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Saigon sight-seeing by bike

By D J Clark (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-12 10:08

 

There is very little the Vietnamese won't place on the back of a motobike - passengers, keyboards, even a few electric fans. Photos by D J Clark / for China Daily

 

Years of French colonial rule shaped much of the downtown architecture.

 

A happy couple posing for the wedding album on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City.

 

 

Little stalls sell everything from sweetmeats and dried mushrooms to plastic sandals.

Related video: Saigon by motorbike

Scared off the pedestrian walkways by the masses of motorbikes, D J Clark decides to join the two-wheeled throng for an alternative way to sightsee in Ho Chi Minh City.

There are dangers in walking in every city. And in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, it was the motorbikes that scared me the most, coming from every direction and in such great numbers.

With this in mind I arranged a motorbike city tour that would take me off my feet and into the swarms of two-wheeled commuters.

It's more expensive than taking a bus tour but there is no set route and it can offer a different view of Vietnam's most populated city. I asked Cuong, my driver-guide, to show me the real Ho Chi Minh City and we set off in the opposite direction from the tour groups and dived into the backstreets of Chinatown.

Still known by its pre-1975 name of Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City has a varied and violent past. The 90 years of French colonial rule shaped much of the downtown architecture which still stands today.

We started at the textile market with its rich colors and quiet bustle. Looking out over the street stalls, large columned French windows with iron balconies are a reminder of a previous era, in which traders gathered to fill their ships with local products before they sailed off for Europe.

We moved onto the Cho Bnh Tay market where I spent an hour losing myself in the century-old corridors of little stalls, which sell everything from dried mushrooms to plastic sandals. Then we went to an 18th-century Buddhist temple where, as long as you take your shoes off, you can wander freely amongst monks and religious icons.

I asked Cuong to introduce me to some typical Vietnamese food and he stopped outside an old beer garden. Inside people sat on plastic chairs and drank a potent homemade brew. Cuong ordered spicy chicken wings and shredded pork along with the beer.

"Do you mind if I drink one bottle? It's the legal limit to drive in Ho Chi Minh," Cuong asked. He was a careful driver and I was happy for him to share the fun.

As we mounted the bike again to set off for the afternoon, a motorcyclist and his pillion rider with a large keyboard rushed past. There is little the Vietnamese won't put on the back of a motorbike and by the end of the day, I barely gave a glance as another man carrying eight large boxes and three boxes of electric fans passed us.

Ten minutes into a short tour of the old canals, the heavens opened and we sped off to find sanctuary in an old coffee shop. Be warned: A motorbike tour normally includes a drenching at some point.

Sipping sweet iced coffee under a covered sidewalk was a pleasant way to dry off and quiz Cuong about the different routes tourists take.

"Most people like to see the war museum and the old section of the city," he told me. I was not in the mood for museum wanderings but asked to see some of the more established landmarks.

The Fine Arts Museum, Botanical Gardens, the Central Post Office, Opera House, Reunification Palace, City Hall and Notre Dame Cathedral were all quickly ticked off with a quick glance inside and a photograph for the album.

This is where the motorbike tour really comes into its own, as unlike the buses, it's easy just to hop off, have a quick look around and then head on to the next destination.

To finish the day, we headed to the Saigon River where we joined yet more motorcyclists crammed onto a small platform barge that makes the crossing. It's a fascinating ride with views one way of the docks and the other of the ever-rising skyscrapers of the city.

After the long day, I treated Cuong to one more beer on the rooftop garden of the French Riviera-styled Hotel Majestic, where you can watch the sunset over the river and recap your day in Ho Chi Minh City.