Ho Chi Minh City - (Spring 2025) - HCM Things

Arriving into Ho Chi Minh City

(the Saigon name still endures there though)

First time visiting Vietnam. I’m sure the city is changing very rapidly and the experience was different than visiting just a few years ago but it was good to visit a place that was lively because you can tell that there is a lot of change going on.

There is a certain optimism you can feel from a country that is still not a generation separated from poverty (as opposed to wealthy countries that pine about the “good old days”)

I think some people may see the city as a hot crowded mess or some may see the energy of a young populace that may forbode some exciting growth and changes.

I think the plastic stool should be on the flag

The roadside eatery is so ubiquitous that the cheap plastic stool could be a national symbol

I think one sign of how far a developing country has moved beyond the “developing” stage is if they have managed to keep the cabling under control on the telephone poles

You can probably benchmark the Asian countries by how their utility lines look

Walking around the city was not always easy as it seemed like every sidewalk was being torn up and replaced with nice stonework in preparation for the 50th anniversary of the end of the war

Crossing the Street

Knowing how to cross the street here is a thing. You don’t appreciate the little conveniences we have like street lights and stop signs until they don’t exist. I have seen tourists wait for locals and follow them across a street because it was too intimidating to cross.

Although lights at crossings are increasingly more available, especially in the more touristed areas, you still need to know how to cross a street. There are a lot of lessons from Star Wars that can be used here.

Step 1 - Be calm, clear your mind (Trust your feelings Luke, turn off the targeting computer)

Step 2 - Be assertive and show your intent (Do or do not, there is no try)

Step 3 - Go slow and keep a steady pace - do not speed up or slow down - also - I recommend not making eye contact with traffic - just use peripheral vision

Step 4 - Let the traffic flow around you - trust the scooters to flow past you (Let the Force flow through you)

Step 5 - Raise your hand - this actually works (It is literally like using the Force - drivers and riders respect it and will slow down)

Very Skilled Drivers and Cheap Ride Share

From what I saw, the drivers here in this city have some sort of superpower. The traffic is an absolute clusterf**k with other cars and scooters constantly within inches of each other and yet none of the cars seem to have a scratch on them.

They use Grab here instead of Uber or Lyft. It is also astonishingly cheap to get a ride which is good because sometimes it is so hot you really don’t want to walk for 20 minutes.