Saigon - Driving and Nightlife (November 2)

Noisy Driving

Watch the large green city bus as it crosses the frame from right to left. Walking beside the bus, going in the same direction, is a man who is using the bus as protection from the traffic. Although the traffic is traveling relatively slowly through the intersection, realize what a bold move this is for the man to walk out into this busy intersection. The man at one point wants to go further away from the video camera, so he starts to walk against the movement of the bus in order to get around it. He then decides that this is not a good idea, so he continues walking with the bus in the same direction as the bus is traveling. The controlled chaos at Vietnamese traffic intersections is a sight to see.

Vietnamese drivers use their horns. A lot! They use their horns to signal their presence, to warn other drivers, and sometimes to indicate to traffic ahead of them to get out of the way.

I learned a little trick while cycling in Vietnam. Often trucks would signal their presence right as they pulled up along side me. It wasn't necessary for them to signal their presence as I was already aware that they were there because I could hear them coming. They would blow the horn anyway. The problem with this is that the horn would cause my ears to ring. Many of the trucks had their horn placed on the right hand side on the undercarriage which placed the horn at ear level with the bicyclists on the side of the road. When a truck would blow its horn as it was beside me, my left ear would ring.

Traffic Circle - Cho Ben Thanh

Observing Vietnamese riders, I was able to stop the truck drivers (and most other drivers) from blowing their horns in my ear. I noticed that when I placed a finger over my left ear, the passing truck would rarely blow its horn. This method worked more than 99% of the time. I think that placing the finger over the ear indicated to the truck drivers that I knew that they were there. The truck drivers try to indicate their presence by blowing their horns. When a cyclist places a finger over his ear, he is indicating to the truck driver that he knows that the truck is there. Thus, the truck driver no longer needs to blow his horn.

Nightlife.

I sit at a bar called Allez Boo at the corner of Pham Ngu Lau and De Tham. Initially, there is not much going on. A voice next to me says, "you look bored." I might be or maybe I'm just tired from all the travelling. I turn and end up talking with a young Vietnamese from San Jose. He was living in Rome, Italy for the last few months. He has just graduated from Business School and is travelling. We talk about many things, Vietnam, Vietnamese living overseas, and politics. He is worried that he is wasting his time (and thus his money) by travelling. I tell him it is worth the missed oportunity costs to be travelling right now.

Another night in Saigon, I went out to dinner with Terry's friends and his friend's international school colleagues. We went to a fancy creperie, Ty Coz Saigon at 178/4 Pasteur. Because we are a large party, we are seated at a large table on the roof. Although they don't have many vegetarian options, couldn't make crepes that night, and the prices were much higher than any others I had seen in Vietnam, I had a very nice and tasty meal. My recommendation: go to Ty Coz and try to get a table on the roof.