“Knowing the U.S.’s history with Vietnam, I wasn’t sure how I’d be received. It was a bucket list destination, and I had read about mixed experiences. I found that the people are incredible, and they went out of their way making me feel welcomed in their city. It began my first night and ended my last afternoon. I usually keep my head on a swivel and am skeptical of people’s intentions, but I accept there needs to be some trust when engaging with others I don’t know.
I had read about the ‘Saigon shuffle,’ the act of safely crossing the street in a city with millions of motorbikes that don’t stop. In an act of trust, the way to cross the street is just step out into motorbike traffic and walk steadily across, and the motorbikes will maneuver around you, as if you’re a log floating across a river and the water moves around you. (Sidebar: This does NOT work with cars/trucks, you need to wait for them to stop at lights, etc.) I had also read that if a local notices a Westerner looking nervous about crossing the street, they’ll jump in between the Westerner and oncoming traffic to escort them across.
During my first night, this is exactly what happened. After settling in my Vietnamese hotel, I walked to find dinner and was nervous crossing the main thoroughfare, it was a stream of endless motorbikes. I took a breath, stepped into traffic and prayed I wouldn’t get hit. My panic must have been evident because as I stepped off the curb, a local, young woman jumped to my side, guarding me from oncoming traffic, and when we reached the double yellow line in the road, she jumped to my other side, shielding me from traffic coming in the other direction. When we safely crossed, I said, ‘cảm ơn’ (‘thank you’ in Vietnamese), and we parted ways.
As I explored by foot, locals approached wanting to practice English. At first, this was intimidating, but I embraced the opportunities and viewed them as mini cultural exchanges.” ― Jennifer Huber, a travel writer from North Port, Florida, who runs the travel site SoloTravelGirl.com
