Good Morning Viet Nam

Xin Chao (sin chow) Hello Or, Good Morning Vietnam.

This morning begins with a transfer to the Sofitel Metropole Hotel in the Old Quarter of Hanoi where I join with our tour group, Indochina Sails.

Friends and I venture out of the hotel, only to be stopped dead in our tracks at the street corner. There are thousands of scooters and a few cars all driving as if chased by demons, with no regard for stop lights. We step off the curb when the light turns red, only to find the traffic coming from another direction at a fast clip. Finally, we get behind a local and tail him across the street. Later we are told the way to cross a street is to slowly walk out into traffic with your hand up and the scooters will dodge around you. Don’t run, because the scooter drivers can gauge a slow walking person but if you run, they may hit you. Can this be right???