Over the past fortnight the traffic in Saigon, both District 1 and 2, seems to have grown significantly worse. I'm not sure whether it is the re-routing or additional police presence on the roads, but whatever it is it's creating havoc.
It used to take me 15 minutes in a taxi from the school in District 2 to the office in District 1. The trip now takes a frustrating 30 minutes.
This afternoon I left the office at 4pm to go to the bank and it took 15 minutes to travel down Hai Ba Trung Street to the branch - a trip that only a few weeks ago would have taken around 5 minutes. We were going so slowly that I had time to lean out the window and take a few snaps!
Snapped in Saigon at 4.10pm today on Hai Ba Trung Street. I was surprised to see this cable guy wearing a safety harness. Often you will see one guy at the bottom holding the ladder (resting dangerously against the cables!) while the other balances on the top to do the work!
Snapped in Saigon at 4:25pm on Ton Duc Thang Street. This photos gives a pretty clear idea of the Vietnamese psyche when it comes to driving...no matter whether it creates a virtual car park with no room to move, drive forward as far as you can into the available space and don't give way to anyone!
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| Crazy D2 traffic |
Not something I should admit publicly, but the longer I spend in Vietnam the more I unconciously disregard the basic social pleasantries required to function in western society.
For example, in Australia if I accidentally bumped into someone on the street I would immediately turn and apologise. Here, I have slowly adjusted to the fact that knocking over a stranger isn't considered rude - it's merely a bi-product of the frenetic south-east asian culture.
At times, someone trying to bust their way into the elevator before I have exited causes me a moment of outrage, but (unfortunately) I have started to accept this as normal behaviour.
Not, mind you, that I go as far as pushing my way ahead of others - I still wait my turn and hold open doors for people coming after me - but the fact that I'm not afforded the same courtesy doesn't bug me as much as it did 18 months ago.
In expat circles we refer to this as becoming "Vietnamised" - an often slow realisation that our way is not always going to be the dominant behaviour and an eventual adjustment that comes with living in this society after a period of time.
The fact that we've slowly become Vietnamised recently hit home as Team Somerville has entered discussions about buying a "family" motorbike. Yes, that's right, not a family vehicle - a bike! Very Vietnamese!
Rewind only 6 months ago and I would have given anyone who would listen a stern lecture about the dangers of riding around on a motorbike with toddlers.
Now we're in the thick of an expat community where many foreigners consider it normal to transport the kids on a bike (with safety helmets of course) my recent frustration with the traffic in D2 is causing a rethink on my previously staunch beliefs!
Watch this space as Team Somerville grapples with this surprising reality and searches for a new ride!
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| Which way do we go? |
This photo demonstrates the chaos that greeted us this morning as we turned out of our street onto the highway! The morning peak hour drama was caused by the many locals who had no idea that the road routes had changed literally overnight (and yes, for the record, we were also surprised by the changes!).
I have previously commented on this blog that the highway crossing to our street in An Phu makes it highly likely we'll get t-boned by a fast moving truck in the near future. "The powers that be" have apparently tried to resolve this problem with an overpass off the highway so An Phu residents heading to the Vista, Villa Riviera and Riverside developments can avoid the dangerous crossing.
We thought that was fabulous news until we discovered on our return journey this evening that there isn't an exit ramp leading off the highway to our overpass...no, we now have to turn right, go down the road for 1km and do a u-turn back for (the same) 1km to get onto the overpass! WHAT THE?
