Motorcycles and Ho Chi Minh City

Yesterday we saw a few motorcycles. More exactly we saw a few million of them! Apparently Ho Chi Minh City has approximately 6 million people and 4 million motorcycles - I think that we saw most of them during the day!

I am not sure where to start or finish any report of our visit to Ho Chi Minh City (or Saigon as the locals still call it). It was all rather mind-boggling and by the time we got back to the ship, we were very tired. Not that it was really all that strenuous - we travelled in a comfortable air-conditioned coach and had lunch in a 5-Star hotel, so it think it was all the head swiveling that wore us out. The day started for us at 4.30 AM before Dawn. The day before in the South China Sea had been very wet with the North-East Monsoon bucketing it down onto the ship, so we were pleased to find early in the morning that it was fine and clear. We rose early to see the entrance into the bay and river leading to Saigon. But, the excitement started almost immediately for us. As we went up the river, heavy fog closed in - until we had a visibility of only about 50 metres. With lots of small boat traffic around even at that time, the Captain blew the ship's fog horn all the way until we docked at Phu My. We were met by about 50 Coaches, ready to take passengers on shore tours. Most went on an official ship's
shore tour here - because all were aware that there is absolutely nothing at Phu My except the dock.
I don't think I can describe the drive from Phu My to Saigon. It is the main highway between Vung Tau and Saigon - and to be fair, there were a lot of incomplete roadworks which when eventually completed will vastly improve the road. Anyway, with the roadworks and heavy traffic, the journey to and from Saigon is 99 klms and took us 2 hours in the morning and 3 hours to return later in the day. It didn't matter much to us because we were comfortable and enjoyed looking at the "sights" along the road. The traffic in Saigon is literally mind boggling. We had thought that our previous experience of bicycle traffic in Beijing was eye opening enough - but it is tame compared to the motorcycles of Saigon. We had been told that to cross the road, you simply walk off the footpath and the cyclists will avoid you - but we weren't prepared to follow that advice. We stuck very close to the tour guide. We saw the usual "touristy" things - so I won't bore you with details. We enjoyed a performance of a traditional Water Puppet Theatre - and had lunch in Saigon's only 5-star hotel, the Majestic. Probably, the highlight of the day for us was our young, intelligent and amusing tour guide. For those who have done tours before, he was not your usual tour guide. All things considered, we came away with a reasonably good feel for what Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon is all about. We retired early last night, so we are looking forward to hearing other passenger's experiences today.

You can view a Youtube video about our visit to Ho Chi Minh City here