half-hearted suicide

i love it here and its not just because of the remarkably hospitable temps and delicious breezes (unusual this time of year ive been told). its also not only due to the resourceful, passionate and clever peeps, the fact that i have a travel buddy for this leg of my journey, or because theres more wifi and internet cafes here than anywhere else ive been thus far.

its hard not to be impressed by the determination that fills the air here, especially when one tries to comprehend the impact of 3 million deaths from a very recent civil war. yet today, with bright new hammer+sickle soviet banners and vietnamese flags still flying side by side, viet nam has emerged as asias 2nd fastest growing economy and is hosting the 2006 apec summit. no big surprise after a few interactions with the local folk. u get the impression that trying to rip you off might just be part of the game. if youre keen to it, theyll chuckle and lower their price (a little). if not, youre a rich tourist who can afford it anyway, so no harm no foul right? i am drawn to the 'by any means necessary' environment, tempered by a genuine friendliness and curiosity about out of towners.

even before i had the privilege to meet its people, saigons streets made a lasting impression: shock and fear! mind u, ive seen nutty road culture- ive witnessed seoul and kl, even driven in san jose (costa rica, not cali) and ballard, but hcmc takes the mooncake. ive seen only half a dozen traffic lights in this city of 6m, and never more than one at even the busiest intersection. why have lights when the only true road rule is opportunity- pinpointing that split second to usher your swarm of mopeds forward into the intersection, thus briefly changing the direction of prevailing traffic until someone else flips the switch. tho mopeds rule, the chaos also includes cyclos, small cars, busses, crazzy bicyclists and women in conical hats balancing impressive loads of produce in baskets connected by a shoulder pole like human weigh scales. somehow it works (quite efficiently, i think) and i never saw blood. theres also something refreshing about drivers who are ever aggressive and alert, none of that 'hang up and drive!' bs you see stateside. not surprisingly, the air is always filled with an unrivaled cacophony of horn honking and choke-inducing exhaust.

amid this insanity, pedestrians also must seek opportunities to cross the street, tho waiting for a 'safe' option will keep you sidelined for days. the safest and quickest way (tho quite counter intuitive), is to simply start your slow-ish amble across the street no matter what, allowing the dozens of mopeds speeding towards you time to negotiate around what is just another obstacle. the first few times it feels like a half-hearted suicide attempt, but in time you start feeling kind of like a ghost or keanu reeves, or... yeah.. whatever.

its no shocker that its amid all this madness that humanity has felt unusually vibrant and hopeful. its hard not to imagine why when all of your senses are constantly greeted by competing morsels, enough to keep the attention of your worst adhd case. i think hcmc/saigon is my favorite place thus far, tho its hard to tell given all of the variables (amounts of sleep, food, seratonin, hormones, etc) that make an objective analysis impossible. but ive never heard someone speak ugly of viet nam and i can tell why- its overwhelming beauty deserves high praise, its undeniable grit should also be appreciated.
more viet nam photos here.