Infrastructure

In a word, it is lacking here in Ho Chi Min City. Notice in this picture above the lack of street lights and the abundance of motorbikes, some perhaps driving on the wrong side of the road (this is a very common site in the city, and sometimes a bit comical as the motorbike rider who is going completely the wrong direction on the road may find himself yelling at a taxi cab driver who is driving on the correct side of the road. We've giggled a few times at the way the motorbike rider feels he is completely justified in his argument for the taxi to get out of his way!). Or perhaps you can see a motorbike zipping along the side walk-another common experience. For those of us who prefer feet to taxi drivers, it is quite exciting to dodge out of the way when a motorcyclist blazes down the sidewalk in a collision course with You.

Then there is the power situation. Again, take note in the photograph. See all those black things hanging through the air? Those are various power lines, mixed in with phone lines and also internet cable lines. Amazing. They dangle like a tangled mess of tight-ropes along the streets. Staple-gunned to the store fronts and houses, the mess of them constitutes a serious game of russian roulette with any technician who has to repair one. Gotta fix the phone wire, is this it? Nope, that is the main power line to the high rise apartment building...oops. Guess I'll have to fix that next. I had heard before our trip here that often the internet is interrupted or the phone lines get cut off. Of course I believed this happened, but I thought it was do to lack of consistant voltage/power to the power lines. Now that I see the mangled mess of wire, I think it is actually due to attempted repairs or upgrades on other lines, and mixing up which lines are which. Utah Power, bless you. Cable one internet provider, well done. Thank you for hiding all those wires that make my house work in the States. Thank you for organizing them with colors and plug sizes so the right things go in all the right places. I'm so thankful for infrastructure!