Sometimes the traffic in Sai Gon can be, what would you call it, congested? Getting caught in a traffic jam here can be something like being on a motorbike for the start of a cross country enduro race, with everyone jostling for a place and fighting to get into the narrow end of the funnel that will shoot you out onto the course proper. The other night was a bit like that when I got caught at an intersection with no lights operating.

I was on my way along Hai Ba Trung St heading to a friends place at Phu Nhuan when I struck the intersection with Vo Thi Sau and no lights. There wasn’t a traffic policeman to be seen and of course chaos reigned supreme with cars, buses, trucks, cyclo’s and motorbikes all competing to see who could force their way through from three directions at once.

I took what appeared to be the line of least resistance and headed over to the left lane to get in front of the traffic coming from my right. Then it was only a simple matter of cutting diagonally back across the intersection to get back into the right lane. However I wasn’t the only person with this bright idea and soon the narrow end of the funnel became very very congested. So congested in fact that a guy on my right drove the front wheel of his motorbike onto my right foot.

I lent over and grabbed at his front mudguard and was pushing it away to get it off my foot, when suddenly I felt a great deal of pain in my left foot. What was happening was that a 7 seater taxi was running his rear wheel over that foot, so actually I was pinned on both sides like a specimen in a laboratory.

Needless to say I had a few choice words to say, but that was ineffective, so I got myself untangled and got the hell out of that intersection. The pics below show the tyre marks from the taxi over my left foot. Coincidentally, its exactly the same spot where I had some severe damage last year, but fortunately no bones broken. Life is tough on feet here.