Landed in Ho Chi Minh/Saigon and met our guide Giang (pronounced yang) through the throngs of family members waiting to greet a returned loved one. Yang was telling us that just one Vietnamese returning home means a family group of 20-25 waiting perhaps all day to see them. We witnessed one such scene.... Pretty young woman came through arrivals and was promptly surrounded by hugging, kissing and even crying relatives. The mother was most touching as she practically pounced on her daughter!
As our flight arrived late afternoon, it was a quick drive through the city with a VERY skilled driver to our hotel. Hundreds of motorcycles weaving in and out of cars, jostling for the tiniest space. Westerners have it all wrong, Asians aren't bad drivers ... They have a different code. We are regimented, controlled ... anxious and ready to explode if someone crosses the line. Asians just go with the flow of traffic and it makes sense to everyone and there is barely a cross face to be seen.
After a gorgeous Vietnamese dinner at another hotel, we returned and went for a quick walk to the night markets. Yang told us that by the end of the trip, our mission was to cross the road at the Ben Thanh roundabout successfully without being hit. The challenge goes against the grain for pedestrian respecting Australians. We started small, just crossing the street in front of the hotel. Look straight ahead and at NO point pause. Ok ... Heart pumping - fellow agent in front of us (him first ok!) ... Done. Stage 1 of mission completed!! The more exasperating challenge will be to tame my Vietnamese hairstyle! Perfectly straight in the morning ... looking fly ... And then BAM, humidity wraps its moist little tendrils around each strand and entices each to go its own way. Be free fly aways, be free controlled waves. UGH ... It's going to be the harder of the two tasks set!!
Post Script: have mastered crossing roads Vietnamese style but didn't get the chance to do the roundabout.
No comments:
Post a Comment