WAIW | Air Quality in Saigon
Last year, when I was dealing with burning season in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I spent the whole time looking forward to getting back to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam for relatively cleaner air. Granted, in a city known for intense scooter traffic, the air isn’t exactly the best in the world. However, relative to Chiang Mai when I left, it was a step in the right direction.
Sadly, during my last visit and the one I’m currently in the midst of, it seems things have gotten worse in the city I’ve come to love. For reasons I’m not quite sure of, the Air Quality Index (AQI) has been rather bad for the majority of the time that I’ve been here, and that means I’ve spent plenty of days either inside or wearing a mask. As someone who has come to realize I’m rather sensitive to poor AQI, this means I haven’t gone on many adventures and I’ve felt somewhat trapped at home.
Hopefully, the celebration of the Vietnamese New Year (Tet) will lead to less traffic and air pollution, which should help things. For today though, things weren’t great.
