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ZaneZansorrow
Joshua Nguyen @ZaneZansorrow

Age 31, Male

Georgia

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The Week at Ho Chi Minh

Posted by ZaneZansorrow - December 7th, 2012


I was staying at a farm in Ho Chi Minh and came to learn what is apparently normal in Vietnam.

1. Everybody rides motorcycles and bicycles.

2. If you seen videos or photos of Asian people carrying a shit ton of crap on their back, or balance those sort of things......well, you will see Vietnamese people doing that on motorcycles.

3. Animals roam about alot on this country side. You will see goats crossing streets, cows, (alot of) cats and dogs crossing the streets, and yes.....even the chicken cross the road (it usually turns back went a motorcycle is coming by).

4. Do not be surprise if you see little girls peeing in public....plus don't look at it.

5. If you have known breathing issue then try to wear a protective breathing mask, Vietnam sells those along with many biker helmets. Vietnam air tend to have tons of small campfires, by campfires I mean they burn crap that maybe garbage.

6. If you are at a small restaurant in Vietnam (somebody told me it's called breakfast but then again that person has terrible English), then a heads up is that they don't have health inspection so eat there at your own risk, there will be a ton of trash on the ground (apparently when you use up a napkin, have an empty can, or something along those lines, you throw them under the table you are eating. I think it makes sweeping them up easier.), and the napkins there may smell like hand sanitizer or cheap perfume.

7. The toilets can sometime be on the ground....so yeah, good luck squatting for number 2. Where I stayed at, I had to use a bucket of water to flush it.

8. Owned casual cars are kind of a rare sight (because nearly everybody drive motorcycles), though you will definitely see more cargo trucks, taxi, and buses around (I rarely see ambulance trucks though).

9. I have not seen a gun. I didn't see the police officers of Vietnam carry one around. Though they did carry around police batons. They also sit around on lawn chairs on certain corners of the city. They also ride motorcycles. (edit: turns out they do carry guns around, find that out the hard way >3>).

10. There are internet cafe where you can use a computer with internet I think.

11. There are boat fares (small wooden boats) that carry you and your motorcycles across the lake/ocean/river.

12. When you hear a siren from an ambulance/police car/fire truck, it's only naturally to slowly move to the side and not block their path. Well in Vietnam, cars and large vehicles like those are the siren but the motorcycles will still be driving at the sides while a car comes honking through the middle of the road.

13. Stoplights have a countdown timer that count downs to change the light color. Nobody usually gives a crap on those unless there are actual traffic.

14. The volts in outlets are different. Outlets also don't have 3 prongs, so have a little 3 prong to 2 prong plug with you when you go to Vietnam.

There could be many more things, but I'll leave it to that until I remember them.


Comments

#6 Funny about leaving food on the ground, but most of the hinterland eateries have farm animals nearby, yes? Let's call it organic recycling...
#7 I used to clean toilets for a living, and wondered why footprints would be on the lid - figured that one out a few years ago. Smaller septic pipes compared to Western standards, and don't try flushing (much if at all) toilet paper, as it tends to clog easy... good luck aiming :)
#12 Considering how much money is needed for a car, I guess it's true what they say about the temperament of rich folk...

That's a damn fine dispatch! I'm sure you'll pick up on the other things - I think we spoiled folks have a lot to re-learn about.

Lol yeah, I'll keep an eye out for any other things I'm not used to seeing compared to my normal life in America.