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Hoi Chi Minh City
Making an impromptu trip to Hoi Chi Minh City in a couple of weeks and
taking my road bike with me. Other than fitting some stronger wheels and 25mm tyres I'll just use it as is. I'm going to be making day rides which start/finish in the city. Any suggestions, links, tips? All feedback welcome thanks. I'm trusting that i can pick up a street map once I arrive, but I'm having trouble finding any road maps of the surrounding area. Any ideas or online sources? Thanks again. Nige. |
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On 28 Sep 2004 20:31:19 -0700, Nige wrote:
Making an impromptu trip to Hoi Chi Minh City in a couple of weeks and taking my road bike with me. Other than fitting some stronger wheels and 25mm tyres I'll just use it as is. I'm going to be making day rides which start/finish in the city. Any suggestions, links, tips? All feedback welcome thanks. I'm trusting that i can pick up a street map once I arrive, but I'm having trouble finding any road maps of the surrounding area. Any ideas or online sources? Thanks again. Nige. I can't help much on routes but I did spend 3 weeks in HCMC a few years ago as a pedestrian. The roads are reasonable quality in and around the city but do take care of potholes and the edges. There are lots of cyclists and mopedallists. Plenty of buses and trucks too. There are much less private cars. The roads can be very busy. There tends to be an order in the chaos, cyclists on the inside, then the mopeds, then the bigger vehicles. Drivers of bigger vehicles will use the horn frequently when they want to pass a slower smaller vehicle. Traffic lights and traffic cops are obeyed but with a bit of fuzziness on the ambers. Vehicles will often use the wrong side of the road to make progress but they always seemed to get back in in time. Pedestrians cross by walking out into the sea of cycles and mopeds---it's the only way! As long as you are aware of this and use eye contact a lot it seems to work. But do take care as peds can often be carrying stuff like yokes which make them a bit bigger. Also take care of heavy overloaded mopeds and cycles, I saw one where the pillion passenger was carrying a sheet of plate glass extending out a couple of feet either side of the moped. I only saw one cyclist knocked off in the whole time I was there and he dusted himself down and cycled on. Everyone stopped to help though. It will be an interesting experience but it is a fantastic city. There are plenty of Internet cafes so let us know how things are going. Colin |
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On 28 Sep 2004 20:31:19 -0700, Nige wrote:
All feedback welcome thanks. I'm trusting that i can pick up a street map once I arrive, but I'm having trouble finding any road maps of the surrounding area. Any ideas or online sources? Thanks again. Nige. Oh, and I didn't see any decent maps when I was there. There is a Lonely Planet cycling guide to Vietnam, it might be worth skimming the HCMC chapter to see if it has any advice. Colin |
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Ten years ago in Vietnam I was amazed at how bicycles (and others) flow
through each other, especially at right angles and with no stoplights. The trick is no hesitation. Put some inexperienced rider in there who hesitates or makes other sudden avoidance move and chaos ensues, spreading like wilfire. -- Steve Juniper "If the human brain was simple enough for us to understand, we would be too simple to understand it." - Peter Kramer - |
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Nige wrote:
Making an impromptu trip to Hoi Chi Minh City in a couple of weeks and taking my road bike with me. Other than fitting some stronger wheels and 25mm tyres I'll just use it as is. I'm going to be making day rides which start/finish in the city. Any suggestions, links, tips? All feedback welcome thanks. I'm trusting that i can pick up a street map once I arrive, but I'm having trouble finding any road maps of the surrounding area. Any ideas or online sources? Thanks again. Nige. Let me be the first to say: S-S-S-S-S-S-Saigon S-S-S-S-S-S-Saigon ;-) |
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In article 415af491.0@entanet, Zog The Undeniable wrote:
Nige wrote: Making an impromptu trip to Hoi Chi Minh City in a couple of weeks and taking my road bike with me. Other than fitting some stronger wheels and 25mm tyres I'll just use it as is. I'm going to be making day rides which start/finish in the city. Any suggestions, links, tips? All feedback welcome thanks. I'm trusting that i can pick up a street map once I arrive, but I'm having trouble finding any road maps of the surrounding area. Any ideas or online sources? Thanks again. Nige. Let me be the first to say: S-S-S-S-S-S-Saigon S-S-S-S-S-S-Saigon ;-) What point are you trying to make Zog? Ho Chi Minh city incorporates the older cities of Cholon and Saigon. They've merged completely, rather like Salford & Manchester ObCycle: I cycled in HCM in the '90s. The roads were generally in good condition - certainly better than central London then or now and the pavements were swept beautifully clean (I still remember my shock at noticing how disgusting Norwich pavements looked - gum and dog **** - as I cycled home from the airport). Unless you're on a clear road, just cycle at the same pace as the other cyclists. As another cyclist says, when the traffic is mostly bicycles it all works beautifully. No need for traffic lights, Unfortunately the locals are desperate to spend new wealth on IC engines and cycletourists I met in Lao and Cambodia last year said that this cyclists' paradise is a lot less pleasant. I don't think you'll find a better street map than the thumbnails in the LP guide. So just follow the flow in the general direction you want to head! Be aware that outside the city a main road may suddenly turn from tarmac to speed sapping red dust (where even 32mm road tyres sink deep -- jan |
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Thanks for all the feedback, I'll report back with how I get on. It should be fun.
Nige |
#8
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Well, the trip was a complete blast. The traffic in Saigon was all I
had heard it could be, and then some. It really was a lot of fun. I've ridden a fair bit in China, but the traffic in Saigon was more intense. Rode around the city quite a bit, and the longest ride was to Can Gio, 120km round trip. The roads got very rough on parts of that ride. Once you leave the city the traffic gets a lot lighter. The people are very friendly. All in all a lot of fun, and I'm going to try and go back again in the next couple of months. |
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Well, the trip was a complete blast. The traffic in Saigon was all I
had heard it could be, and then some. It really was a lot of fun. I've ridden a fair bit in China, but the traffic in Saigon was more intense. Rode around the city quite a bit, and the longest ride was to Can Gio, 120km round trip. The roads got very rough on parts of that ride. Once you leave the city the traffic gets a lot lighter. The people are very friendly. All in all a lot of fun, and I'm going to try and go back again in the next couple of months. |
#10
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Well, the trip was a complete blast. The traffic in Saigon was all I
had heard it could be, and then some. It really was a lot of fun. I've ridden a fair bit in China, but the traffic in Saigon was more intense. Rode around the city quite a bit, and the longest ride was to Can Gio, 120km round trip. The roads got very rough on parts of that ride. Once you leave the city the traffic gets a lot lighter. The people are very friendly. All in all a lot of fun, and I'm going to try and go back again in the next couple of months. |
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