 |
| Photograph By Jonathan Gibby |
Saigon, Vietnam
So this year I celebrated July 4th by flying out to Vietnam a few days before the meet up with the PVNF group. After a 20 hour flight complete with a lot of Angry Birds, a Polish model, about 300 pages of Game of Thrones, and 3 really unappetizing airline lunches (don't try the sukiyaki on United airlines), I arrived in my home country.
Being in Vietnam for the first time in my life has been a dream. Just being in the central part of Saigon (staying in the excellent hotels Thien Xuan and Hosen) and immersing myself in the local culture has been a humbling experience. I've gotten used to the damp heat that hits you as soon as you leave the coolness of air conditioned buildings and the ensuing sticky feeling all over. The mosquito bites have been limited to my left knee and I've yet to use my Immodium (knock on so much wood). I've met family that I had only heard my dad tell stories about and gotten to experience a small yet intimate piece of their lives. Getting an unofficial tour of the city from a family friend makes me realize the importance of connections. Eating pho from the country that invented it is a gastronomical experience that I've been waiting to do for a while now (though I still think my mom makes it better). Haggling with a shop keeper in the Ben Thanh marketplace for a bottle of alcohol with a snake coiled inside is something you think you'd only see on the travel channel. Buying a dinner for less than $3 is awesome. Buying an iced coffee that costs the same is strange. Seeing Marlon Brando's face on a menu while having a good time with Zach, Alex, Jonathan, and Jimmy has been a blast. But what has struck me as the most unique and interesting part of Vietnam, and in my opinion a a representation of Vietnam and its vibrant culture, is the traffic.
When my cousin Nu (whom I had just met for the first time) handed me a helmet and told me to hop on his scooter I was equal parts nervous, excited, and terrified. I had flown into Saigon the night before and had only watched the traffic go by from my hotel window. I hopped on behind Nu and held on to the grips under my seat. My cousin hit the throttle and we were off into the mass of vans, cars, trucks, bicycles, taxis, and scooters. He deftly maneuvered his way between cars and past taxi vans. He rode side by side with other scooters and raced ahead of the bicyclists when he felt like it. Traffic lights seemed to be more suggestions than commands. Incoming traffic and cross traffic made me think we were going to be t-boned at every intersection. The roundabouts were nightmares. Though I was highly concerned about my safety at the time, as I got used to the traffic of the city more, both as a pedestrian and in a vehicle, I began to see a simple logic to the madness. As long as you moved with purpose and kept alert, others would yield and you could be on your way. The fluidity of the traffic reminded me of a shoal of fish. The few large fish (vans and taxis and cars) moved at their slow and steady pace while the swarms of little fish (scooters and bicycles) darted in and out and between as they pleased. But because they all moved with purpose and were always alert, everything moved along without a hitch.
We go to meet the rest of the PVNF group at the airport tomorrow morning but the last few days have left me with enough adventure to tell hours of stories about. Growing accustomed to and embracing the flow of life in Saigon has been an experience that I will cherish but I hope to make many more memories in the upcoming days.
-Sean Nguyen
No comments:
Post a Comment