Ho Chi Minh City

<map lat='10.771928557041234' lng='106.68617248535156' zoom='11' view='0' float='right'/> Saigon, currently better known as Ho Chi Minh City, is the largest city in Vietnam.

In Saigon you won't have the feeling of being out of the city for a very long time... But don't panic!

Public Transport

Saigon is covered by an extensive bus network, which reaches well into the suburbs. You can get the map on paper for free at Ben Thanh market.

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 and get off at the beginning of the motorway CT01. 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 93 to Suối Tiên bus stop. From the same stop take a bus 60-2 to Trảng Bom town. This is the furthest you can get from Ho Chi Minh City by public transport along the national road QL1A (AH1). It is located 45km from the city centre.

Northwest towards Cambodia by National Road QL22

Take a bus to Bến Xe An Sương (bến xe means a bus station and it's pronounced as ben seh). 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 spelled 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.

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