Contrasts of Saigon plus Taste of Vietnam

A daily tour brings you great insight into the contrasting lifestyles of Saigon and opportunities for quintessential foods that everyone’s gotta taste. The contrasts of Saigon tour gives you a different picture of Vietnam. Besides, you should try tasty local food during the journey.

Highlights

• Adventurous riding journey

• Must-try local street food

• Old Saigon’s historical antecedents vs. modern Saigon’s lifestyle

What’s included

•Tour guide

• Saigon Riders’ motorcycles

• Entrance fees

•Water

What’s excluded:

•  Food and soft drinks, alcoholic drinks on tour. Price is quoted on the menu in the restaurant.

• Insurance, emergency transportation, related costs

• Tips to guide

Planned route

Somewhere in the cacophony of scooter and motor vehicle traffic, not far from the modern downtown, many locals still live a more traditional lifestyle, a witness to the drive toward modernization that is taking place around them. This tour explores the contrasts of living in today’s Sai Gon. It also adds some gastronomic stops so that you can taste the history, variety, and importantly the seductiveness and variety of Vietnamese cuisine. Riding pillion behind our drivers we will take you on a tour of the city that will touch on some of the historical antecedents to modern Sai Gon as well as delving into some of the more everyday traditional lifestyles of the Saigonese.

First, it will be a visit to the heart of the busy wholesale quarter with a visit to Chinatown, known locally as ‘Cho Lon’. Cho Lon is in district 5 and while there we will stop at a church where the first president of South Vietnam and his brother prayed for a few hours before being arrested and assassinated. We will also visit an ancient temple, a wholesale market, and pass by the biggest motorbike spare parts market.

After that, we’ll head to District 8 to explore the low land with its many small stilt houses located along the canal to the Sai Gon river. This area is worth exploring to see the way of life for the many immigrants to this city and to see how they go about acclimatizing to the conditions here. It will amaze you and will be a real contrast to the comfortable life in newly built luxury residences in district 7. We stop on the way for a drink and a closer look at the local life along the canal before we go back to downtown for lunch with dishes from the former imperial capital cuisine. Whilst previously enjoyed mainly by those at the royal court, the cuisine is now enjoyed by all citizens.

Lunch is followed by a visit to the War Remnants Museum, a poignant display of the futility of war.

The regional variances of north and south Vietnamese cuisine will be explored next after a stop in a Chinese pagoda and the home of an admirable family that dug a secret bunker in their house to hide ammunition for suicide attacks on the Presidential palace by Viet Cong during the Tet Offensive in 1968 (except weekend)

The last stop is to taste some Vietnamese a little sweet dessert – a la sidewalk in low plastic chairs and tables.

Whether you are zooming by on motorbike or sipping a cocktail on a rooftop bar, there is much to savour and explore in this bustling city. The traffic is always dense, and as rushed as life always is, there are always locals lounging at street-side cafes, content to admire the passing free – for – all, watching life go by.

This tour requires an adventurous spirit and a strong backside.

Additional information

• Sturdy outdoor clothing and comfortable footwear are recommended
• Tips for tour guide/rider appreciated
• Other food choices are also catered, including vegetarian