Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [83]
Ho Chi Minh City and around | Listings | Moving on from Ho Chi Minh City |
By bus
To the Mekong Delta The easiest way of making a journey round the delta is to sign up for a tour (see "Tour agents"). If you want to strike out alone, make your way to Mien Tay bus station, where several buses a day leave for all the delta’s major towns.
North of HCMC Buses to all points north depart from Xo Viet Nghe Tinh’s Mien Dong bus station. Shuttle buses run from Ben Thanh bus station to Mien Dong (#26), Mien Tay (#2) and Cho Lon (#1).
Ho Chi Minh City and around | Listings | Moving on from Ho Chi Minh City |
By open–tour bus
Many of the tour operators concentrated around De Tham sell tickets for open-tour buses that criss-cross the country. One-way tickets from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi (around $35) or Hué (about $24) allow you to break your journey at various points along the way, including Da Lat and Nha Trang. Tickets for shorter, in-between trips are also available, such as Ho Chi Minh City to: Nha Trang ($9); Da Lat ($8) and Hoi An ($20). There are also daily departures to Phnom Penh in Cambodia ($14). Tickets, information and departing buses, which leave daily in the early morning or evening, can be found at the various companies’ offices around De Tham and Pham Ngu Lao.
Ho Chi Minh City and around | Listings | Moving on from Ho Chi Minh City |
By boat
Hydrofoils to Vung Tau make several daily departures from the Passenger Quay of Ho Chi Minh City (Bach Dang Wharf), opposite the end of Ham Nghi at 2 Ton Duc Thang. For tickets ($10) and further information, contact the Vina Express booth at the jetty (daily 6.30–11am & 1.30–4.30pm; 08/3829 7892). There’s also a daily express boat from here to Can Tho operated by Thanh Nhan (08/3914 7979; tickets 250,000đ), which usually leaves at 8am but call to check.
One of the most popular boat trips from Ho Chi Minh City is to Phnom Penh, with a stop-over in Chau Doc in the delta. Visas can be organized by tour agents, and if you book with a company like Delta Adventure Travel, you won’t have to change boats half-way. Prices start at around $30 per person.
Ho Chi Minh City and around | Listings | Moving on from Ho Chi Minh City |
By organized tour
Tour agencies abound in Ho Chi Minh City and offer a range of itineraries, from one-day whistle-stop tours around the region to lengthy trips upcountry including accommodation. Operators like Delta Adventure Travel and TNK offer efficiently run and amazingly cheap tours to the Mekong Delta and the Cu Chi tunnels, while smaller, more personal set-ups like Sinhbalo Tours can custom-build a cycling or motorbike tour in many parts of the country. Most of the recommended tour operators listed in "Tour agents" can lay on tailor-made itineraries, private cars and personal guides for you. See "Organized tours", for provisos and tips on signing up for a tour in Vietnam.
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Ho Chi Minh City and around |
Around Ho Chi Minh City
When Ho Chi Minh City’s blaring horns and pushy vendors become too much for you, you’ll find you can get quite a long way out of the city in a day. With public transport slow and erratic, day-trips are best arranged through a tour operator (see "Tour agents"). The single most popular trip out of the city takes in one or both of Vietnam’s most memorable sights: the Cu Chi tunnels, for twenty years a bolt hole, first for Viet Minh agents, and later for Viet Cong cadres; and the weird and wonderful Cao Dai Holy See at Tay Ninh, the fulcrum of the country’s most charismatic indigenous religion. While it’s possible to see both places in a day (indeed, most people do), be prepared to spend most of the day on the road.
Another enjoyable day (or half-day) out can be had at one of the water parks that are located on the fringe of the city and make a great antidote to the dust and heat of Ho Chi Minh City (see "Listings"). Southwest of