When I was in Ho Chi Minh late November, I took a Motorcycle Tour to have a look at Saigon by night. It's certainly one of the more popular things to do in Saigon, seeing the numerous companies offering this tour on Tripadvisor's Things to do in Ho Chi Minh. Being a fan of Motorcycles in general, I was happy to sign up and pay online for the Saigon by Night tour of XO Tours.
Email communication was prompt and concise. I was picked up at 6pm sharp by a tour guide on her motorcycle wearing a very fetching Ao Dai, the vietnamese traditional costume. She was friendly and enthusiastic and perky (although I dont remember her name). We went from District 1 where I stayed to Chinatown which took about 20 minutes or so. Note that departure times are not negotiable and if you are on the night tour you have to leave at 6.00pm to join the group.
We stopped in Chinatown where we waited for the rest of the travellers. The tour leader was waiting there to give us an introduction to the tour, the itinerary and a brief history of the location where we were at. We were all on seperate motorcycles, and each traveler had a local female driver cum tour guide accompanying them.
During the tour we were able to indulge in a few snacks, namely 1 Banh Mi or a noodle-like dish. Vegetarians can be catered for. We went through multiple districts and at the end we ended up at a sugar cane stall where we indulged in our snacks.
On the whole I felt like this was a good tour and I would do it at least once if I were in Ho Chi Minh. The tour guides were really friendly and personable and being on a motorcycle weaving through traffic really rocked. I also enjoyed the streetfood they provided which was included in the tour price.
I have to say that for the record I am a little uncomfortable with the tour being a strictly all-female driver one. It says on the website that women make more safer drivers in Vietnam - Ill have to take their word for it. But coupled with the female tour guides insistence to help me put on my motorcycle helmet, and help me buckle it (repeatedly) and their border-like manja (playful) demeanour, it made me very uncomfortable. As far as I can tell all the tour guide were like this, whether the passenger was male or female. I also overheard the head tour guide (and I think owner of the company) saying that his tours were also unique as "where else can you get a tour with women drivers right, they are usually such terrible drivers". So I was not impressed on these 2 aspects.
These 2 aspects aside, I was happy with the price and itinerary of the motorcycle tour. I'm happy I did it but I dont think I will recommend this company to any of my friends who's going to Vietnam. For example my brother is going to Vietnam with his fiancee and I dont think she will appreciate the tour guides acting so coy.
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