Vietnam Traffic Rules

* Don't look around when preparing to enter traffic on a bicycle or scooter. Just pull directly out into traffic and presume that everyone will go around you.

* Its ok to go the wrong way up a one way street as long as you are turning into a side street or driveway somewhere along the way.

* It ok to text and talk on your phone, also its fine to slow down so you can ride 3 abreast and talk to all your friends on the other scooters next to you.

* Its ok to beep your horn as often as necessary to let people know you are coming through. If you intend to ride fast and recklessly and are under 23 its fine to sit on the horn constantly, one long uninterrupted beep.

* Give way to vehicles on roundabouts only if you are about to run into them, or they into you, otherwise just keep going.

* Its perfectly ok for large buses and taxis to sit one metre or less from people on bicycles or scooters and beep loudly so they move just enough for the larger vehicle to roar through. There is a saying for pedestrians that you should watch out for  leg tattoo's, which is when a scooter goes past you close enough to burn your leg on the exhaust. 

* Try not to ride your scooter with your knees sticking out, its likely a bigger vehicle will drive close enough to hit them at some stage.

* Don't imagine you have any rights as a road user, particularly if you are on foot or on a bicycle. Size and speed rules here, its up to the slow and weak to keep out of the way.

* When you are on a scooter and it starts to rain you have to put on a huge plastic raincoat that covers the driver, his handlebars, speedo and headlight, the passenger and any babies or goods the passenger is carrying. The raincoat should flap around and every now and then the passenger, who is completely covered, should peer out from under the raincoat to see whats going on and answer another call on their mobile.

* Female scooter riders need to wear impossibly high heels and short tight skirts so that they look cool riding between one social outing and the next. Safety is not paramount.

* Make sure your scooter helmut doesn't fit too snugly. It should be loose enough so that it keeps slipping forward and need adjusting every 5 minutes. Doing the chin strap up is an option only.

* As a pedestrian make sure you don't step off the curb at the crossing as soon as the green walk sign lights up. That just means that the bigger vehicles have to stop. Scooters will keep going through a red light if they are turning a corner, or couldn't be bothered stopping. Scooters also take off again 5 seconds before their lights turn green so don't dilly dally whilst walking across the road. In fact traffic lights in Vietnam really just give westerners a false sense of hope that they can safely cross the street without traffic.

* Its fine to stop in the middle of the road, particularly if you are in a Lexus or a Mercedes. Other vehicles will just go around you. It's also ok to reverse around a corner in front of moving traffic coming up behind you if you need to change direction and go down a side street and couldn't be bothered going around the block.

Saigon

Last Day

It's wet and overcast today and I'm a bit over walking and sightseeing. I went straight to Parkson Shopping Centre this morning with a stop off for an iced orange juice at Highlands Coffee behind the opera house. Found  a pair of heels for the wedding, lovely colour, so very pleased. Had some vanilla and chocolate macaroons and a last iced coffee on the top floor food court and then wandered on a few more streets and dropped into Lemongrass for lunch.

Finally! A braised pork in claypot that is tender and succulent. Not dry and chewy. This is the local specialty I have been trying all over the country and this was the best. The most expensive too. $6. Double what it usually is. But I thinks its worth it. And I can probably afford it...

The food and the shoes are fantastic here. Every shoe on display is in my size! Finally I feel like my feet are normal. Size 35 and 36 are the most common sizes, its so good not having to firstly ask at every store whether they carry smaller than size 6.

It was pouring when I left the restaurant, I walked the 30 minutes back to the hotel through puddles with my trusty umbrella, one of the few times I have used it to stop rain rather than sunshine.

I spent the afternoon packing, watching tv and generally resting up as I knew the following 24 hours would be pretty busy and no sleep. I went to an indian restaurant for dinner, in fact I went to that restaurant the last two nights I was in Vietnam for dinner. I discovered some of the best indian food I have ever eaten in a restaurant in Saigon! Gee it was good.

So this is it, my adventure is over and I have to face the reality of going back to work. Normal life won't seem quite so normal for a while, I will keep comparing things to Vietnam for a bit I think. Everything is kinda the opposite over there to what it is here. Some good, some bad. You will never find fresher meat, seafood or vegetables in Australia, unless you grow it yourself. I like a lot of their fruit better too, coconuts, mangos, papaya, oranges and bananas all seem to be nicer in Vietnam, less strongly flavoured, ie our mangoes are so sweet they are almost sickly, Vietnam's are sweet but not as strong as ours.

In general most people in this country appear to me to be  happy and content, whether richer or poorer. If you had to be poor, being poor in a country town in Vietnam still seems to give you a reasonably happy, safe, contented life. They just don't have the stress we westerners seem to give ourselves. Nothing is ever good enough in the west, we are always chasing, faster, stronger, bigger, better, newer, smarter etc. It can all get a bit tiring. I hope I can keep a little bit of what I experienced and saw in Vietnam and incorporate it into my western life.
Just chill and relax. Be thankful that you have a clean toilet that works and the water from the taps in Australia is safe and drinkable. Whether or not it has flouride etc is a moot point, at least you won't pick up a bug and get sick.

We westerners fuss about the smallest things. I think we need to  just get over it and get on with life. We are so blessed to live in Australia, it is such a clean, healthy, spacious place. We should all be thanking our lucky stars every day that we get to stay here. So many people in other countries would give anything to have our life.

And yet on the whole Vietnamese are way more satisfied and happy with their day to day life than lots of us seem to be, including me. Happy kids playing by the side of the road in the dirt, couple of old blokes sitting by the side of a very busy street playing their version of chess or something similar. A few women sitting at a street side cafe on little plastic stools chatting away and watching the world go by. No one hurries, no one yells, there is no road rage and yet they have a million more reasons to get frustrated with traffic than in Australia. Perhaps it's their Buddhist zen-ness or something.

We could learn a lot from this country and it's people.  They understand what it feels like to have nothing. Every generation after the baby boomers in Australia has no idea. This alone is what will drive them into the future. They can see what they can become. I imagine its similar to what Australia was like just after the second world war finished. Don't look back, just keep charging towards a better future. As long as that future doesn't leave behind the good things.

 I will certainly be going back.