One of the great things about the rest of the world is that the rest of the world has great public transportation. No matter where I travel, I know that I can get a bus: I can get one cheaply, I can get one quickly, I can usually get where I want to go, and I can get one until late in the evening. Even though in the U.S., a ticket is usually cheap, generally buses only come once or twice an hour. In addition, they don't travel to all parts of a city and I can't use them until late in the evening unless I'm in a big city. I'm always excited to live in another country and use their public transportation since I can't do the same in mine.
This brings us to the usage of the bus in my latest country. The Saigon bus system appears at first to be a very good system. The city has countless routes, marked bus stops with detailed information, some stops have covered waiting areas, all buses begin by 6am, and they even produce a free, colored map for riders. In fact, if you don't know about the free map, you can find a similar route map in the local bookstores (costing only $2). Which is why, after all those good aspects, I'm shocked that half the buses end by 6:30pm and the other half by 8! Yes, this is true! I feel like I'm back in my own country where people who have never used the bus system manage the bus system! I'm shocked that this is the way it is. And worse... I've been told this is Vietnam's bus system - not just Saigon's! How can it be, that in a poor country where thousands of locals work more than 10 hours a day, they can't use the bus to get home at night?? No wonder there's so many motos on the road! Yes, I know, I'm using too many explanation points!! But I wasn't planning on being forced into buying a moto during my stay in Vietnam! And I don't want to pay an over-priced rate on a xe-om for my ride home! What is wrong with these people?!
