Dead drunk

After a night of “spiritual debauchery,” HCM City resident named Huy drove home, very much under the influence.

The bike weaved and swayed off the road into a section of the Rạch Chiếc River in District 9. Huy knew how to swim, so he made his way back to the river bank. A dip in the cold waters had cleared his befuddled brain enough to realise he was in no shape to retrieve his motorbike, so he left it there, on the river bank, staggered home on his feet, and slept like a baby.

The next day, he woke up to find that he was dead.

A report in the local newspaper said dozens of divers were searching for “the body of a man that fell into the Rạch Chiếc River last night”.

His motorbike had been found by residents living near the river and reported to the authorities, and the understandable assumption was made that the owner had drowned.

Huy rushed to the district police station to clarify the situation.

We are not sure if he was booked after the fact for drunk driving, but can be fairly certain that the next time he decides to drown his sorrows in a pint or two, he will not end up presumed drowned or worse.

A flighty airline

Last Friday, at 9pm, a sad Vân Anh and her husband boarded a flight in HCM City to Vinh City to attend her grandmother’s cremation. The family would meet at midnight, and take the body to the crematorium.

An hour and a half later, when they landed, their grief turned to shock as they found out they were in Hà Nội, not Vinh.

Airline staff, who’d not informed the passengers about the detour, said it was necessitated by bad weather in Vinh City. The staff also offered to give the couple VNĐ200,000 (US$8.8) each to get to Vinh from Hà Nội by bus.

Since the possibility of the bus covering 280km in 1.5 hours was remote, Vân Anh declined the generous offer.

She said the question of her ever taking that airline again was not up in the air, it was never going to happen.

Getting high and staying there

Parasailing has become a popular activity at beach destinations in Việt Nam, with more and more people wanting to experience the thrill of flying above the vast ocean and enjoying a bird’s-eye view of the world below.

Recently, two Chinese visitors to Nha Trang City enjoyed the flying part, but not the bird’s-eye view. An inexperienced motorboat driver left them hanging on top of a tree.

Parasailing accidents are not uncommon, locals say. They have been several incidents of people offering their mobile phones to the sea after forgetting to empty their pockets earlier. The Chinese visitors, meanwhile, are not likely to open their pockets again for the parasailing experience. — VNS