If Los Angeles is the city of angels and Venice the capital of canals, then surely Ho Chi Minh City is the motorcycle mecca of the world. (Naturally, the same could be said of the other major Vietnamese city Hanoi, some 1000+ kilometers to the north!) By mecca I don't mean a mecca for finding the latest mean machines -- you could head to Tokyo for that. But while Japan churns out most of Asia's motorbikes and is home to some of the greatest bike companies, your average Japanese citizen doesn't ride a bike. In Vietnam, virtually everyone does -- that is the difference. Ho Chi Minh is a city dominated by the motorcycle, called xe may in the local parlance. The pulse of Ho Chi Minh City is the throbbing engine of a xe may motorbike. Echoing my thoughts on the matter, Wikipedia has written: "Recently, the number of motorcycles has increased to about 3 million. There are also over 500,000 automobiles, packing the city's arterial roads and making traffic congestion and air pollution common problems. If Beijing is "the City of Bicycles", then Ho Chi Minh City may be called "the City of Motorbikes"."
More authentically, Lost in Saigon has related: "Every morning I ride my motorbike to work and it never ceases to be an adventure. Here in Saigon most inhabitants use a motorbike to get around which creates a lot of pollution. After 8 months of breathing in burning fossil fuels I finally decided to go with a mask no matter how ridiculous I might look. Most of the ladies on motorbikes here also cover themselves although they prefer that no skin is visible since white skin is seen as beautiful. It really has nothing to do with Europeans I would think but rather they don't want to be seen as manual laborors who work in the sun and who's skin turns almost black. They cover themselves so well that they almost look like a million terrorists riding around in hat, sunglasses and scarf covering all of their face as well as shoulder length gloves.
"Traffic rules here are also mostly a suggestion. The traffic lights are a relatively new feature in the city and people usually revert to their country habits when crossing an intersection which is to beep frantically, reduce speed and continue right through even if the light is red. Here in the city there is a ton of traffic so people are getting used to the red lights but as in the West they too get tired of waiting for it to change even if there is a ton of on coming traffic. Therefore, they all tend to slowly push halfway out into the intersection until the oncoming traffic has no choice but to stop.
"As you might imagine there are also a lot of traffic accidents. Even if you are able to look in all 16 directions when driving there still will be people crossing the street at the worst possible times. To cross a street here in Saigon, you simply step off the curb and proceed at a very slow pace until you reach the other side. The traffic will swerve around you like a school of fish and come within inches.
"But it really is not as dangerous in the city as it might seem. The Vietnamese have a very inate sense of traffic and the motorbikes remind me of a school of fish which avoids collisions.... usually. Even if you get in a crash the speeds are not very high and everyone is usually alright. The true danger lies on the freeways when there are accidents at high speeds and the fatalities are pretty high. So if your thinking about driving across Vietnam on a motorbike you should probably not, and chose the bus. Even though most understand traffic there are a few who do not and those are the ones you have to watch out for."
For all who don't know, here is a bit about Saigon (and the greater Ho Chi Minh City which surounds it): Conquered by France in 1859, the city was influenced by the French during their colonial occupation of Vietnam, and a number of classical Western-style buildings in the city reflect this, so much so that Saigon was called "the Pearl of the Far East" (Hòn ngọc Viễn Đông) or "Paris in the Orient" (Paris Phương Đông).
r e v i e w s
Katalin's Trip Mui Ne to Saigon: http://www.itisnet.com/english/e-hot/e-katalin/vietnam_3.htm.
Katalin writes of her impressions of Saigon (after visiting the couple friendly Mui Ne): "Arrived in the evening to Saigon. Backpackers get to reminded me for Kao San road. Many GHes, small family-run hotels. you can get a simple room for 45000d. I checked out two places that had dorm, but interestingly both of them was full - but they had rooms for 5 usd. Instead I stayed in a small GH for 45000d/room, shower outside. I can recommend Duna Hotel which is quite fancy (elevator, A/C, TV, bathroom with bath-tube) and not cheap (8-15USD/room = bad rate if you want to pay with dong!!) but it's worth the money if you want to treat yourself after staying in cheap places all over Vietnam.)"
Travel Fish: http://www.travelfish.org/accommodation_profile/
vietnam/saigon_and_surrounds/ho_chi_minh_city/ho_chi_minh_city/all/2183.
"Very popular with tour groups and Australian backpackers who like to have inane conversations at the top of their voices in the foyer, the Duna Hotel has somewhat frumpy rooms with fluorescent blankets and aged pine chipboard furniture. The cheapest rooms have mismatched furniture and are quite poor value. The bathrooms throughout are excellent -- very clean and well-maintained. Only the deluxe rooms have street frontage. Overall, other properties in this part of Saigon are better value."
Trip Advisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g293925-d601857-Reviews-Duna_Hotel-Ho_Chi_Minh_City.html.
Trip Advisor give this hotel three out of five. Wrote latinagirl83 from Florida about her stay here: "my husband and I were a bit disappointed with the rooms. we asked for a balcony room but it was a joke as the whole balcony had work tools, aircon units and was just discusting so we kept the curtains drawn the whole time. the view is also really ugly so dont bother paying extra for the balcony rooms.
"the staff was ok but the front desk women were really annoying. not very pleasant at all. the location is ok a few fun places around the corner. yes, getting in at night can be a problem as the guards that lock the door do not wake up easily.
"there are plenty of other hotels, look around before staying in this one."
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