Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City is the largest city in Vietnam. Until 1976 it was called Saigon and locals still use this name when they refer to the city centre. Ho Chi Minh City is abbreviated as TP.HCM in Vietnamese and this is the best way to write its name on a hitchhiking sign.

Hitchhiking out

There are 2 main roads connecting north and south of the country:

• National Road QL1A which is part of the Asian Highway 1 (AH1), super busy road along the coast, crowded and most of the time in a good shape. Some sections of this road have an alternative in the form of high speed Expressway CT01 running somewhat parallel.
• Ho Chi Minh Highway, going through the highlands, more scenic, some parts have very light traffic or bad roads.

North towards Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hanoi by Expressway CT01

Take a bus 88 from Bến Xe Sài Gòn(bến xe means a bus station and it's pronounced as ben seh) and get off at the beginning of the motorway CT01. The bus ride costs 7,000 VND. There are some road works there, so maybe in the near future this spot will be hard to hitch from. The expressway CT01 finishes near the city of Nha Trang where it merges with the national road QL1A.

North towards Nha Trang, Da Nang, Hanoi by National Road QL1A

From the city centre for example from Sài Gòn bus station take a bus 19 or 93 to Suối Tiên bus stop (7,000 VND). From the same stop take a bus 60-2 (sometimes written as 602) to Dầu Giây town. This bus is more expensive, around 30,000-40,000 VND. This is the furthest you can get from Ho Chi Minh City by public transport along the national road QL1A (AH1). It is located 70km from the city centre. Further up the road there is a petrol station.

North towards Dalat by National Road QL20

From the city centre for example from Sài Gòn bus station take a bus 19 or 93 to Suối Tiên bus stop (7,000 VND). From the same stop take a bus 60-2 (sometimes written as 602) to this bus stop in Dầu Giây town. This bus is more expensive, around 30,000-40,000 VND. This is where the national road QL20 starts. From the bus stop walk further up the road north and in 1km you will find a petrol station with a motel, restaurant and toilets. It's called Huyền Hậu.

Northwest towards Cambodia by National Road QL22

Take a bus to Bến Xe An Sương. This is the main bus station for the northeast of the city, so there are about 14 lines from other parts of Ho Chi Minh city. If you're in the city centre you can take a bus 4, 27, 65 from Bến Xe Sài Gòn. It should cost around 7,000 VND. In the past it was possible to walk outside the An Sương bus station and start hitching there, however now there are three lanes in each direction and the marginal lane, the one next to the foot path is for motorbikes and buses only and it is separated from the other two lanes by a concrete barrier. So trucks and cars cannot pull in to pick up hitchhikers. It's like that for another 20km.

So from An Sương bus station take a bus number 74 to Củ Chi (7,000 VND). Only there you can normally hitchhike. From Củ Chi bus station there is also a bus 70-1 (sometimes written as 701) that can take you even closer to the border, to the town of Gò Dầu. This town is only 17km away from the border. This bus should cost a similar price. The best spot to hitch is on the other side of the bridge.

South towards My Tho, Can Tho by Expressway CT01

You need to get to a bus stop near Nút Giao Bình Thuận (Bình Thuận Intersection). Bus 102 from Sài Gòn bus station can bring you there. Then walk south a bit and turn to this point. On the way there's a shop with a huge pile of cardboard pieces and the staff is happy to give you one to make a sign.

Public Transport

Saigon is covered by an extensive bus network, which reaches well into the suburbs. Most of the bus lines at least the ones closer to the city centre are available on Google Maps. You can get a paper map for free at Ben Thanh market.

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