Saturday, September 17, 2011
What's wrong with this picture?
Friday, September 16, 2011
Playing in the street
I've written about the traffic in Saigon from perspectives of watching from the curb and participating as a motorbike passenger.
The last few evenings I've been at my hotel and needed to find dinner for myself. My hotel only serves breakfast buffet so I must venture out for other meals. As in other cities I visit I walked from my hotel to get a sense of the area and see what's in the immediate area. That means I experienced traffic as a pedestrian! Fortunately I had the opportunity to observe pedestrians before attempting my own trek across a street. If not for that I would never have attempted a crossing at dinner time much less crossed safely.
Based on what I observed I waited until nothing too big was coming my way (four wheeled vehicles seem less apt to make way for pedestrians), then I look in the direction opposite oncoming traffic because not all traffic goes the "right" direction, look in the direction of oncoming traffic and when there is space to step into the street without making anyone immediately swerve or get on their brakes I head out.
Once in the street proceed slowly and deliberately forward timing your progress so you'll walk forward into the spot behind the motorbike that just passed by. If it doesn't look like you have room to move forward stop until the motorbike preventing that progress passes then move into the spot behind as just described. Move deliberately and remember you, the motorbike riders and the cars are dynamically negotiating the progress each of you want to make.
If the motorbikes are adjusting their path but it doesn't seem to be a reaction to you stop and look opposite the direction of oncoming traffic. There's likely someone coming from that direction and you need to be sure not to step into its path.
On the streets that are wide enough the four wheel vehicles are near the center line and the motorbikes toward the curb. If you're crossing one of these streets when you get to the four wheel traffic area stop if there are four wheel vehicles approaching and they can't conveniently slow down to let you pass. Standing in the street is okay, really! Once you can step behind a passing four wheeler and not slow the following one down too much go ahead and cross the street to the center line. Remember to watch out for motorbikes from either direction.
Now that you've made it to the center of the road repeat the crossing process in reverse. That's all there is too it!!
The last few evenings I've been at my hotel and needed to find dinner for myself. My hotel only serves breakfast buffet so I must venture out for other meals. As in other cities I visit I walked from my hotel to get a sense of the area and see what's in the immediate area. That means I experienced traffic as a pedestrian! Fortunately I had the opportunity to observe pedestrians before attempting my own trek across a street. If not for that I would never have attempted a crossing at dinner time much less crossed safely.
Based on what I observed I waited until nothing too big was coming my way (four wheeled vehicles seem less apt to make way for pedestrians), then I look in the direction opposite oncoming traffic because not all traffic goes the "right" direction, look in the direction of oncoming traffic and when there is space to step into the street without making anyone immediately swerve or get on their brakes I head out.
Once in the street proceed slowly and deliberately forward timing your progress so you'll walk forward into the spot behind the motorbike that just passed by. If it doesn't look like you have room to move forward stop until the motorbike preventing that progress passes then move into the spot behind as just described. Move deliberately and remember you, the motorbike riders and the cars are dynamically negotiating the progress each of you want to make.
If the motorbikes are adjusting their path but it doesn't seem to be a reaction to you stop and look opposite the direction of oncoming traffic. There's likely someone coming from that direction and you need to be sure not to step into its path.
On the streets that are wide enough the four wheel vehicles are near the center line and the motorbikes toward the curb. If you're crossing one of these streets when you get to the four wheel traffic area stop if there are four wheel vehicles approaching and they can't conveniently slow down to let you pass. Standing in the street is okay, really! Once you can step behind a passing four wheeler and not slow the following one down too much go ahead and cross the street to the center line. Remember to watch out for motorbikes from either direction.
Now that you've made it to the center of the road repeat the crossing process in reverse. That's all there is too it!!
Cao Đài Temple
The temple campus is a really huge and open place. The temple itself is quite large and has a great deal of fine detail work. Rather than replicate everything said in the Wikipedia article I'll add my own impressions and some additional detail picked up from the tour guide.
Between our tour guide, Wikipedia and the CIA World fact book there is quite a discrepancy regarding percentage of various religions practiced here. According to the guide about 60% of the population is Buddhist, 15% Christian, 5% Muslim, 5% Cao Đài and the remainder other religions or not religious. From Wikipedia the figures are 80%, 8%, "a small minority" and 3% respectively. And finally the CIA World Factbook says the distribution is 9.3%, 7.2%, 0.1% and 1.1% respectively.
While approaching the temple our tour guide said that photos are allowed and can be taken throughout the campus, the temple and during the ceremony which would start at noon. One significant protocol he made us aware of is that once the ceremony begins it is not allowed to walk past the front of the temple. I snapped a number of photos outside and inside the temple then headed outside once tourists began to fill in the gallery and the Caodaists began assembling on the ground floor to begin the ceremony.
Outside, while putting my sandals back on (shod feet are not allowed in the temple), a Caodaist approached me and struck up a conversation asking where I am from, why here, how long am I staying and what religion do I practice. He was an older man I would estimate to be in his late sixties. Quite pleasant and easy to speak with. Once he found that I wasn't going to watch the ceremony he invited me back into the temple saying it is a very beautiful sight to see accompanied by pleasant music and singing. With an invitation like that how could I refuse? So back in I went. The video attached here shows the beginning of the ceremony. I should have started recording earlier. The missing piece is that women are on the left and men on the right. When the ceremony began they were lined up facing each other on opposite sides of the temple and then moved to the center, keeping their ranks separate, until there was a small gap between the two groups as seen in the video. At that point they all turned to face the far end of the temple and sat to pray. I exited shortly after the end of the video, before the end of the ceremony, to get on xe buýt before it left.
One of the significant contrasts I noted is how clean and well kept the campus and temple are vice the filth and dirt right outside the gate. Outside the gate there was trash piled in the street and laying against the campus fence. And it stank.
So there is a beautiful, large, well kept temple on a big campus ringed by a wall...
...and outside is a stinking mess. Despite the rotting mess, I didn't see any flying bugs of any kind. I expected a swarm of flies based on experience from home. There were NO bugs flying around the garbage or pestering me for standing too close to it.
Between our tour guide, Wikipedia and the CIA World fact book there is quite a discrepancy regarding percentage of various religions practiced here. According to the guide about 60% of the population is Buddhist, 15% Christian, 5% Muslim, 5% Cao Đài and the remainder other religions or not religious. From Wikipedia the figures are 80%, 8%, "a small minority" and 3% respectively. And finally the CIA World Factbook says the distribution is 9.3%, 7.2%, 0.1% and 1.1% respectively.
While approaching the temple our tour guide said that photos are allowed and can be taken throughout the campus, the temple and during the ceremony which would start at noon. One significant protocol he made us aware of is that once the ceremony begins it is not allowed to walk past the front of the temple. I snapped a number of photos outside and inside the temple then headed outside once tourists began to fill in the gallery and the Caodaists began assembling on the ground floor to begin the ceremony.
Outside, while putting my sandals back on (shod feet are not allowed in the temple), a Caodaist approached me and struck up a conversation asking where I am from, why here, how long am I staying and what religion do I practice. He was an older man I would estimate to be in his late sixties. Quite pleasant and easy to speak with. Once he found that I wasn't going to watch the ceremony he invited me back into the temple saying it is a very beautiful sight to see accompanied by pleasant music and singing. With an invitation like that how could I refuse? So back in I went. The video attached here shows the beginning of the ceremony. I should have started recording earlier. The missing piece is that women are on the left and men on the right. When the ceremony began they were lined up facing each other on opposite sides of the temple and then moved to the center, keeping their ranks separate, until there was a small gap between the two groups as seen in the video. At that point they all turned to face the far end of the temple and sat to pray. I exited shortly after the end of the video, before the end of the ceremony, to get on xe buýt before it left.
One of the significant contrasts I noted is how clean and well kept the campus and temple are vice the filth and dirt right outside the gate. Outside the gate there was trash piled in the street and laying against the campus fence. And it stank.
So there is a beautiful, large, well kept temple on a big campus ringed by a wall...
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
She understands me!!!
My Mekong delta excursion included an overnight stay in the city of Cần Thơ in hotel Huy Hoàng. There are pictures at the link. (Note: If there isn't a panoramic view of the street from the hotel's 3rd floor you can check again later if you want to see the hotel and street in front. It takes a while for the pictures to be posted to Google Maps.)
While riding the tour bus into Cần Thơ our guide told us that the locals refer to English speakers as "hellos" because, of course, that's how we greet people and respond when greeted. I've been trying to learn some Vietnamese for quite a while and have learned the Vietnamese "hello" is "chào" followed by an appropriate pronoun. There are many pronouns to choose and the correct one to use reflects the gender, relative age difference, familial relationship and familiarity with the person being addressed! Fortunately if you don't know how to decipher it all getting by with nothing at all or "em" both seem to work fairly well. Whew.
In the evening I went walking to the market along Hai Bà Trưng street.
I walked quite a bit and went from the hotel to Hai Bà Trưng then right to the intersection with Phan Đình Phùng street, turned around and went to the intersection with Vo Van Tanh street, turned around again and found restaurant for dinner then finally back to the hotel.
While out walking a group of four young Vietnamese, two couples I'd guess to be college students, walked by me. One of the women said "hello" to me and I replied "chào em". On hearing that she began asking me several questions in English and where I thought I knew the appropriate Vietnamese response I replied in Vietnamese. She and her friends seemed to really enjoy my Vietnamese quite a bit. After some conversation with her friends she asked if they could take a picture with me because "Caucasians never try and speak Vietnamese" and not only that, they could understand me. Of course I said YES.
Quite an ego boost. And it was going to get better.
After the conversation with the students I continued my walk until I saw an appealing restaurant. The place had an open air front with tables looking out to the sidewalk to sit and watch the passersby. I sat down and the waitress provided me with a menu. After looking it over I ordered by reading the Vietnamese from the menu. Once I finished the meal I asked for the bill and confirmed the amount still using Vietnamese. When the waitress came back with change she asked, in English, if I live or work in Vietnam! When I asked the reason for her question she said my Vietnamese was very good and she could understand me easily so she thought I must have spent a lot of time in Vietnam. That was great to hear.
While riding the tour bus into Cần Thơ our guide told us that the locals refer to English speakers as "hellos" because, of course, that's how we greet people and respond when greeted. I've been trying to learn some Vietnamese for quite a while and have learned the Vietnamese "hello" is "chào" followed by an appropriate pronoun. There are many pronouns to choose and the correct one to use reflects the gender, relative age difference, familial relationship and familiarity with the person being addressed! Fortunately if you don't know how to decipher it all getting by with nothing at all or "em" both seem to work fairly well. Whew.
In the evening I went walking to the market along Hai Bà Trưng street.
While out walking a group of four young Vietnamese, two couples I'd guess to be college students, walked by me. One of the women said "hello" to me and I replied "chào em". On hearing that she began asking me several questions in English and where I thought I knew the appropriate Vietnamese response I replied in Vietnamese. She and her friends seemed to really enjoy my Vietnamese quite a bit. After some conversation with her friends she asked if they could take a picture with me because "Caucasians never try and speak Vietnamese" and not only that, they could understand me. Of course I said YES.
Quite an ego boost. And it was going to get better.
After the conversation with the students I continued my walk until I saw an appealing restaurant. The place had an open air front with tables looking out to the sidewalk to sit and watch the passersby. I sat down and the waitress provided me with a menu. After looking it over I ordered by reading the Vietnamese from the menu. Once I finished the meal I asked for the bill and confirmed the amount still using Vietnamese. When the waitress came back with change she asked, in English, if I live or work in Vietnam! When I asked the reason for her question she said my Vietnamese was very good and she could understand me easily so she thought I must have spent a lot of time in Vietnam. That was great to hear.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) Traffic
Much has been said about traffic in HCM city and you may have some sense that the traffic is fierce and nearly unmanageable for a foreign visitor.
Having taken quite a few cab rides and two trips on the back of a motorbike I can say myself the traffic is truly incredible. Two videos are below so that you might get your own sense of what it is like.
Being in traffic a number of times now my impression has changed from a frightening vision of unimaginable chaos to appreciation for a level of harmony and courtesy that isn't immediately apparent. Look at the videos and you will likely share my first impressions. There ought to be accidents happening every few moments, but there aren't.
Once you've seen and been in the traffic a bit you'd appreciate what isn't apparent by watching from the curb, there are almost no aggressive drivers. With the terrible congestion from all the vehicles, if you think about it for a bit, it makes sense. Plus the vehicles aren't metal behemoths with the driver and passengers wrapped in a protective shell. In most cases flesh and blood would be hurt by a crash, not only metal. Drivers must be conscious of this and adjust their driving techniques accordingly.
In the videos watch for traffic in the "wrong" lanes, going the "wrong" way, crossing against oncoming traffic, doing U-turns, pulling into traffic from driveways and, perhaps most impressive, all of the traffic at some intersections proceeding through the intersection without stopping! Somehow traffic from all three, at T's, or four directions makes it through without disaster.
Having taken quite a few cab rides and two trips on the back of a motorbike I can say myself the traffic is truly incredible. Two videos are below so that you might get your own sense of what it is like.
Being in traffic a number of times now my impression has changed from a frightening vision of unimaginable chaos to appreciation for a level of harmony and courtesy that isn't immediately apparent. Look at the videos and you will likely share my first impressions. There ought to be accidents happening every few moments, but there aren't.
Once you've seen and been in the traffic a bit you'd appreciate what isn't apparent by watching from the curb, there are almost no aggressive drivers. With the terrible congestion from all the vehicles, if you think about it for a bit, it makes sense. Plus the vehicles aren't metal behemoths with the driver and passengers wrapped in a protective shell. In most cases flesh and blood would be hurt by a crash, not only metal. Drivers must be conscious of this and adjust their driving techniques accordingly.
In the videos watch for traffic in the "wrong" lanes, going the "wrong" way, crossing against oncoming traffic, doing U-turns, pulling into traffic from driveways and, perhaps most impressive, all of the traffic at some intersections proceeding through the intersection without stopping! Somehow traffic from all three, at T's, or four directions makes it through without disaster.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Finally, a blogging solution!
One prior post is updates with pictures. I'll start loading new posts too. My cô giáo has taken care of me again and gotten me a loaner laptop!
Updated post
First night...
I am sure I was able to post pictures and videos from the tablet before. Will probably restore to factory image and try with it again once I'm back in the US.
Updated post
First night...
I am sure I was able to post pictures and videos from the tablet before. Will probably restore to factory image and try with it again once I'm back in the US.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Off to Mekong Delta & floating market
Taking an overnight excursion to the delta with stops to see stilt houses, a fruit plantation, a fishing village and Rung Tram forest. Pictures when I'm back Sunday evening (local time).
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