Reflection by Josh

When we first arrived in Vietnam, I was amazed by how the roads work. The Vietnamese absolutely are in love with their mopeds and bicycles. Driving to the hotel from the airport was a foreign experience. Mopeds were flying by the bus on both sides. Our busy driver, and the other drivers, seemed as if nothing unusual was going on. Although there weren't very many stoplights on the way back to the hotel, and there were a lot of intersections, everyone seemed to do just fine. At unmarked intersections, mopeds, bicycles, cars, and busses would weave through each other and somehow get to the other side unscathed. The Vietnamese also enjoy tooting their horns. Nearly every vehicle on the road was honking; not because they were upset with other drivers, but because they wanted them to be aware of their presence. Pedestrians are amazingly calm while crossing busy roads. Maybe too calm. I noticed a lot of people meandering across gigantic intersections with hundreds of mopeds crossing as if there were no traffic as all. If people weren't crossing the street, they were sitting on the center medians, or standing on the side of the road just chilling. Papa Dang (Mr. Dang) told me that the Vietnamese love to people watch. It was quite apparent; we passed hundreds of people who were simply relaxing, resting outside of shops or next to the street. After a hair-raising adventure through the streets of down town Ho Chi Minh City, we arrived at the hotel. The thing I loved first about Vietnam, was the traffic.

--Josh