Between Lonely Planet and other people telling us to "cross with care", we wondered how bad is the traffic in Siagon. Well, it can be intimidating for sure with a gazillion motorbikes mixed with cars and buses not following any kind of road rules. Sidewalks are not even safe. Today I observed the flow of traffic is mostly controled by critical mass: when there is enough mass of motorbikes to cross an intersection, they win. After surviving a complete day, we have learned the ins and outs of crossing the street. Rule number 1 is - avoid crossing a roundabout. Rule 2 is - piggyback with someone else crossing.
Good News: my new passport has arrived, my old passport was found and returned to me, I was able to get a wire transfer through American Express, I have a bus ticket to leave Vietnam March 15 to Cambodia, and, lastly, my troublesome GI system has stablized and doing much better since March 1.
We miss Hanoi and the little routine we had going there but are happy to be seeing more of Vietnam. This evening we had a nice chat with students coming to the park to converse in English.
Terrible news about the earthquake and tsunami.
That is it for now. More after March 14th.
