As we fly from Ho Chi Minh City north to Da Nang, a catch up on the sights and sounds of Vietnam. I mentioned earlier that there are 8 million cars and motorbikes/cycles in HCMC. An update: only 500,000 of these are autos! THAT explains the streets in the city. In a large tour bus, you feel like a large blood clot coursing through an artery with white blood cells (cars) and red blood cells (everything else) flowing around you. Toss in innumerable pedestrians crossing the streets everywhere and you have the circulatory system of the city.
So, how do you cross the street? Ideally, with a local, if not that lucky, you just get out there and as the traffic is flowing around you, stay steady with hands out right and left and walk through the traffic. You DO NOT stop for the motorized vehicles, they are judging your walking speed, (keep your speed steady), they will 'flow' around you. Exciting, but successful......usually.
Also, we learned, why buy a truck to tranport anything, when you can just pile it on a motorcycle. Frequently, the motorcycle and driver disappears under its load.
With this type of crushing traffic, where's Uber you ask! Out of business, they pulled out of HCMC. Who replaced them? Grab. They are everywhere. Green helmets. One driver, one passenger.
Money? The Dong. They haven't revalued in a while. This is a 500,000 note! Worth around $20. A 25,000 Dong note will buy you a dollar's worth of food. More on that later. (Note the clear 'window' on the bill, very cool)
Last night, we joined our tour guide, Thinh to check out 'street food'. Only try 'street food' when you have a guide to tell you where to eat it! Only six of us took him up on the offer out of our group of 38, what?! First stop was for a pork or egg sandwich at a friend's shop. We went for the egg, excellent. They are a bakery as well, the bread came straight out of the oven. A real treat the way it was seasoned. Price, 25,000 Dong, (One dollar).
Next, we went to his favorite stand for smoothies. He assured us they used filtered water for their ice. We went for it. Gloria had the Passion Fruit, I got a Sour Sop. Excellent, again 25,000 Dong. A great meal for $2!
So, how do you cross the street? Ideally, with a local, if not that lucky, you just get out there and as the traffic is flowing around you, stay steady with hands out right and left and walk through the traffic. You DO NOT stop for the motorized vehicles, they are judging your walking speed, (keep your speed steady), they will 'flow' around you. Exciting, but successful......usually.
Also, we learned, why buy a truck to tranport anything, when you can just pile it on a motorcycle. Frequently, the motorcycle and driver disappears under its load.
Finally, with the crush of millions of motorcycles on the road, if the street backs up with too much traffic, just head over to the sidewalk and continue your commute. This is especially challenging for those eating on little stools on the sidewalks!
With this type of crushing traffic, where's Uber you ask! Out of business, they pulled out of HCMC. Who replaced them? Grab. They are everywhere. Green helmets. One driver, one passenger.
Money? The Dong. They haven't revalued in a while. This is a 500,000 note! Worth around $20. A 25,000 Dong note will buy you a dollar's worth of food. More on that later. (Note the clear 'window' on the bill, very cool)
Last night, we joined our tour guide, Thinh to check out 'street food'. Only try 'street food' when you have a guide to tell you where to eat it! Only six of us took him up on the offer out of our group of 38, what?! First stop was for a pork or egg sandwich at a friend's shop. We went for the egg, excellent. They are a bakery as well, the bread came straight out of the oven. A real treat the way it was seasoned. Price, 25,000 Dong, (One dollar).
Next, we went to his favorite stand for smoothies. He assured us they used filtered water for their ice. We went for it. Gloria had the Passion Fruit, I got a Sour Sop. Excellent, again 25,000 Dong. A great meal for $2!
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