Today started out as a bright, sunny, warm, and very humid day. Then, the rain came… and it didn’t stop.
It rained for 7 hours straight starting at 5PM, and I believe it is still raining- although, not as heavy as it was earlier.
I’ve seen other people tread through water here but I thought I would never allow myself to get caught out in that much rain. ‘Should have knocked on wood.
Tonight, while coming home after a birthday dinner and, afterwards, a cup of iced coffee with my girlfriend where we had an interesting conversation (saved for a future post), was a “whoa, that’s a lot of rain” moment.
Firstly, driving to the bus stop on the back of a motorbike was cold and wet. Even as I did my best to hide from the rain under a rain jacket, I still got soaked from the waist down. Then, my girlfriend- cute as ever- dropped me off a block away from the bus stop. It was hard to see with the downpour. Yeah, I got soaked walking my way back to the designated pickup point.
On the way home, some parts of the road had rain up to eighteen inches. Cars, motorbikes, and people were still trudging their way through.
The driving here is somewhat dangerous and risky, but even in the rain, the drivers still took chances with each other. In this case, it was a bad move for one motorbike who was hit by our bus. In an attempt to merge in front of the bus, the bike got hit, but I don’t think it was that bad because after the collision, the bus driver and ticket person got out to investigate but returned and drove off after one minute. However, this is usually what happens when an accident that isn’t “serious” occurs. I hate to think of it, but maybe death is the only case when the driver will actually stop and wait for police. As the bus continued on its route, I could see that the motorbike and passenger were trying to collect themselves and continue on their way as well. Sadly, this happens a lot in Viet Nam.
On the rest of the trip home, the water level reached two feet in some places and the bus kept going- albeit, slowly. As my stop approached, I did what the other passengers did- took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pants, and got ready to hit the water.
At first, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Then, I remembered about the sewage system. That gave me the jitters. All I could do was just keep going. How else was I going to get home?
On the university grounds, especially near my dormitory, the water came up to my knee-caps. Ugggghhhh… I finally made it home, and jumped in the shower for a long cleansing.
Wow. The International Relations staff wasn’t joking when they said that sometimes the locals refer to Ha Noi as “Ha Loi”. “Loi”, meaning “to wade through water”. Eh, what can you do but laugh it off? It makes for good stories at the office.
27 MAY 2008 UPDATE: Link to an earlier downpour to give you an example of the flooded streets.
