So Bangkok has a massive amount of organized traffic & Cambodia has zero traffic laws but we were very curious to see where Saigon fit in the spectrum. Somewhere in the middle I’d say. It seems just as busy as Bangkok and while it has traffic signals, many motorbikes just blow right through them. By day 2, we had a catchphrase for our approach… “Hesitation kills”. The light switches, you get the little green walking man, you put your head down & just walk briskly at the same pace without breaking stride, assuming the renegade motorbikes who are running the light will see you & adjust their path to you. If you alter your path, pace or hesitate at all, your arc changes which then throws off the motorbikes, leading to potential disaster. So out the window flies what your parents drilled into you as a little child… There is no looking both ways before you cross the street. You’ll never make it & will be stuck on that corner for hours. You look one way, even with the little green walking man, & then you sort out the rest on the fly. We adapted just fine (& survived) & I must say, it was a bit exhilarating & made simple strolls around the city pretty darn exciting.
You may have noticed I’ve been referring to HCMC as Saigon. On our first night in the city after travels & a lovely dinner at a restaurant operated by former street children & orphans, we ended up at Ice Blue, despite its name, a chill local bar down the street from our hotel. We sat having local beers for an hour or so before we realized we were the only ones in the bar & were approached by the Vietnamese owner & his older British minority investor. The owner explained their tradition that if bar newbies stay past 11, they are gifted a tequila shot dropped in a beer and only once we successfully chug the beer/shot mix, do they recognize our names (we remain nameless before). We weren’t given an option so the nice girls working the bar set up the contraption & we had to take them down. Afterwards, I ended up having a wonderful 2-hour+ conversation with the owner about various topics, while Amy was unfortunately stuck talking to the pompous investor. The owner & I spoke about our personal histories (he’s originally from Hue in central Vietnam); all of the American Vietnam War vets who sidle up to his bar, ridden with guilt, & how he tries, over several nights, to get them to open up & leave the past in the past & focus on living a happy life now; & the fact that no one calls the city HCMC. Tran says he’s never EVER heard ANYONE call it anything but Saigon. And he was emphatic about it. He said to the locals, this was very important as they don’t want to recognize & memorialize communist Ho Chi Minh (as it was renamed for him upon fall of Saigon in 1975). I really liked that spirit, & can attest we never heard locals refer to it as HCMC, so it’s Saigon from here on out. He was a lovely feisty old man w endless fascinating stories & a refreshingly positive outlook on life & I loved our conversation. He took out a pad of paper & drew a map of Vietnam and using his input, we mapped out our 3-week proposed itinerary. He gave me his card, in addition to a big hug upon leaving, & insisted if I needed anything at all or had any questions as we traveled, I shouldn’t hesitate to reach out to him. I think, after we complete the 6 weeks travel & Amy unfortunately has to leave, I will be back to Vietnam, and Saigon specifically, & will certainly make a point to stop in at Ice Blue for another chat w Tran.