Avoid Samoa

Or at least the roads. They are switching from right to left side driving. That should be......fun? dangerous? chaotic?

It's going to be a fun , exciting and deadly time in The Heart of Polynesia. Let's hope the SURVIVORS can get off the Island ok.

looks fine on this mornings telly

hehe, from my experience of being in Samoa they have no issue on driving on the other side of the road!!!

Avoid Samoa? I am certainly not in favor of that road side switch but just coming back from an extended car ride all over Apia I can say that people drive slowly, cautiously and quite thoughtfully. Actually it really was fun. Three cars standing at a 4-way crossing and nobody is really sure who goes first. Laughing, waving, very relaxed. Let us all hope that this will last.

It would be a historic time to be there-my friend's Dad stil likes to regale people with tales of how it was in Sweden all those years ago when they switched and it sounds like it was a fun time.

Surely this Samoan situation will test people's good will but the South Pacific is long known as a place with lots of good will.

Day Switch+4 and traffic flowing almost normally. No accidents reported so far. It is quite weird to drive around on the roads I used to take many times a day and they are not familiar anymore. Roundabouts, road crossings, intersections suddenly become a puzzle. Driving on the unfamiliar side in an unfamiliar place is one thing - doing it where you usually live is something else. Just imagine you would have to do that from tomorrow morning on ...

It is bowing to the inevitable as we have no real choice than to comply. But then it is discipline and, yes, good will. As we cannot avoid it we will try to make it work as well as possible. That is very much Samoan way - after it is decided you support what is decided. People buckle up their seat belts (!), enjoy clear road markings everywhere and get good guidance by police watching virtually every critical point.

Of course it is much too early at this stage to make a complete assessment. But any travel warning or avoiding Samoa for the reason of the road side switch is absolutely unfounded. There are many, many places where I felt a lot more unsafe on the roads than here and now.

It was a joke folks- I was not serious. I just saw the report and remember what it is like to return to the US after driving for a year in the UK. Everything is fine while you are aware of the change. It is in either a crisis situation or when you are tired that the old habits kick in and you find yourself driving headon into another car and swerving in the wrong direction.

But anyone who thought I was in the least bit serious and has thus changed their travel plans- IT WAS IN JEST!

Our first visit to Apia in Sept., '1965, we rode a right hand drive car...thought it was pretty interesting.

In many places in the islands the cars are both right andleft hand drive whichever side they drive on- well, off the main drag they tend to drive all over the road too so maybe it doesn't matter.

Sounds like for those relying on buses it is not so funny - quite a silly thing, but I imagine it must be a real nuisance for many!

Oh my- things I wouldn't have thought of- can't they run only on one way streets if there are any?

Or pull into a parking lot.

"When Elephants fight the grass and trees suffer"

Again in reality all this is much less difficult. At least in Samoa. One should be here in the country to know what really happens.

Because today (day Switch+5) at least half of the bus fleet is already back on the road and the other half should be back by next week. Not three to six months needed for that as mentioned in the link provided above. But I guess they (BBC) needed that to make it newsworthy.

Why it is different? And how? Well, the Government had flatly denied the bus owners association's demands to be compensated with 20,000 US-Dollar each to change an old wooden bus and around 30,000 US-Dollar to change a metal built bus. And six months time to do it, while still operating the buses with the doors on the wrong side in the meantime.

Nice try, but it did not work. Instead all bus licenses were just voided with the date of the switch and the bus owners had to re-register. No door on the left = no new registration. And on the top they were told that their route assignment permit might be given to another bus company if they don't re-register quickly.

Now the bus owners were able to change the doors just investing a few hundred dollars for material and about three hours time, as far as I could witness, at least for a wooden bus. Might be different for a metal bus though. (BTW: You can even buy a ready made used bus from Japan here in Samoa for less than 20,000 US-Dollar ...)

Still no bus may be on the road before the side of the door is changed. But that re-assignment of the route permits has been delayed - the actual permit holders are given three more weeks to change the doors before they would be out of business. But I expect everything being back to normal by next week already as they want and need their buses moving, of course.

Read more details here.

I wouldn't say avoid Samoa - I would say - be safe just like in any other place in the world.
Samoa is beautiful and if you are not in the "city" of Apia you don't have much to worry about apart from 2 much sand on you backside or sunburn!

I WAS KIDDING!!!!

LOL, that's the web for you, 5W!
If you fail to add very obvious smilies and the like to a joking post, there'll always be those who take everything seriously.

Even when you've already said it was joking around. I've never even been to Samoa. Guess I'll have to remember to add smilies.

Wonder if there was a run on cancellations for trips to Samoa because some anon person on the web said to avoid it? Do you suppose that I have brought down the entire Samoan tourist trade? Gosh what a sense of power! (JOKE FOLKS! :-))) Kidding- don't really think this, etc etc)

sorry Waldo I guess we should have known. In New Zealand the news media have been waiting with bated breath for accidents/riots etc. the tv stations have sent their reporters over, and they waited in anticipation for something to happen at the 6 am change over .... but nothing did. Still good holiday for them. Our Priest father Paulo was there art the time and said there was nothing much to it (but then he did go to the same school as the Prime Minister). Much has been made over having to convert the bus doors as well, so it probably has been a sensitive time for those reliant on tourism.

I can't say it has been big news here in the states but it is very far away of course. I do think it is later when people get more used to it that it will be more dangerous. But as far as the rest of it- I will try to remember to use emoticons although I generally hate them :-(

Unfortunately, it was bound to happen. A boy hit by a bus driving on the wrong side of the road.

http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/bus-driving-wrong-side-hits-boy-in-samoa-2989669

The fact the the NZ media has to wait for exciting news from somewhere like Samoa just shows how stable and peaceful NZ itself is, with nothing exciting ever happening there.
I remember when I was in the Solomons, a backpacker was murdered in NZ. When I reached NZ 6 months later, it was still in the news and people kept talking about it with horror, telling me their country was "not safe any more"! Well, how long would a single murder be news in say, the US? ;-)

I really think few people from beyond the Pacific region have even heard of this change in Samoa.
In fact very few news ever make it out of the South Pacific, so it retains its old image as the typical paradise no matter what.

Hi Laslo, do you know what condition the road is to Uafato? we are booking into the Akoi beach fales, but are travelling in a high ace van and am concerned it will not be able to hack the road.

Haven't got a clue, never been there - I am sure others can tell you though.