Back into the early starts, the only problem was it was earlier then I wanted, they have these people here with some really crap speakers and they blare out I am not sure what, but some pain in the arse decided it would be a good idea to set up outside my hotel and have it running from 4:30am so you can imagine I was not to impressed. If I had a gun I would have shot the dam thing.
I was up thank you very much so headed off, out on the open road, which is not really open because there are shops and houses all the way along the side of the road, I had 75km to go and had hit the 40km mark when I decided it was time to stop. Stomach was starting to growl. Nice Breakfast of Rice, BBQ port and some other stuff I was not sure about. The back on the bike again, had heard and seen pictures of the roads in Ho Chi Min so was looking forward to that.
It seems the more crazier the roads the more I like them, I think with Vietnam it is not really if I get hit but how badly I come off when I do get hit, the only way to survive is to be as aggressive as them without getting upset when someone cuts you up. They are a very understanding people in that way, will I think they are because I cut a few people up on the way into Ho Chin Min and no one said anything, if that was NZ I would have had abuse thrown my way without a doubt.
The traffic for Ho Chi Min really started on the out skirts of My Tho, it is pretty much duel lane mayhem all the way in, so you really have to have your wits about you, always look forward, had a couple of close calls again when I was looking round then all of a sudden there is a bike coming down the wrong side of the road, don’t swing to the edge of the road swing in, otherwise it confusion time for them.
Have had a couple of times were the traffic has been that manic I have started out on the wrong side of the road thinking I was back on the left, then realized that I am wrong when all the other traffic that I was with on the wrong side with me suddenly heads back over to the other side. This mostly happens in the morning when I have just woken up. It’s insane..
Anyway the traffic into Ho Chi Min just gets crazier, it even makes Phnom Penh seem like a small village on a Sunday morning, not only is the traffic coming from the front it is also coming from both sides and the usual stuff coming from behind. I think though most locals see the crazied wild look in my eyes and give me a bit more room. You know the look I’m talking about, animals do it when they are shit scared. The whites of my eyes are showing and their heads swing from left to right.
I had breached the interior of HCM in no time at all, and soon became lost in the streets, it is always hard to judge distance in a big city, the maps are really not that good, I ended up stopping at a crossroads to get my bearing and a lady came up and asked where I was heading to, after I found the area she said it was another 12km down the road, back on the bike and into the traffic, I was passing cars, motorbikes and trucks as I headed deeper into the madness. Who’s madness you ask, I think a bit of mine and a bit of HCM’s.
I had purchased a face mask as well as my bandana to help to stop some of the fumes, as we hit more and more lights I thought I must be getting close, all the bikes stop in front of the lights so you cant tell when they turn green the only way you know when to go is when the engines start to rev up behind you and the horns start to blare. This of course does not mean that the traffic going across has stopped people are still running the lights, some get it all wrong and end up right in the middle of the traffic this is when it really gets crazy and bikes and cars swing to the left and right to miss the bike that is moving across the flow of traffic. I myself pushed the lights a bit too much and only just made in across a few times.
By the time I made it to the fairly tranquil traffic around Pham Ngu Lao I was ready for a break and a sit down, I had made it by 11am which was pretty good time considering the traffic. I found a guesthouse and settled in, then went out first in search of food and then to find some books to read, I had finished my last book at the border so was very keen to pick up a couple more.
I found some books and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the streets much to the amusement of the local motorbike taxies, why would I want to walk when I could take a bike, pretty much because I had just spent the last 4 hours on a bike, thank you very much. I also booked myself a trip out to the Cu Chi tunnels for tomorrow, will be interesting to see.
These tunnels were used by the Viet Cong to live, it was whole towns living under ground, the tunnels used to go under an America base. 1.3m high and .6m wide, little bit too cramped for my liking but it will be interesting to see non the less.
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