5am.
Dawn, the final sigh of night, breaks over Saigon. The last vestiges of darkness are swept away in the few minutes of calm remaining. The hustle of the city starts, aptly enough, with a few stretches, a game of badminton or the calm energy of Tai Chi. In the communal spirit, everyone comes out to the local park to join in the morning calisthenics. Old men practice their forms as their better halves keep to the beat of an exercise tape. Mot, hai, ba…mot, hai, ba…Younger folk keep to the birdies and hackey sacks. You can spot a few jogging, but exercise in the Western sense, the solitary sense, seems passé.
Warmed up, the city is now ready to come to full roar. Scooters, buses, and a smattering of taxis begin to clog her arteries. The odd rickshaw passes by ferrying khaki clad tourists, cameras strapped on and in hand. Once it begins, there is no slow down. The traffic worsens until the streets are packed. The scooters dart in and out, climbing the sidewalk when necessary. Lifeblood returned, preparations are finished to take on the sweltering day.
The heat, coupled with humidity, bogs it into a muggy affair. The few known places with air conditioning provide reprieve, but rolling blackouts temper expectations. Rainy season means that, although the sun is out, it has little staying power. A popular Vietnamese maxim: the weather is like a girl, unpredictable. And so, at any apparent moment, it will start raining. A light sprinkle for a few minutes, followed by a downpour quickly sidelines motorist to pull out their plastic rain coats. The cacophony of traffic, hilariously, stops simultaneously. Warm water falls, and the streets begin flow with a more liquid medium. The water gets ankle deep, and you can feel the grease on your body. It's time to get inside.
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