It’s Niall again, The Podcast Guy. I am the founder of Seven Million Bikes Podcasts, and host of A Vietnam Podcast. I talk to people in Vietnam and worldwide to share their stories and experiences in Vietnam. But this time, it’s just me and my wife, Adrie.
After the excitement of National Day celebrations, Adrie and I decided to do something a bit different—a fun and popular activity for many foreigners and visitors in Saigon: the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour. While we’ve been living in the city for years, this was a chance to experience Saigon from a completely new perspective.
The Hop On Hop Off Bus Experience: A Fresh Perspective on Saigon
Adrie and I finally decided to try something different in Saigon—something I’d never done before: the Hop On Hop Off bus tour. Even though I’ve lived here for years, I’d never considered doing it until now. It’s the kind of thing you expect tourists to do, but since the tour was relatively new, having only started about two years ago, we thought, “Why not give it a go?”
We had tried to do the tour a couple of times before. The first time, it was pouring rain, and the second time, there were tons of roadblocks because of the National Day holiday. Finally, on the third try, we made it happen – and it was totally worth the wait.
We tried to time it perfectly to catch the sunset, and luckily, we made it. Seeing the city at two different times of day was incredible. First, as the sun set, the city was bathed in this beautiful golden light, and then, as night fell, all the buildings lit up. It was like seeing Saigon transform right before our eyes. If you ever do this tour, sunset is definitely the time to go. The open-top bus allowed us to see the buildings and lights from above, providing a much different view compared to the typical street-level experience of taxis or motorbikes.
Normally, when we get around Saigon, it’s either in taxis or on motorbikes. In a car, you don’t really see much—you’re stuck behind windows, often sitting in traffic.
But when we got on this open-top bus, it was a completely different experience. Being higher up, we could look beyond the street level and really take in the city’s skyline.
One of the things I really enjoyed was how peaceful it felt compared to the usual hustle of Saigon. The craziness was still there below us, but it wasn’t as overwhelming. From the second level of the bus, we could admire the architecture, the lights, and the city’s energy in a much more relaxed way. Adrie said it best—it gave us a completely new perspective of the city, and it was surprisingly calming.
You may also interested: 7 Best Happy Hours in Saigon
Saigon’s Blend of History and Modernity: Iconic Streets and Landmarks
Saigon is a fascinating mix of old and new, where history coexists with rapid modernization. Walking through the city, you’ll encounter small family-owned restaurants that have been serving the same northern-style phở for generations, right next to trendy cafes offering South Vietnamese cà phê sữa đá (iced coffee with condensed milk).
Even in the architecture, you can spot the transition from old to new—ancient temples sit beside modern skyscrapers, while French colonial buildings share space with contemporary developments. Whether it’s through food, culture, or everyday life, Saigon captures the essence of Vietnam’s rich history and forward-thinking spirit.
Some of the streets still carry non-Vietnamese names, like Louis Pasteur and Yersin, both significant scientific figures. I’ve always found it interesting how the city has managed to preserve some of its colonial past through these street names, though I’ll admit, I struggle to remember all of them at times.
As we continued our tour, we passed the Rex Hotel, a famous spot that’s been around for years. It’s still one of the nicest hotels in the city, a reminder of Saigon’s colonial past. Right next to it is the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Building, one of the few French buildings that survived the wave of demolitions. I’m glad it did because it’s such a beautiful structure, and it’s rare to see buildings like that preserved in a city that’s modernizing so quickly
Notre Dame Cathedral is another key landmark in the city. It’s been under construction for what feels like forever—about five years now—so unfortunately, it’s still covered in scaffolding. It’s a shame because the cathedral is one of the main attractions for visitors, and while it’s still worth seeing, it’s hard to appreciate fully when it’s hidden away like that.
Modern Transformation: Malls, Markets, and the Bitexco Financial Tower
Saigon’s rapid modernization has been incredible to witness. When I first arrived, there weren’t nearly as many malls or modern developments, but today, places like Vincom Mall and Thiso Mall have completely transformed the shopping experience here.
Thiso Mall is brand new, less than a year old, and features a movie theater, a Fred Perry store, Uniqlo, and more. It’s interesting because whenever friends come to visit now, we get to play tourists in our own city, exploring these new spots that didn’t exist before.
This development is just one example of how much Saigon has changed, especially post-COVID. Before the pandemic, we used to have visitors constantly—friends, family, people we hadn’t seen in years. But since the lifting of COVID restrictions, tourism hasn’t quite bounced back. Fewer people seem to be coming, which is a bit surprising given all the new developments.
One of the biggest changes in the city is the Thu Thiem 2 bridge. It’s still new, and even though it’s been around for a couple of years now, I still call it “the new bridge,” and probably will for the next decade!
When they first started chopping down these massive, beautiful trees to make room for the bridge, there was a lot of outrage, from both locals and expats. But now that it’s done, you can see how much easier it is to get into the city. It’s made traffic less chaotic, though people still park their motorbikes on the bridge, blocking traffic. That would never fly back home, but here, it’s just part of the city’s charm.
In addition to these modern developments, some of Saigon’s more traditional spots are also undergoing transformations. Ben Thanh Market, for example, is due for a major redevelopment. It’s been full of hagglers and cheap goods for as long as I can remember, but now they’re planning to clean it up and turn it into a more “proper” market. It’s one of those changes where you’re not quite sure if it’ll lose its character, but it’s certainly a sign of Saigon’s ongoing modernization.
Of course, one of the most iconic symbols of the city’s modern landscape is the Bitexco Financial Tower, which many of us call the “Avengers Tower” because of how much it looks like something straight out of the movies.
The tower even has a helipad that was supposed to be used by CEOs flying in from around the world. The funny thing is, no helicopter has ever landed there. Apparently, they didn’t consider the crosswinds up there, making it unsafe for helicopters to land.
While Bitexco was once the symbol of modern Saigon, Landmark 81 has taken that role. It’s now the go-to place for panoramic views of the city, and its sheer scale and grandeur make it a powerful symbol of Vietnam’s economic growth and its ambition to be seen on the global stage.
Saigon’s modernization doesn’t stop with malls and skyscrapers; even the streets themselves are evolving. New markets and parks are cropping up, and the skyline continues to change. Despite this rapid development, there’s still a balance between the old and the new. You can see modern skyscrapers like the Bitexco Tower towering over traditional streets, and old markets like Ben Thanh transforming to fit the city’s future while retaining some of their old charm.
Related Episode: Saigon’s Transformation Through the Eyes of Mischa Smith
Conclusion
Overall, the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour was a fantastic experience, offering a fresh perspective on Saigon’s iconic sights and lively streets. Whether you’re a local or a visitor, it’s a great way to soak in the city’s full view and vibrant atmosphere, especially at night when the city lights up in all its glory.
Don’t forget to follow and join the A Vietnam Podcast community for more insights, tips, and stories about life in Vietnam.
Introduction and Annoyances of City Life
Niall: It is often grab drivers, they’ll just piss, like, against the trees in the middle of the street.
Definitely seen full wang before when they like, they piss facing the street. the Vietnamese [00:00:00] guy having a piss. This to me is one of the biggest annoying things of being an avist.
I don’t know if collectively men can’t hold their bladder, but they literally just piss everywhere and
Niall: So, uh, one of the things that I haven’t done yet, Adri’s done it a couple of times.
Exploring Saigon: Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour
Niall: We’re heading out right now to D1 to go and do the hop on hop off bus tour, which is pretty standard in most cities. It’s quite new here in Saigon.
I think it started,
in Saigon.
We’ll
like, just a year ago, two, maybe two years ago. We’ve tried to time it to go for sunset. Um,
we’re going to
not sure if we’re gonna make it. Well, we’re gonna make it in time for sunset.
at sunset.
We decided to each take a bike tonight instead of doing a car. We’ve been in and out of taxis all day, so we wanted to do something different.
do something different. But But so yeah, the Hop On Hop Off bus, Hop Off bus. I’m pretty excited about it. I’ve never done it before. I don’t think I’ve done it in any city before, maybe. [00:01:00] Uh, and it’s going to be really nice in Saigon at night. You can see all the lights, all the buildings.
were
actually, this is the third time that we’ve rebooked it.
The first night we had to change it because it was pouring with rain. Uh, then last night we were going to do it for the National Day holiday. But then we found out there were loads of road closures. Because of the National Day holiday, so we didn’t think it was going to be worth it. And then tonight,
be worth it.
Club Time’s a charm.
We’re going to do that, so.
do that. So, So hop on, hop off bus. Even if you live here, you can do it. It’s cool to be a tourist in your own city.
That’s why we love it when people visit. Because we can be a tourist, but nobody’s visiting. We’re just going to do it ourselves. Guy having a piss. This to me is one of the biggest annoying things of being an avist. I don’t know if collectively men can’t hold their bladder, but they literally just piss everywhere and anyone who lives here will tell you the same. It is often grab drivers, they’ll just piss, like, against the trees in the middle of the street.
Definitely seen full [00:02:00] wang before when they like, they piss facing the street. It’s weird man, like, well, there’s no public toilets, which makes you realize the importance of public toilets. Like you really do need them because people use them. But at the same time, like if you’re driving a bike all day and you need to have a piss, can you not go behind a bush or like go somewhere?
Like they don’t even hide it just by the side of the road. It’s pretty disgusting. I mean, it’s another reason why nobody walks in Vietnam probably because. It just smells of piss, to be honest, to places. It’s just a really disgusting habit here, that not everyone has. Like, I’ve met this guy, I’m on the bike with, I hope he doesn’t do it.
A lot of young people I speak to, they wouldn’t do it. It’s frowned upon here, it’s not like everyone in Vietnam is like, Yeah, let’s piss on the side of the street. It’s just pretty disgusting.
guy. Anyway, I
We’ve caught up with Adrie. Hello! And Adrie has a microphone on so we can probably hear her.
her.
Let’s see how she goes.
goes.
Development and Changes in Saigon
Niall: [00:03:00] Another amazing example of the development of Vietnam, this mall, this building is definitely less than a year old. This is the Tiso Mall. It has a movie theater in it, Fred Perry story, Uniqlo, all of that.
We said, when people come to visit it’s fun. We get to be a tourist again in our own city. and then obviously COVID put a massive stop to that so we didn’t have any visitors for the longest time. Before COVID we had people visit like all the time. Like we had a couple of friends. Adrie had friends that she hadn’t spoken to in years basically.
And they’re like, Hey, we’re coming to Vietnam. I knew like some of my best friends came, my parents came, but since the lifting of COVID, like, and I think it shows that tourism hasn’t fully recovered, we’ve, uh, there’s not really been many of our friends that are visiting, not many people at all to be honest.
Um, I don’t know, Vietnam’s become less of a, an attractive destination,
so the new
is like about a year old, so it is super new. And I was thinking to myself today, I wonder at what point, I don’t know what other people call it, it’s official name is the [00:04:00] 2TM2 bridge. I wonder if at some point I’ll stop calling it the new bridge.
It’s
It’s always going to be the new bridge to me, it’s probably going to be like 10, 15 years later I’ll still call it the new bridge. But again, it’s part of the amazing development. So we were talking about it last night as well.
to make this
We used to drive this way eight years ago when they started chopping down these big beautiful trees and you know, there was a bit of outrage, not just from expats, from locals as well as in the media.
What were they going to do with these trees and why were they chopping them down? But then when you see what it’s become, you’re kind of like, unfortunately, it makes sense because they had to chop it down to build a bridge and that bridge has now changed the way that you can get into the city and how the city operates.
It’s him.
how the city operates,
It’s just way less crazy, crazy now.
I’ve
it on the video last night as well, people honk less, as you can hear people honking, but it’s still way less than it, than it used to be.
At the moment, as you can see, loads of people [00:05:00] park their bikes on the bridge. You would never see that back home. It is super dangerous. It definitely blocks the traffic and every now and again you will see the police um, coming along and moving people but not enough.
And it really shouldn’t be allowed but it does give you the best views of the city. So we do have pretty good timing for the hop on hop off bus as you see. It’s just going, the sun’s going down right now. And, uh, yeah. Then the lights will come on and all the buildings, you know, it’ll be quite nice. This is where it’s talking about, you know, used to be massive beautiful big trees here.
I kind of, I don’t know what type of trees, but really big, really tall. Unfortunately, they had to cut them all down to make room.
But you can see, I mean, it’s just the development of the city. That’s just what happens. The city’s changed so much. So[00:06:00]
Nightlife and Tourist Attractions
Niall: we’re going to be heading to Windway Street, which is the walking street. where we were last night. This street is just all opened up with all coffee shops now. It’s pretty cool. And we’re about to head on to Tondook Tang Street,
country
which used to be like half this size.
This bridge wasn’t here. All of the waterfront was bolted up. We wouldn’t even know the waterfront was there. It was probably pretty disgusting, I imagine.
is what
all going to be cleaned up now, as most major cities, once they start developing, do. So it’s much nicer now, there’s a park. This is where we watched the fireworks from last night.
Where Lewis and Kim got married, and the Lotte World Hotel.
Since I’ve [00:07:00] started doing these YouTube videos, which is literally last week, it’s so cool how much people love being on camera. They can see you filming it, and they’re like, wave, and show, like these guys, and one of you in the background, which is super cool. And I know, I’ve talked about it before, I hate the stereotype of like, Oh, Vietnamese people are so friendly, but they really are really friendly.
I mean, Scottish people are friendly as well.
My Vietnamese, as you can see, they’re super friendly too. We’re going through the Chung Hung Tao roundabout. We got the new hill here, it’s the Viet Cong Bank Tower, one of the major banks, one of the biggest buildings. This roundabout has just been redone, the statue is the same, but Yeah, the park’s been made really nice.
the
The Hilton has just gone up and we’re gonna pull up to Walking Street. If you’ve seen any of my previous videos you’ll see that we’ve been to Malt before. [00:08:00] We did that on the podcast Pub Crawl and we actually, I think we ended up there two nights ago as well. You may or may not have seen on the video.
That’s the famous Malt there.
you on Tuesday.
Again, a whiskey distillery, just full of
the whiskey distillery,
the
the spoke tailors. This is one of the most expensive parts of Vietnam.
This is Dong Khoi Street, one of the richest streets in Saigon. Luke
Nguyen owns this place here, the Vietnam House. This cafe is called Cadernat, which that used to be called Cadernat when there was the French rule Vietnam. And then they got rid of like I think pretty much every French name and changed them to Vietnamese names.
It’s now called Dong Coffee.
That’s Dong Khoi.
now Carinat must have just had some fresh investment because they have, they just have new coffee shops opening all over Saigon, like everywhere. And they’re also really good, really good coffee as well. So that’s him clearing up from last night. He had the, the, the concert for the fireworks so it’s a bit of a mess in there.
The Win Way is one of the nicest [00:09:00] streets in Saigon.
When we
When we got here eight years ago, like, this was still a mess. They were still putting it together.
to get up.
I get impressed by small things. Like, I’m impressed just by making this flat. It’s pretty crazy. It’s pretty incredible. So we’re here now.
Come
Come on.
come on. Ha ha ha ha
There you go. Bye bye. we are on? Wynmere Walking Street. We’re
about to go on the Hop
on hop Off Bus.
Except at this hour of the day, it’s just a hop on and stay on
bus.
Adrie: The
Niall: You would have just seen the Opera House. I don’t know what else. The Texaco Tower. this is the
main street in the middle of Saigon. This used to be
like a canal at
one
point.
I think maybe
a railway
station as well, and then they
repaved
it,
which as [00:10:00] I just
mentioned, I
think is a
pretty big feat to have it like so flat. How long is
that again? It’s like, it’s over
a kilometer to the
river
down that way. Is it?
Yeah,
you get the top of the decks
go there, Then straight up
here
is
Lloyd Street, which has been
closed for a few years because they were redoing it. and had to
dig it up for the
underground. Then this
here
is
Saigon Center, which is a
massive
shopping mall with some really nice stores in it.
As You can see here that’s Chanel, next to it is
Versace.
Um, this is
the Rex Hotel,
which has been here for like
years. Um, that’s one of the nicest hotels in Saigon. And then you’ve got the government building there, which is the Ho Chi Minh City
people’s
committee building, Which is one of the
only few French buildings that they didn’t
tear down.
Adrie: building.
And I
Niall: so, thank God, because it’s a really beautiful building.
Adrie: building.
So
it’s
really
Niall: So it’s really cool.
I think most of
Asia, and Vietnam especially, they don’t really come out during the day because it’s
bloody hot. And as soon as the sun
goes down, they’ll start to come out,
whether you’re in
Moine on the beach, or this walking
street here will be dead
during the day because there’s no cover and it’s so hot. [00:11:00] And then, um,
And
then at about 3 o’clock 4 o’clock when the sun starts
to come down, this place is just
packed. and you
come at night, there’s
loads of people with
dogs, skateboarding,
uh, out and
about and
enjoying themselves. So
it’s pretty cool. And then we were obviously
here
last night
and it was packed because
they had a
performance
on for
the National Day
holiday. So
we’re going to get on our way soon.
shallow.
All right, so we
are off on the hop on hop off bus.
Adrie: white of the shoes. Oh yeah
Niall: man, And, uh,
exact same colour
Adrie: as I’ve got the tour guide in my ear so I’ll tell you what the tour guide is telling me. He
Niall: says this is one of the most classical architecture works with a collection of Baroque architecture in Art Nouveau style.
this Among others.
wasn’t. So yeah, I mean that’s far, it’s like over a kilometre straight all the way to the river down there. It’s
It’s already telling you to hop [00:12:00] off if you want. Well, I don’t think they change it. They don’t change it for the night. Like, we’ve only just taken off and it’s already like, if you want
to get off on the next stop. Pretend, pretend So we’re just passing the Ho Chi Minh City Museum, which I don’t think we’ve ever been to, have we? it’s named after Louis Pasteur. So don’t, get that confused with the War Remnants Museum. We did on our tour. Oh, yeah, we did one time.
Adrie: It was underwhelming.
Niall: Yeah. So we’re getting down Pasteur Street right now, which as the gate told us, but I already knew this.
It’s named after Louis Pasteur. There’s There’s only about seven streets in all of Saigon.
Exploring Saigon’s Historical Streets
Niall: that have retained, like, the non Vietnamese names, and it’s people of significance, so, like, Louis Pasteur, so this is Pasteur Street, There’s Yersin. What was he again? I forget, He’s like a Russian scientist,
a lot of scientists. Yersin. I’m bad
Adrie: at remembering historical
Niall: names. What are the, what are the seven streets?
We’ve done this as a quiz question. Yeah, I said that. Kalmet. Kalmet. Who’s Kalmet? Just, can you
Adrie: ask one question at a time? Kalmet. Kalmet. that’s
Niall: [00:13:00] three.
let
Adrie: you know later on the
Niall: name. I I know this and I’m blanking now. There’s seven I think there’s at least seven there’s at least seven of them. We’ll We’ll come back to you on that one, but, uh.
Adrie: We’ll let you know later on the tour.
Niall: Yeah, yeah.
Iconic Landmarks and Their Stories
Niall: And now, we’re um, we’re, uh, This is one of the most famous spots
in Saigon, so this is basically where, That’s the Independence Palace through here, which we’ve never actually been to. mixed reviews of it. This street we’re about to pass right now is where the, the tanks, the famous pictures of the tanks of the North rolled up this street here and knocked down the gates of that palace and that signaled basically the North winning the war. now we’re going down Le Duan, which wasn’t always called Le Duan, the name of like one of the generals from the Vietnam War,
one of
uh, And we’re about to pass the Notre Dame Cathedral as well, which is It’s a bit of a shame [00:14:00] that’s been under construction for like five years now or something like that. So it’s covered in scaffolding and it’s one of the main things to come and see in Saigon and it’s pretty much nothing to all the pretty much stuff on you can see So This is one of the most places you should come to, not that, so that is
Adrie: the only mall
that existed.
Niall: It was brand new, remember when we first came to Saigon this was one of
the first places you should come to. Not that So that is it.
Modern Saigon: Malls and Markets
Niall: the Vincom Mall, which again didn’t exist when we came here. No it
Adrie: did! that was
the only mall that existed, Oh that was the
Niall: only one that existed, sorry I got that wrong. But it was brand new pretty much. There were
Adrie: some a lot in there. No,
Niall: now it’s like Mango’s Hour, H& M, Uniqlo. and then one of the other main two things to do is to check
out. [00:15:00] this building here, which is the um, post office, and it’s still a working post office, and because it’s a tourist, spot, the staff speak English, so anytime I need to send a letter, I will drive all the way in the D1.
I had to do it last week, I had to send a letter to to send the UK and went here to send it, because I went to my local post office one time, and it was so busy, and so packed that I
Adrie: On
Niall: that
couldn’t do it. But this was one of the first places we came to, your sister brought us to when we came to Saigon.
Oh, fuck’s [00:16:00]
After a slow and sleepy 20 minutes just going through a city,
Adrie: about it. Tell yourself
Niall: time you’ve heard this song, Yeah, it’s kind of good, but when you’ve heard It
55 million times.
But anyway, we’re going past Bintan
Market.
Which is due for a
major
redevelopment any day now.
Get rid of all the hagglers, get rid of all the crap in there,
And make it
a
proper
market.
Adrie: Get rid of all the hackles, get rid of all the crap in there,
Niall: We are now going down Ham Nee Street.
Let’s have
has good, couple of good western, uh, [00:17:00] Supermarkets.
Adrie: Western Supermarket. And then we got the
Niall: And then we got the Tony Stark Tower.
Adrie: So
Niall: this is the famous Bottexco Tower,
which apparently is super expensive to rent and it’s almost half
empty because nobody
can afford to rent, in here.
Adrie: Well, you used to have a mall at the bottom, and A
Niall: couple other stores, like, but there was a
Adrie: Top Shop, which was like a draw, and I don’t think anything is there anymore. there used to be
a movie theater there, as well. I don’t know if it’s still there. Oh yeah, it was
Niall: a terrible movie theater
yeah. But so one of the funny things about the Texco that I love is you can see that there’s a helicopter pad. and We’ve actually been on that
helicopter pad when we did the stair
climb challenge.
It’s
not for helicopters, it’s for
Adrie: humans.
only.
Niall: Yeah,
So apparently
[00:18:00] um,
Adrie: for
helicopters,
Niall: the helicopter pad was designed, added, and the idea was that CEOs would
Adrie: the helicopter had the
Niall: fly in
Adrie: from around.
the
Niall: was that CEOs would fly in from around the world,
in
their helicopter,
land on the helicopter pad, and go straight to their office, right?
So they don’t have to be like, the plebs and get the lifts and the escalators. Now apparently,
there’s a few problems. One, is obviously Vietnam is a communist country and the airspace is very restrictive. so I don’t think I’ve ever seen a commercial helicopter flying in Taiwan. I’ve seen a military helicopter flying once or twice.
Remember when they were doing exercises? Never seen a commercial
helicopter flying.
Adrie: People maybe nowadays maybe nowadays
could afford it, but like when it I don’t, maybe
maybe like 1
percent of the
community’s ability [00:19:00] to
afford it. But
don’t, maybe
maybe like 0.
But
Niall: the
the best
thing is,
I
left the best to last, is
Adrie: afford
Niall: apparently they didn’t take into account the wind,
Adrie: the investor last. Japan
Niall: a high
up heli, crosswinds, that’s what
I’m looking for.
They didn’t take into account
the Crosswinds, and so it’s
actually
unsafe
for a helicopter to land on, and so therefore, zero helicopters
I’ve ever landed
on that helicopter. pad.
and a few years
ago
I checked their website and it says, like,
still under construction One day!
Adrie: One day! A helicopter will land.
Niall: Yeah, one
day. But this is also known as the Avengers Tower. because it does really look like the Avengers Tower. There’s
Adrie: an Adidas shop in
Niall: there.
Oh.
Adrie: Gotta buy your shoes there. So
Niall: now we are heading towards
Adrie: shoe there.
Niall: what is called
the canal. which a lot of people call the river.
Adrie: that what
Niall: It is a canal, We’re [00:20:00] passing the ugliest building, the bane of my existence, that is
never going to be finished. up here. They Put some lights on it.
to tart it up, make it.
look nice, but It’s still not going to be
finished.
Adrie: go.
Niall: this is the definition, I think, of window dressing.
Adrie: This is the definition
Niall: That building is never going to be finished.
be finished. It’s
been here, It’s
It’s been
eight years and nothing has changed.
Alright, we’re back onto The riverfront. So
this is an
actual river. Behind us, what I was trying to say is it’s a canal.
It’s The
blackest,
disgusting est water.
you’ve ever seen in your life. But, uh, it’s there.
Adrie: blackest,
Niall: I
Adrie: disgustingest
Niall: this was the old opium Exchange, so there’s Like, you won’t be able to see here, but there’s like, little opium seats in the building. And, uh, Yeah. I mean, when the opium trade was legal
and thriving, this was where they did that stuff. We’re back on the water.
Adrie: This was where [00:21:00] they hid that stuff. the
Niall: We’re
at
the other end now of
Windway Walking Street. You can See how far it is? so Right at the very end. is
the,
Adrie: end of
Niall: the
Adrie: trade.
Niall: you call it, Ho Chi Minh City,
Adrie: it is? Right at the People’s Committee building.
Niall: you
Adrie: what do you call it? Richmond City People’s Committee building.
So Adrienne, what is
The Hop On Hop Off Bus Experience
Niall: your favourite part of the Hop On Hop Off bus tour?
Adrie: Favourite part? I just think it’s cool, like.
Niall: No, it is cool. I think my
Adrie: favourite part is, Aspects bring out part of the tour.
Hop like,
each five minute section to you like that. No, what I like about it is that, um, When you travel in Saigon, you’re [00:22:00] either on
a, usually in a taxi, so you’re in a covered car.
and you can’t
see through the
windows, or you’re on a motorbike, which is the best way to experience the city. out, apart from the But, like, where you are on a motorbike is very low, and most of what you’re looking at is just, like, the things that are around you, So, like, the shopfronts, And the other bikes, and the other traffic and stuff.
When you’re on the
needed around you, so, like, bus, the open top bus,
you’re above all that You’re, like, on the second floor. So, you’re
looking at, a
slightly different perspective, you’re not
getting
distracted by all
of that,
Like crazy.
It’s still there, but we’re not
bothered by it right like,
you’re looking at this, you’re looking at the buildings, you’re
looking at the
lights, it is really chill.
bothered by it, right? Like It’s just a different perspective. I think it’s
I would
recommend anyone do it, that’s it
Niall: Well I think it was Adri’s idea that. we do it at sunset.
And I
think that’s been a great idea.
Because, yeah, you
get the two different perspectives, We saw the sun go down,
everything was in
daylight,
and then now.
all the lights come. on.
Adrie: [00:23:00] perspectives. You saw the sun go
Niall: Cheung Hung Dao
comes out.
Adrie: And then now,
Niall: Like the buildings light up.
It’s cool.
So, yeah, I would definitely recommend if you’re in Saigon and you have an hour, even if You live here, jump on the hop on
Keep saying this wrong, the hop on.
hop off bus tour.
Adrie: Yeah, I’ve never done it during the day. this wrong. The hop on, hop off. Yeah, I’ve never
done hour loop. I’ve only done it at night.
During the day You get typical hop on.
hop off one hour loop.
Mm.
During the
Niall: Oh, just like Regan.
you Hop on.
you hop
off.
Adrie: on, hop off.
Niall: Oh,
poor Regan.
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