I nearly got hit by a guy on a motorbike the other day. While I was walking on the sidewalk. Which isn't a place where you'd normally expect to get taken out by oncoming traffic, unless you are in HCMC. Which I am.
I'm staying in HCMC this week because I've got a couple of dental appointments. I'm staying in the backpacker area and everywhere I need to go is within walking distance so, whenever I need to go somewhere, I walk. But after a few days of walking around the streets of HCMC I'm starting to realise that tackling the sidewalks here is no mean feat.
Walking around HCMC requires your full and absolute attention. You need to be in a constant state of awareness of absolutely everything that is around you. In a city where dogs roam free, where public spitting is common and where the sidewalk may or may not be in a state of good repair (or even actually attached to the ground), you need to be conscious of where you are about to put your feet. It's also best not to think about what might be in that puddle of "water" from which you just got splashed by a passing motorbike. You also need to look ahead to see if your path is clear because it's more than likely that it is not; instead it is probably blocked by motorbikes parked (illegally) on the sidewalk, by street stalls, by ad hoc cafes or by tourists and/or locals milling around waiting for something or other. Even if the way is clear, you still have to keep an eye out for possible upcoming obstacles, like, in a crowded city of about 8 million people, someone stepping or stopping directly in front of you, someone riding their motorbike up onto the sidewalk (to park) or (and this is what seems to happen to me the most and is my biggest pet peeve) someone reversing their motorbike off the sidewalk without first looking to see if there is something or someone behind them.
Then there's the traffic. On the sidewalk. Sometimes, where there is a one-way road, or even if it's just a case of a red light or busy traffic, sneaky motorbike riders will decide to drive up on the sidewalk. Which is how I nearly got hit. I was walking along a relatively deserted sidewalk when a motorbike came driving straight towards me. The driver wasn't looking where he was going, instead he was looking behind him, so instead of going straight he veered straight at me. I didn't have time to get out of the way and the motorbike only very narrowly missed me. I only had time to make a quick, annoyed "tch" noise - which sure showed him!
Along with avoiding obstacles, you also have to deal with the locals trying to tout their wares. You can't walk more than 2 metres down the road in the touristy areas without someone trying to sell you a motorbike ride, a cyclo ride, a massage, a photocopied book, cigarettes, "designer" wallets, bottles of water...the list goes on. So while you're dodging obstacles and roadblocks and trying to plan a your path you also have to make a string of polite refusals. It's only so long before you give up on saying a "no thank you" and revert to the Vietnamese way of saying no - a dismissive wave of the hand - works everytime, though you do feel guilty about doing it to so many people all of the time!
So that was my gripe about trying to walk anywhere in HCMC. But there is at least one positive aspect to it - by walking around HCMC I feel like I'm doing something that I've never done before - I fell like I am participating in an adrenalin sport!
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