Hi Folks,
I'm currently attending a conference in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam having a whale of a time - with new sites, sounds, tastes, and cultural experiences leaping out at every moment - along with a few frustrations. A group of four of us have just arrived back at our hotel for a bit of R & R after a day loaded with papers, discussion, academic arguments, and some really good food, but the journey home in rush hour was a bit of a nightmare! Our party had three Australians, including me, and a long time American friend, Holly Barcus, from Macalaster College, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. And after waiting perhaps 10 minutes we managed to hail a taxi and all crammed into at high speed. The journey was fraught to put it mildly because, although the roads have the usual lane markings and are punctuated by traffic lights, few road users seem to obey any of the road rules. Red lights don't mean stop; it's OK to travel one way streets in the wrong direction; vehicles have no lane discipline; any one can cut in front of you without warning; pedestrian crossings have no meaning; motorists will do U-turns on busy streets and risk colliding with other users and so on. Here I am, by the way, giving my keynote presentation yesterday courtesy of my Japanese colleague, Daichi Kohmoto, who once hosted me at his parents' house in the mountains bordering the Inland Sea area:
Worse still on the traffic front is the fact that something like 95 % of all the vehicles on the streets are not cars, but rather motor bikes. Yes, folks, that means that 1 in 20 vehicles is a car, truck or bus. And the bikes weave complicated patterns as they dash to overtake cars, turn corners violently, or ride between larger road users. Perhaps more horrendous is the number of people one can cram on a two-seater bike. The maximum I've seen is four ... or was it five? And frequently that includes young children and oldies sitting side-saddle. At one set of traffic lights tonight we even saw bikes something like 12 abreast awaiting a green starting gun!
Here are some images of the traffic chaos:
These pictures were taken off-peak so that the traffic was thin compared with tonight! And the pavements are also cluttered with parked bikes with owners asking if you'd like a ride somewhere - no risk of me doing that!
AS
I'm currently attending a conference in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam having a whale of a time - with new sites, sounds, tastes, and cultural experiences leaping out at every moment - along with a few frustrations. A group of four of us have just arrived back at our hotel for a bit of R & R after a day loaded with papers, discussion, academic arguments, and some really good food, but the journey home in rush hour was a bit of a nightmare! Our party had three Australians, including me, and a long time American friend, Holly Barcus, from Macalaster College, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. And after waiting perhaps 10 minutes we managed to hail a taxi and all crammed into at high speed. The journey was fraught to put it mildly because, although the roads have the usual lane markings and are punctuated by traffic lights, few road users seem to obey any of the road rules. Red lights don't mean stop; it's OK to travel one way streets in the wrong direction; vehicles have no lane discipline; any one can cut in front of you without warning; pedestrian crossings have no meaning; motorists will do U-turns on busy streets and risk colliding with other users and so on. Here I am, by the way, giving my keynote presentation yesterday courtesy of my Japanese colleague, Daichi Kohmoto, who once hosted me at his parents' house in the mountains bordering the Inland Sea area:
Worse still on the traffic front is the fact that something like 95 % of all the vehicles on the streets are not cars, but rather motor bikes. Yes, folks, that means that 1 in 20 vehicles is a car, truck or bus. And the bikes weave complicated patterns as they dash to overtake cars, turn corners violently, or ride between larger road users. Perhaps more horrendous is the number of people one can cram on a two-seater bike. The maximum I've seen is four ... or was it five? And frequently that includes young children and oldies sitting side-saddle. At one set of traffic lights tonight we even saw bikes something like 12 abreast awaiting a green starting gun!
Here are some images of the traffic chaos:
These pictures were taken off-peak so that the traffic was thin compared with tonight! And the pavements are also cluttered with parked bikes with owners asking if you'd like a ride somewhere - no risk of me doing that!
AS
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