"Sai Gon" a Ho Chi Minh City Travel Page by soopabayit

Yeah the traffic is an issue, but just takes some getting used to.

Yeah, you can pay for a lot of stuff with USD but it seems VND is always preferred.

Still can never get a straight answer on whether or not tourist can drive motorbike without problems with police. Even Diep's boyfriend who is a saigon policeman didn't know. Many foriegners do it though -with no trouble. In theory the police can sieze your motorbike if you have no license, they you have to go pay money to retrieve it. Never heard of this happening to foriegner though, only vn person.

Mostly just went all around town by girl-on-motorbike or walk or taxi.
Some video of this here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHlMhyjiRv0

In the tourist areas there are kids trying to sell stuff or beg, but often adults will scold them to leave you alone.

I found mostly hotel desk staff and restaurant staff knew some english. Not taxi drivers or merchants beyond the most basic. Except in the foriegner area from Ben Thanh market to De Tham/Pham Ngu Lao st. You can probably get by with english there.

1) keep a wad of 50s for everyday purchase

2) keep some small money for charity, wait until finished eating before giving to children at restaurant

3) buy a map - at bookstore (nha sach) Guidebook maps often too small and taxi driver might drop you not at your intended location - buy a map

There are many places to go and see in and around HCMC. In some ways different and in some the same. In some areas industries are clustered all with the same inventory, next door to each other

Everywhere you go people will want to talk to you. People are very friendly
They will take you home to meet family and speak english with someone if you are english speaking.

There are a lot of restaurants, cafes, clubs etc in this big city. Be sure to experience as much as you can. At night you can often find "liveshow". Don't take a tourbus and view the city from a window. Walk and meet people and go to many places to experience "the real vietnam"