Yesterday, Thanh and I went to a local cafe for my routine fix of "cafe sua da" or coffee with milk. This was about 4 pm. After we sat down, we could see four or five very young traffic policemen standing on the sidewalk but back away from the street. I swear none of them looked older than 25 years old. I guess today, they decided to catch all the violators in this area. And boy did they have plenty of business. They must have stopped about 50 people in 30 minutes. Most were stopped for no helmet or too many on the motobike. They would motion for the bike to pull over. Once over, they would ask for the bike license and driver's ID. Then the police would take one of these documents and the violator could get back after he paid his fine at the local police station. If the driver had neither, they impounded the bike. Sometimes, a moto driver would see the policemen ahead and make an abupt U-turn to avoid their infraction. This result was generally not effective. One bike driver tried the U-turn, but his bike stalled, so he dropped the bike and raced through the street barefoot. Four police chased him down, running too. Maybe the bike he was riding was stolen. But while this chase was happening, others who were pulled over and waiting for the police to question them, decided this was there opportunity to flee the scene. It was kind of a comedic operation.
Today, Thanh and I hired some moto drivers to take us to the church where Sister Tan works with local ethnic groups. It was only 20 KM from here, on a main road most of the way, but hard to find as we must have asked for directions about 5 times. The weather is great today, actually a little hot. Once we arrived at the church, Sister Tan was waiting for us. After a few minutes, the police arrived. I couldn't believe it. How did they even know I was there. Sister told me that the police wanted my passport and Thanh's ID. Well, the hotel still had my passport and Thanh had left his ID in the hotel room, thinking he didn't need it now. After a short discussion, the police said we could stay for one hour, but not to leave the premises. So, we talked to the Sister about her work there, saw inside the church, and did get to see the day care kids. There are three nuns that live here and 3 days a week they go to nearby villages and try to teach VNese to them. This is even difficult for them because of the authorities. So, even if I had my passport, I seriously doubt I would be allowed to to these villages. What I find amazing is how near these restricted areas are to the more public areas, and how much control the police have. But I guess it is a communist country and it made me think of how different life can be for others. Now, maybe I could have bribed the police, which is common here too, but I refuse to do that.
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