Drivin' Around in Our Moto-mobile

Back in 2007, my friend Cathy made a short video about the bike nation that is Vietnam.  So it was definitely exciting to get to see it in person.  But it was still rather mesmerizing to see how many motorbikes (scooters) there were and to hear them whiz by you.  They zig-zag around cars and each other as they jockey for a better position.  At times we would even see a motorbike riding on the sidewalk or even riding in the opposite flow of traffic.

One Way Street? No Problem, Just Ride on the Sidewalk

And even in the rain, they put on their ponchos and motor along.

So then what does a visitor do to get the feel of the true Vietnam?  Go on one of the bikes and join the masses?  Are you nuts?  It's pretty hectic out there just looking at them from the sidewalk let alone amongst them on the streets.  So we decided to be a little nuts and join them, but not on our own.  With locals that navigate the streets and around these motorbikes on a regular basis: www.mytigertour.com.

So Darin and I signed up for the twilight tour where we were picked up at our hotel at 5:30pm greeted by the sweetest 4 Vietnamese girls.  We were a little shocked that they were girls but even more surprised that there were 4 of them for just us 2.  There was one to drive Darin, one to drive myself, one main coordinator/photo taker, and one to drive the main coordinator.

So we said our hellos, showed briefly our route, jumped on the back of the motorbikes, and off we went.  Since it was around 5:30 pm, I was guessing that it was still in the thick of rush hour.  But thinking back on it, it seemed like there were a lot of motorbikes all the time.  The cool part was being able to Vietnamese people on their bike and so close.  On the sidewalk, they whiz by so quickly.  On the back of a motorbike, you're travelling at nearly the same speed, so you can look at them and wave and smile.  I even saw a girl ride her scooter with 3-4 inch heels.

Overall, the sights we saw were just mediocre (though where we had dinner was pretty yummy) but the company we had was awesome.  In between stops, we can chat it up w/ our perspective driver.  I found out where the expensive part of town (District 1), where the teenagers hang out on their dates (by the river or the park), that my driver, Chuc, is about to finish up school, that she loves Bangkok, and that she wants to learn French.  At dinner they taught us how to say "delicious" in Vietnamese (ngong wa), how to toast (1, 2, 3, YO!!!!), and how to wrap a spring roll, though we already knew that.

In the end of our tour, we were dropped off at our hotel and said our good-byes.  They then told us, if we ever need any help during our stay in Vietnam, to give them a call and they can help us out and even translate for us if needed. A couple days later, they e-mailed us w/ our photos from the evening and a little video compilation.

So if you ever find yourself in Saigon, we highly recommend this tour group.