Walking
on Charley and Jane in Vietnam (Vietnam), 09/Dec/2009 08:27, 34 days ago
Walking in Ho Chi Minh City is an absolute nightmare. The streets, pavements and outdoor markets are covered by motorbikes and are not geared towards pedestrian traffic. The pavements are broken or non-existant...in a state of constant construction (or is it destruction?)...newly laid for five yards before work has ceased leaving unlaid slabs at irregular intervals to trip up on. Or - on finding yourself with an apparently clear stretch of 20 yards - you walk confidently forward only to pratically garrot yourself on a low strung telephone cable.  And any traffic jam turns the pavements themselves into roads– suddenly without warning you'll find scores of motorcyclists riding towards you!  However walking along the edge of the road is easy enough - any motorbikes behind you will generally beep at you to let you know they're there!The traffic police occupy themselves with random roadside checks and do not bother the motorcyclists that are running red lights or driving on the pavements.  Recently I heard that the police have announced a crackdown on pedestrians! Apparently this means that the pedestrian is likely to be held responsible if involved in an accident with a vehicle!I have to admit to liking the anarchy of it all...