First Experience with the HCMC Public Buses

Recently I went to Monkey Island with a friend on Teacher's Day, and we ended up taking public buses to get the full experience.

This is the first time I've been on the bus system here (seriously - this long! It even took me months to try the buses when I first moved to Chicago! I don't even know) and it was a pretty good experience. Long, but very interesting, and I got some fun videos.

I thought I'd write a brief post about it, as some aspects are a bit... different... than bus rides I've had in the past.

Read on for a short primer on "how" to ride the city buses in Saigon! Complete with amusing videos!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

I've been here in Ho Chi Minh City now for 4 months, and, while that's not a very long time, it's long enough for me to develop some favorite things and some not so favorite things. Usually, it takes me a couple times before I decide, definitively, NO THANK YOU. And, ranked, here they are.

Have you been to Saigon? What are some of your favorites/not at all favorites? I'm curious if these are typical culture shock things or if I'm just developing personal tastes. Leave me notes in the comments!

Read on for a listicle (ugh, hate that word... but it's applicable):

My New Motorbike (For Now)!

Bike, thy name is FLEXIBILITY and ACCESS.

After months of putting it off, it dawned on me at the goat restaurant that I just can't NOT have a motorbike anymore. Getting around is easy without one, but the expenses add up - 2 bucks here, 7 bucks there, a taxi to far off locations, xe oms wherever and whenever you need them... And the hassle of haggling is something that I never look forward to (although I've gotten better at it. A little).

Initially, I'd been waiting (and waiting... and waiting... and waiting... UPDATE: ...still waiting...) to hear from my company about what public school I'd be in before I invested in either a motorbike, if it was far away, or a bicycle, if it was close by. Because I plan to be here more than 10 months, a rented bike would be more expensive than purchasing the same bike outright, and I wanted to wait and make the choice.

XE ÔM RIDE!!

Yesterday I got some video of what it's like to be on the back of a motorbike going through Saigon at 7am. I've been trying to get a good trip video for a week now and finally realized this is about as good as I'm going to get.

The driver in the video (not the one in the picture on the left) is my regular guy - he camps out where my side-alley exits into the main street - and he is a little faster than some of the other xe om taxis that I've taken. Not the fastest on the road by any means... some people with their own bikes really zoom. But he doesn't limp along like some of these weaker bikes I've been on. I like that. He also doesn't go the wrong way down one-way streets, which I ALSO like. He's a good driver.

Check out the video after the jump...

Essential Ho Chi Minh City Travel Tips, Part 1

There are just some things that are so small you don't think about the fact that they might be done differently in another culture. I'm not talking about driving on the other side of the road - even simpler than that... these are some that I've learned through trial and error!

Learn from my mistakes, and enjoy!

An Expert's Guide to Getting Lost in Saigon

As you can see, I didn't get too lost on the way
there, except at the end. Still, not bad.

Seriously, this is how you do it. Take notes.

Thank god my birthday is right around the corner, because I'm going to give myself the best present ever: a phone with maps. ELECTRONIC MAPS, PEOPLE. GPS. HOW DID WE LIVE WITHOUT THEM. I DON'T KNOW.

Let me tell you the story about the time I went to meet a new friend and ended up walking around Ho Chi Minh City for 3.5 hours trying to get home, including not one, not two, but three separate xe om (motorbike taxi) rides.

How did this travesty happen? I'm supposed to be the one that's good with directions, for gods sake!

I went to meet this new friend at a bar called the Spotted Cow in District 1. It was fun. I had caramel flan and a beer (bad combo). The owner, Mike, gave us 10% off cards for chatting with him. 

Nightlife!

(We also had a really interesting discussion about ladyboys and ladyboy culture, which became hugely, personally relevant about 4.5 hours later. Unfortunately. No, shut up, let me tell it.)

As an aside, I also got lost on the way there, but not as badly as I originally thought. This is the route I took - it was about 3 miles. No biggie. I only got lost at the end and was 30 minutes late, got there on a taxi bike (XE OM RIDE #1). My friend was ordering spring rolls and I think was a little mad, but I've only been here two weeks, give a boy a break!

School of Walk

Yesterday was my first foray into the wild n' crazy streets of HCMC, and I think it turned out pretty good. A couple things I'll have to remember:

1. BRING WATER EVERYWHERE
2. And maybe that map I bought
3. Also, be more like Luke Skywalker in Episode IV

I live at the red flag. I wanted a
bucket of water at the green marker.

As for Number 1, Captain Hindsight here. Of course I should have brought water. I explored my neighborhood, District 3, going about 3.75 miles in 1:45. It was a leisurely stroll and there was no lack of things to see and wonder about. This city is ELECTRIC! It's an assault on the senses, and it's awesome. I think I could really get used to it. But.

Being There

Besides being the title of my favorite Wilco album, it's also what I'm trying very hard to do, right now, without falling asleep again.

A view from my window - look at those
bangin' plants on the porch over there!

It's 7am here in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. After 31 hours of flights and layovers in exotic places (or at least their exotic airport terminals), I arrived here last night about 5pm. There was a bit of a delay at the passport check (as I suspected there might be) because of my new passport - the number on the loose-leaf visa and my new booklet didn't match up. Which was ok - it only cost me $45 to get a new one on the spot, and - BONUS! - it's a stamp in my booklet, so I won't worry about losing the loose visa.

(Oh yes - I did have one very close call in the Istanbul airport. The iPhone 3GS my friend Jeff gave me, and which went into a river with me in April on a hiking trip, started freaking out and eventually shut off, not to turn back on. But then I got to my hotel and plugged it in, and it worked, mostly, only freaking out a few more times but not permanently shutting off. I might have to get a new phone, not sure about that quite yet. I'm eyeing it with distrust.)