000 miles per hour just off the coast of California. 10 years after that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. From Kitty Hawk to the moon in 66 years.
Last night I saw Amelia, the film biography of Amelia Earhart. She was a celebrity and a pioneer. People were awestruck by the woman and her accomplishments – the first woman to solo the Atlantic, first to fly from Hawaii to the US mainland, and the first to attempt an equatorial circumnavigation of the earth. Those pioneering days seem so distant – but her last flight occurred in my lifetime and now I commute between Seattle and Saigon in less than a day. Even Amelia would be surprised at that kind of progress.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Shock and More Shock
I'm in all kinds of shock since I got back to Seattle a week ago. Weather shock - 50F instead of 90F. Clutter shock - aware of all the stuff that fills our condo as opposed to the spareness of our apartment in Saigon. Food shock - the amount of fat on or in everything and the portion sizes offered. Shopping shock - noticing the number of shiny new shopping bags people are carrying out of downtown stores. If consumer confidence is down in the US I can't see it. Traffic shock - how aggressive and unforgiving drivers are and how fast they go compared to the slow zen-like movement on the streets of Saigon. And, culture shock - how few people make eye contact or say hello in contrast with the friendliness of the people on the streets of Saigon.
It's natural to look for differences. We're moving between a Third World country and the most developed country in the world. But although the contrast is stark it doesn't always favor the developed state. The day I arrived home is the day the crazy Army psychiatrist killed 13 of his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, and yesterday's headlines in Seattle were about a rich eye surgeon who tried to have his partners murdered because he was unhappy with the million dollar split when they decided to change the business model.
Traffic is a nightmare in Saigon and the sidewalks are broken and filled with parked motorbikes that force you to walk in the street. But, I feel safe any time of day or night on the streets of Saigon. I can't say the same about Seattle.
It's natural to look for differences. We're moving between a Third World country and the most developed country in the world. But although the contrast is stark it doesn't always favor the developed state. The day I arrived home is the day the crazy Army psychiatrist killed 13 of his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, and yesterday's headlines in Seattle were about a rich eye surgeon who tried to have his partners murdered because he was unhappy with the million dollar split when they decided to change the business model.
Traffic is a nightmare in Saigon and the sidewalks are broken and filled with parked motorbikes that force you to walk in the street. But, I feel safe any time of day or night on the streets of Saigon. I can't say the same about Seattle.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
It's Not Your Mother's Supermarket
Ben Thanh Market, in the heart of the heart of downtown, is the best known of the public markets in Saigon. It is a must-have-total-immersion experience for everyone from the family shopper to the high end tour group. The market is enclosed in one gigantic structure and covers one square block. I’m not sure what the roof construction is, but the last time Marilynn and I were there it was raining so hard outside that there was a heavy mist inside.
The market catches your eye immediately as you approach. The outer stalls facing the street are the flower sellers – dozens of them. If you enter from the north you are immediately thrown back to the ageless, timeless, markets of the world and an dizzying array of sights, sounds, and smells. The ladies in their conical hats squat beside basins of live eels, octopus, crabs and flopping mackerel. Behind them are the fruit and vegetable vendors with their tables full of carefully arranged produce. Everyone walking through stops to take a picture of the art. The color, the geometry, the orderliness stop the eye and hold it.
The meat, sausage, and poultry are displayed more like they are in a European market – behind glass but in cases open to the air. It’s hard to recognize any of the cuts. They’re different than what we’re used to seeing. When you order chicken in a restaurant it often comes in chunks and looks like the butcher took a bandsaw to the whole bird and cut it into bite sized pieces.
Deeper in the market, food vendors, all with a few seats at narrow counters offer pho, noodles, rice, etc for the breakfast, lunch and dinner crowd. There is plenty to choose from but it isn’t easy to know what they are selling. It’s best to scout out the counters and see what the customers are eating and then point. Is it safe to eat? Probably, if it’s cooked, but the Vietnamese tummy is conditioned and able to cope with whatever travels along with the fruits and vegetables. Ours is not; so the basic rule is don’t eat unpeeled fruit or fresh salads. The exception to the rule is that the better restaurants and those that cater to the expat and tourist trade take extra care and wash their produce with a special product that ensures its safety.
After eating you can shop till you drop, because everything beyond the food vendors is for sale – fabric, watches, clothing, household goods, sweets, art. It’s all there, and, everything that’s for sale has to be bargained for. I’m not very good at it, but my rule of thumb if I want something is to ask the price and then counter-offer with half. If they snap it up I turn away and find another vendor and offer less. There are dozens of vendors with the same products. At least you’ve found a ballpark figure to work with.
Ben Thanh Market has some name brand knockoffs – handbags, watches, clothes, etc, but the better ones are down the street in a newer building called Saigon Square and the same goods that are for sale there are available across the street in a stall for half of that price and with less mystery in the bargaining. We bought Marilynn a “Chanel” leather bag at Ben Thanh for $25 and I bought a “Prada” shoulder bag at a stall for $9. The quality is there if you have time to dig, but it’s harder for the tourist hurrying to catch up with the group or not miss the bus. Your negotiating posture is always better if you have time or don’t really care if you take the particular item home. There’s always next time or another market.
The market catches your eye immediately as you approach. The outer stalls facing the street are the flower sellers – dozens of them. If you enter from the north you are immediately thrown back to the ageless, timeless, markets of the world and an dizzying array of sights, sounds, and smells. The ladies in their conical hats squat beside basins of live eels, octopus, crabs and flopping mackerel. Behind them are the fruit and vegetable vendors with their tables full of carefully arranged produce. Everyone walking through stops to take a picture of the art. The color, the geometry, the orderliness stop the eye and hold it.
The meat, sausage, and poultry are displayed more like they are in a European market – behind glass but in cases open to the air. It’s hard to recognize any of the cuts. They’re different than what we’re used to seeing. When you order chicken in a restaurant it often comes in chunks and looks like the butcher took a bandsaw to the whole bird and cut it into bite sized pieces.
Deeper in the market, food vendors, all with a few seats at narrow counters offer pho, noodles, rice, etc for the breakfast, lunch and dinner crowd. There is plenty to choose from but it isn’t easy to know what they are selling. It’s best to scout out the counters and see what the customers are eating and then point. Is it safe to eat? Probably, if it’s cooked, but the Vietnamese tummy is conditioned and able to cope with whatever travels along with the fruits and vegetables. Ours is not; so the basic rule is don’t eat unpeeled fruit or fresh salads. The exception to the rule is that the better restaurants and those that cater to the expat and tourist trade take extra care and wash their produce with a special product that ensures its safety.
After eating you can shop till you drop, because everything beyond the food vendors is for sale – fabric, watches, clothing, household goods, sweets, art. It’s all there, and, everything that’s for sale has to be bargained for. I’m not very good at it, but my rule of thumb if I want something is to ask the price and then counter-offer with half. If they snap it up I turn away and find another vendor and offer less. There are dozens of vendors with the same products. At least you’ve found a ballpark figure to work with.
Ben Thanh Market has some name brand knockoffs – handbags, watches, clothes, etc, but the better ones are down the street in a newer building called Saigon Square and the same goods that are for sale there are available across the street in a stall for half of that price and with less mystery in the bargaining. We bought Marilynn a “Chanel” leather bag at Ben Thanh for $25 and I bought a “Prada” shoulder bag at a stall for $9. The quality is there if you have time to dig, but it’s harder for the tourist hurrying to catch up with the group or not miss the bus. Your negotiating posture is always better if you have time or don’t really care if you take the particular item home. There’s always next time or another market.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
An Phu and District 7
In the 1960’s and ‘70s I spent some time in Beirut. It was the financial center of the Middle East. The French were there. The Brits were there. The Americans were there. And the sheiks of the Middle East used it as an escape from the rigid rules of their own kingdoms.
Beirut was mostly about oil. There was none there, but it was where it was traded and where the revenue was exchanged for goods and services. One company dominated the Middle East in those days – Aramco – the Arabian American Oil Company. It operated exclusively in Saudi Arabia, and Aramco compounds, the small cities where the employees lived, were modern, complete, walled, and self sustaining cities within the boundaries of Saudia. Nice houses and apartments, supermarkets, swimming pools, movie theaters, and clubs. You could live in an Aramco compound for years and never see how ordinary Saudi citizens lived.
I was reminded of the Aramco compounds this week. My personal Saigon is the downtown core, Districts 1 and 3, where I work, eat, drink coffee, and workout, but the city is much bigger than these two neighborhoods. Most of my needs are met here, but not all foreigners – expats – feel that way. There are two other districts, 2 and 7, where the majority of the expats have chosen to live. On Friday I went to visit a new acquaintance, a German architect who has been working in Saigon for 10 years. Axel Korn, lives and works in District 7. He lived in District 1 for a couple of years, but moved to 7 because that’s where his office and most of his work is located.
You have to cross the river from downtown to get to District 7 and then drive through an area of rundown tin-roofed structures and plant nurseries. All over Saigon businesses selling the same products group together, but seeing the nurseries could have been a clue about what was to come. Just beyond the nurseries you start to see the high rises of District 7. Drive 5 minutes further and you think you might be in Florida. Palm trees line wide boulevards. A promenade winds along the river. Shopping malls, supermarkets, KFC, they're all there along with the international schools, there must be 10 of them, where the expats send their kids. If I had school age kids I would probably live in District 7 too, but only for the proximity to the schools. It’s not Saigon. We toured one of Axel’s multi-use building complexes. It’s gorgeous with retail on the first two levels, apartments, gyms, three swimming pools and a rooftop terrace with a garden view of the city. But it's not Saigon to me.
On Saturday I visited the other expat area, An Phu, in District 2. My destination was a travel writing workshop, and the venue was a riverside café in the BP compound (British Petroleum – there’s the oil connection again). The compound is lovely. It’s walled and gated with tree lined streets and speed bumps. The houses are hidden behind other walls and the gates have signs that say Beware of Dog or No Solicitors. The Boathouse Café is modern, upscale and open to the view and river breezes. There are outside tables under the trees and you can watch the freighter traffic on its way to the Port of Saigon. It’s a great setting. I had a seared tuna salad with arugula and cherry tomatoes that was delicious. An Phu is not a small Florida city like District 7, but neither An Phu nor District 7 is Saigon for me. There are many sides to the city and they all make it what it is. I still choose the smells, sights, and sounds of the downtown core and Cholon in District 5. They are the real Saigon to me. I'm a newcomer though and I might change my mind.
Beirut was mostly about oil. There was none there, but it was where it was traded and where the revenue was exchanged for goods and services. One company dominated the Middle East in those days – Aramco – the Arabian American Oil Company. It operated exclusively in Saudi Arabia, and Aramco compounds, the small cities where the employees lived, were modern, complete, walled, and self sustaining cities within the boundaries of Saudia. Nice houses and apartments, supermarkets, swimming pools, movie theaters, and clubs. You could live in an Aramco compound for years and never see how ordinary Saudi citizens lived.
I was reminded of the Aramco compounds this week. My personal Saigon is the downtown core, Districts 1 and 3, where I work, eat, drink coffee, and workout, but the city is much bigger than these two neighborhoods. Most of my needs are met here, but not all foreigners – expats – feel that way. There are two other districts, 2 and 7, where the majority of the expats have chosen to live. On Friday I went to visit a new acquaintance, a German architect who has been working in Saigon for 10 years. Axel Korn, lives and works in District 7. He lived in District 1 for a couple of years, but moved to 7 because that’s where his office and most of his work is located.
You have to cross the river from downtown to get to District 7 and then drive through an area of rundown tin-roofed structures and plant nurseries. All over Saigon businesses selling the same products group together, but seeing the nurseries could have been a clue about what was to come. Just beyond the nurseries you start to see the high rises of District 7. Drive 5 minutes further and you think you might be in Florida. Palm trees line wide boulevards. A promenade winds along the river. Shopping malls, supermarkets, KFC, they're all there along with the international schools, there must be 10 of them, where the expats send their kids. If I had school age kids I would probably live in District 7 too, but only for the proximity to the schools. It’s not Saigon. We toured one of Axel’s multi-use building complexes. It’s gorgeous with retail on the first two levels, apartments, gyms, three swimming pools and a rooftop terrace with a garden view of the city. But it's not Saigon to me.
On Saturday I visited the other expat area, An Phu, in District 2. My destination was a travel writing workshop, and the venue was a riverside café in the BP compound (British Petroleum – there’s the oil connection again). The compound is lovely. It’s walled and gated with tree lined streets and speed bumps. The houses are hidden behind other walls and the gates have signs that say Beware of Dog or No Solicitors. The Boathouse Café is modern, upscale and open to the view and river breezes. There are outside tables under the trees and you can watch the freighter traffic on its way to the Port of Saigon. It’s a great setting. I had a seared tuna salad with arugula and cherry tomatoes that was delicious. An Phu is not a small Florida city like District 7, but neither An Phu nor District 7 is Saigon for me. There are many sides to the city and they all make it what it is. I still choose the smells, sights, and sounds of the downtown core and Cholon in District 5. They are the real Saigon to me. I'm a newcomer though and I might change my mind.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The Zen of Traffic
I’ve been here two months now and I’ve just had an epiphany about Saigon traffic. There are three simple rules: Go Slow. Do No Harm. Don’t Hit Anyone.
There are other “guidelines” such as automobiles stay to the left of the flow and everything else, bikes, cyclos, motorbikes and pushcarts keeps to the right. There are also traffic lights, but they are for the most part advisory. These are the two structural guidelines that help ensure that rules #2 and #3 are achieved.
There is one and only one safety device - the horn. Both taxis and motorbikes use them constantly, but they too are advisory - "I'm behind you, please ease over to the side." And, your area of concern as a driver is always in front of you. Most vehicles have mirrors, but it's dangerous to look back. Your job is to avoid running into someone ahead of you. If you look in the mirror you will.
In Vietnam motorbikes go anywhere and everywhere that it is possible to squeeze in – between cars, to the left of the cars if there’s a space, on the sidewalk if there’s not and the wrong way on a one-way street if that’s where they need to go. Bicycles roll along in the middle of it all. At first I thought they would stay to the far right, but that was faulty Western thinking. They ride right down the center of the motorbike side. That’s possible because of Rule #1: no one goes fast. Even when the road looks open, which it seldom is, no one dares to go fast. There is always someone entering the road from the sidewalk or an alley or a side street. Almost all motorbike parking is in organized clusters on the sidewalk, and there’s only one way to get into traffic and that’s off the curb.
Cars obey the “go slow” rule diligently. They can do serious harm if anything goes amiss. So they go slow. Most of the cars are taxis and I haven’t been in one yet that had an automatic transmission. I don’t get that at all. In a world where everything operates in slow motion and forward progress is often inches at a time, why don’t the cars have automatic transmissions? I’ve asked the question of lots of people and no one seems to know. The best guess is that cars with manual transmissions are cheaper. I’m not buying it, but it could be true. Cars are very expensive – there’s a serious tax levied on any car that’s sold in Vietnam. Still, taxis rarely get out of first or second gear and often they stall because the driver is in the wrong gear and it lugs down. I can’t believe that an automatic transmission wouldn’t save money in the long run with all the transmission and clutch repair on the manuals.
Anyway, cars go slowly and because they travel on the left when they need to turn right they do a very slow maneuver through the motorbikes and everyone makes room or weaves around as the taxi eases across. Not only do they make this seemingly impossible maneuver in a sea of motorbikes, but they also think nothing of making a U-turn. In the US if someone tried that he would end up in the slammer or the hospital.
But that brings up the most interesting thing about Saigon traffic: road rage is unheard of. I don’t know if it is the Buddhist influence or something more basic in the make up of the people, but millions of people travel the roads every day and I have never seen anyone scowl or shake a fist at anyone else no matter how egregious the offense. It is very Zen-like to be in the flow.
Nothing is perfect; I’ve seen motorbikes down in the street, but to me it’s a miracle that there isn’t a pile up at every corner. Next time I’ll tell you about crossing the street… It's best characterized as risk management.
There are other “guidelines” such as automobiles stay to the left of the flow and everything else, bikes, cyclos, motorbikes and pushcarts keeps to the right. There are also traffic lights, but they are for the most part advisory. These are the two structural guidelines that help ensure that rules #2 and #3 are achieved.
There is one and only one safety device - the horn. Both taxis and motorbikes use them constantly, but they too are advisory - "I'm behind you, please ease over to the side." And, your area of concern as a driver is always in front of you. Most vehicles have mirrors, but it's dangerous to look back. Your job is to avoid running into someone ahead of you. If you look in the mirror you will.
In Vietnam motorbikes go anywhere and everywhere that it is possible to squeeze in – between cars, to the left of the cars if there’s a space, on the sidewalk if there’s not and the wrong way on a one-way street if that’s where they need to go. Bicycles roll along in the middle of it all. At first I thought they would stay to the far right, but that was faulty Western thinking. They ride right down the center of the motorbike side. That’s possible because of Rule #1: no one goes fast. Even when the road looks open, which it seldom is, no one dares to go fast. There is always someone entering the road from the sidewalk or an alley or a side street. Almost all motorbike parking is in organized clusters on the sidewalk, and there’s only one way to get into traffic and that’s off the curb.
Cars obey the “go slow” rule diligently. They can do serious harm if anything goes amiss. So they go slow. Most of the cars are taxis and I haven’t been in one yet that had an automatic transmission. I don’t get that at all. In a world where everything operates in slow motion and forward progress is often inches at a time, why don’t the cars have automatic transmissions? I’ve asked the question of lots of people and no one seems to know. The best guess is that cars with manual transmissions are cheaper. I’m not buying it, but it could be true. Cars are very expensive – there’s a serious tax levied on any car that’s sold in Vietnam. Still, taxis rarely get out of first or second gear and often they stall because the driver is in the wrong gear and it lugs down. I can’t believe that an automatic transmission wouldn’t save money in the long run with all the transmission and clutch repair on the manuals.
Anyway, cars go slowly and because they travel on the left when they need to turn right they do a very slow maneuver through the motorbikes and everyone makes room or weaves around as the taxi eases across. Not only do they make this seemingly impossible maneuver in a sea of motorbikes, but they also think nothing of making a U-turn. In the US if someone tried that he would end up in the slammer or the hospital.
But that brings up the most interesting thing about Saigon traffic: road rage is unheard of. I don’t know if it is the Buddhist influence or something more basic in the make up of the people, but millions of people travel the roads every day and I have never seen anyone scowl or shake a fist at anyone else no matter how egregious the offense. It is very Zen-like to be in the flow.
Nothing is perfect; I’ve seen motorbikes down in the street, but to me it’s a miracle that there isn’t a pile up at every corner. Next time I’ll tell you about crossing the street… It's best characterized as risk management.
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