Morning walk in the park

(6:30 AM Vietnam)
I went to the park this morning. Because of the heat, the city gets moving very early in order to enjoy the cool of the day. Nhu, our tour guide, suggested that we go over.

The park is about a half a block down from the hotel, so an easy stroll. The problem is you have to cross a street to get there. On the blog, I haven't mentioned that the traffic is crazy here, and what we think of as traffic laws or norms are very different here. Driving is more aggressive, almost chaotic. They never seem to look back, always forward. Saigon has approximately 7 million people, and motorbike/scooter is the preferred method of transportation. According to Thang (our other "official" tour guide), only 15% of the population has a car or 4-wheeled transportation. Everyone else has a motorbike, meaning approximately 3.5 million of them. They weave around cars, pedestrians, shot past red lights, merge, dodge all in a constant flow. It is like swimming in a school of fish. You are constantly surrounded by them and they are constantly moving, but you never get hit...

So, anyway, crossing the street doesn't mean you wait for a break in traffic like you would in the States. It means you just walk out onto the street, slowly, deliberately, never walk back, make no sudden movements, and just keep moving forward. The bikes all "swim around you" as you move. No sudden movements because you might zig when a bike is zagging to avoid you.

The whole way they drive is like a metaphor for the country. Don't look back, keep moving forward...

I made it across without incident, but only because I waited until someone else was crossing and I followed him... I made it back across all on my own.

Once at the park, one of the first things I saw were a bunch of older men sitting on benches. They all had their pet birds in small cages with them. Apparently, they bring them to the park in the morning so the birds get some outdoor air and sunlight. Think of it like walking the dog, only for parakeets.

The park was very full. Jam packed. Scores of people playing badminton, the walkways were set up with courts. There were many practicing Ti Chi, some just doing what looked like ballistic stretches, and a giant aerobics/dancing class with maybe 40 or 50 women. The "playground" equipment in the park was actually workout equipment: cardio elliptical trainers, dip bars, waist twists. It looked like regular playground kind of material, but it was all for working out.

Most of the people were my age or older. They were not wearing usual workout type stuff, but they were all moving around exercising. Of course, the city is 7 million people, so I don't know if the hundreds I saw this morning are representative of the whole population, but they all seemed very active. On the other hand, I passed by a lot of people sitting in chairs smoking and drinking coffee or tea on my way back to the hotel...