Smartpunters.com - Blog the Earth

Dealing with the traffic here requires nerves of steel.  The legions of scooters just go.  Even when there are traffic signals, no one pays attention to them.  Therefore, if you politely waited for a break in the traffic, you would never cross the street.  Your entire trip to Vietnam would be confined to a 1 block radius.  If you're more ambitious, then the only way to cross the street is to step into the traffic and walk slowly while staring down the oncoming scooter fiends.  Miraculously, they go around you.

I just wish I had more faith in the system!  There's bound to be someone who's not looking where he's going (e.g. attending to wife, baby and gramps perched variously behind and on top of the driver).  Then the hapless pedestrian (me) ends up with tire tracks across her face.  So, every time I cross the street, I feel like I'm stepping off a cliff.  I find myself frantically crossing my fingers and whispering to myself as I cross, probably with an expression of sheer terror.

I spent some time today wandering around the market and looking at shops.  It's very tempting to buy a lot because everything is so cheap - especially silk.  I can get a beautiful silk dress perfectly tailored to fit me for $40 when the same thing would cost several hundred dollars in the US.  I have to keep reminding myself that I don't wear dresses that often.  Even if I did, there's no need to schlep tons of clothes across Vietnam with me!