Cheating death. Twice.

For those that don't know what the traffic is like in HCMC, here is a sneak preview :



Mental.

The safest way to get around the city is probably in a tank. Unfortunately and for obvious reasons, that is not an option. The least safe way to get around is probably on foot.

As a child I was taught the Green Cross Code, a mantra that has seen many of us safely from one side of the road to another. You stop, you look, you listen and you survive. Here it is like you have entered an alternate universe. This is my take on the Vietnamese Green Cross Code:

1. Don't stop - it confuses the mass of traffic causing swerving and death.
2. Don't look - the sight of the solid wall of traffic is enough to induce a heart attack in the strongest of people.
3. Don't listen - it's a waste of energy, even at 3am all you can hear is the drone of motorbikes and karaoke.

Every time you step of the pavement it's a leap of faith. Think Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade when he crosses from (to?) the lions head (can't believe I just referenced Indiana Jones, my Dad will be proud!). You inexplicably trust that your feet will get you from one side to the other and that the drivers will dodge their way around you, even though most of them are looking at their mobiles. When you do get to the other side you feel a not insignificant sense of victory.

This victory is short lived when you remember that the motorbikes also drive on the pavement, faster than on the road. Nowhere is safe!

Having been in the city for almost three months now I have built up a mild immunity to the traffic. Not complacence, you should never be complacent about the traffic here, but I know I just have to go for it, cross the road and hope for the best. This confidence was severely tested a couple of days ago.

No one walks around the city, clearly it is suicide, but I decided 'ooh a walk across the city would be quite nice'...at rush hour. Not only was my foot run over (twice) but a bus was so close to hitting me that my back wiped the dirt off the side of it. My heart was in my mouth for the majority of the hour-long walk.

On the plus side I got to stop and peruse street sellers delights (or tat, whichever way you look at it), practise my appalling Vietnamese and get to know the intricacies of the city a little bit more. I will go for another walk soon. Once I've found full body armor.