[Music]
we're going to take you on a dramatic
and fast-paced tour of Saigon and we're
going to do it in a unique way on the
back of a motorcycle
we'll be taking you from one end of the
city to the other showing you a real
cross-section of Saigon and illustrating
how the city functions from street level
viewpoint
so come along and Let's Take a Ride
we're starting our tour in the central
modern heart of downtown Saigon this
very modern section is not a very large
area maybe it's about 10 square blocks
and it's quite spectacular with many
many brand new stores and cafes and
hotels and high-rise buildings there's a
lot of upscale shops here there's the
Louis Vuittons and the guccis and the
trendy cafes and the wonderful
restaurants this high-end glamor is
really not typical of the rest of Saigon
about 95 percent of the city is a real
working class kind of place says we're
going to be showing you on our
motorcycle ride from one end of town to
the other
riding on a motorcycle Taxi
it's like on that's another good way to
get around
you go fast you cut right through the
traffic
and it's inexpensive
it's a lot of fun and very safe
you don't see motorcycles crashing here
it's very safe right yeah yeah no
problem
and you get the real good view of the
scenery this way on the back of a
motorcycle
Saigon we love you and one of the best
ways to see this wonderful city is on
the back of a motorcycle you can rent a
moto taxi very cheap and they're
available everywhere it's a great way to
get around town
we are going to drive you across town
and starting out in the modern downtown
area where they've got some fancy shops
very upscale down here beautiful
sidewalks very clean and we're going to
take you all the way across town on the
back of a bike from that seat you get a
lot of fresh air and an unobstructed
view so we'll be checking out the
traffic as we go the motorcycles the
people the sidewalks the shops along the
way it all adds up to a most amusing and
multi-dimensional way of looking at the
city you can focus on the crazy traffic
if you like or look at all the buildings
whizzing by or the people on the
sidewalks there's a lot to see it really
fills the eye people in Vietnam don't
have a lot of money by Western standards
but many young people do have enough to
afford a new motorcycle and they see it
not only as a great way of getting
around town
but it's kind of a status symbol these
young affluent consumers are switching
to slightly more expensive scooters as a
luxury fashion accessory
and they really take good care of them
you see they're washed and Polished and
looking good or how about three people
or four people on a little motorcycle
you see that quite often as you notice
here driving along in the streets of
Saigon
very typical to have the husband driving
the wife sitting behind him
one small child between them
and maybe another small child in front
of the father four people
it's very ecological to have two people
on a little motorcycle it gets about 60
miles to the gallon or 80 miles to the
gallon and with two people on board you
effectively double that or with three
people you're getting the equivalent of
150 miles to the gallon you can't beat
that in America our rules are very
strict about such things also very
strict for example about having a
passenger on a moped oh that's not
allowed in America two people on a 50cc
machine is very common in Asia but it's
not allowed in America
you can fit a lot more vehicles on the
road if they're motor scooters and
motorcycles rather than cars so it's
very efficient actually most of the
motorcycles that we see in the movie are
a little bigger than your typical moped
moped has a 50cc engine and these
motorcycles and the streets of Saigon
typically are 150 cc maybe 200 cc which
provides sufficient power to make them
safe to operate and that's big enough
it's very rare to see a much bigger
motorcycle which are popular in America
but you don't need that kind of big size
for driving in the city
after all motorcycles can go up to 1200
CC's 1400 big engines a lot of
horsepower Harley-Davidson's Kawasaki
racing machines that you find more
typically in America typical American
over-the-top kind of usage overdoing it
you don't need that kind of power and
speed anywhere really
unless maybe you're on the open Highway
along cross-country Voyage sure sure
it's good to have a lot of power but for
urban driving the small motorcycles
ideal worldwide scooters can be seen as
one of the most popular ways of getting
around
there are very ecological after all
and they're also very sociable you can
be driving along as the Vietnamese love
to do and chatting with your fellow
drivers as you go maybe you're doing 25
30 miles an hour and you're driving side
by side with a friend and carrying on a
conversation for short trips that are
typical of the urban scene say of a few
miles why should you be driving uh 4 000
pound hunk of metal a big car when you
could just as easily drive on a very
lightweight and economical motor scooter
to confess a certain personal bias I
will admit that I am a motorcycle lover
I've been riding one kind of two wheels
or another for 40 years big motorcycles
little motorcycles mopeds
currently a Honda 150 motor scooter is
my ride of choice
and in fact that's becoming the most
popular I must say the most popular kind
of two-wheel vehicle in the world
the small motorcycle and that's
certainly what you find here in Vietnam
and of course gasoline is fairly
expensive no matter where you are in the
world in a country like Vietnam people
just can't afford to buy huge amounts of
gasoline so again the motorcycle is a
very economical option
there are monthly rentals available and
that's also very reasonable starting at
about sixty dollars a month
for a small motorcycle or up to eighty
dollars for a slightly bigger one
slightly better one
so a very inexpensive
[Music]
you're not going that fast
we're putting along at about 15 20 miles
an hour
comfortable speed we're making progress
we're getting across town
these drivers are really highly skilled
it's nothing like drivers in America
they were born with it they were brought
up with it and they practice it today as
adults
and they're all very easy going very
sociable
the traffic laws are such that it's
designed to keep the traffic flowing and
the traffic flows together in the sense
that you don't see speed demons racing
along and trying to pass everybody else
like you might in America or in the
Western World the people here of a more
cohesive Society a more sociable Society
it would seem especially judging from
their behavior on the road they're all
in it together nearly every one of these
motorcycles has a good Muffler of course
they're beeping their horns that's how
they communicate it doesn't do much good
when everybody's beeping their horns but
that's just part of the music of the
streets
but you're not hearing that loud harsh
blasting Roar of a motorcycle without a
muffler
they don't have straight pipes here
so there must be some kind of law that
they're enforcing a related safety
factor for The Pedestrian is that when
you're crossing the street
just pick a path and walk and be aware
of the motorcycles coming at you but
don't worry about it don't run don't
stop just walk at a steady Pace on a
straight path so that they can see you
and they're going to Veer around you
it's very dangerous if The Pedestrian
should stop suddenly in the middle of
the road or run because that throws off
the drivers they're planning to just
miss you they're going to Veer either
just to the left of you or just to the
right of you so you walk along at a
steady pace and you'll make it no
problem to the other side of the road
you're not going to find very many
marked crosswalks
and traffic lights are sometimes not
available so you'll be jaywalking you'll
be Crossing at Mid block
and there too the laws are very casual
jaywalking is fine there's no laws
against it you're not going to get a
ticket you're not going to get busted
for crossing the street like you might
and some of our more strict American
situations
and why not it's perfectly safe if you
know what you're doing to walk across
the street at mid-block the most popular
brand in Vietnam is the Honda
and Honda is definitely gearing up
production as are several of the other
world major motorcycle manufacturers in
Vietnam
they are looking for good times ahead
so the motorcycle producers in the
country are seeing good prospects for
the future
3 million motorcycles were sold last
year in Vietnam
the growth is reaching 35
every year so that's really quite
phenomenal and Honda has really caused
uh Market sensation with some of their
new products there's the air Blade model
which is a 110 CC and they sold 300
000 of those a few years ago and last
year they believed to have sold one
million of that particular model of
Honda
you've seen that the motorcycle is more
than just a way of getting around town
it's really an extension of the body
it's part and fabric of the culture here
these scooter manufacturing companies
are gearing up production to such a high
level that they're able to export quite
a number of motor scooters to the nearby
countries and the surrounding regions
such as Thailand and Malaysia and
they're even exporting scooters back to
Japan and Korea and on to Australia and
Indonesia
and they're manufacturing Parts as well
for export so it's really a booming
industry Honda's increasing their
production capacity to fulfill the
customers orders and they're hoping to
produce 2 million motorcycles a year in
the very near future now there's also
scooters that are imported from China
but the quality is not quite as good as
those scooters that are made in Vietnam
driver's expert
ah me yeah how many years
five years motorcycle Taxi
and you can bargain a little bit
get a good price
[Music]
right now we're in the center of town
very busy spot as We Roll Along through
these fascinating and busy streets of
Saigon I'd like to share some general
observations with you about motorcycles
and traffic and life on the streets in
this amazing City
it's a big city there's about six
million people in the town and probably
another six million people in the
surrounding Metropolitan region it's
estimated that there might be three
million motorcycles or maybe four
million motorcycles it's a little hard
to tell so this is a very large downtown
and we're going to be driving across it
it's about a one-hour motorcycle ride
that will be summarizing for you here in
the program
as we drive past block after block of
continuous shop fronts you begin to
realize that the economy here is doing
pretty well
in fact economic growth in Vietnam has
been averaging about nine percent every
year in the last decade so it's really
making some remarkable progress
they manufacture many of the goods that
they sell and have a very diverse and
strong economy
of course tourism is a big part of that
so they want to encourage you to come
visit and as we drive along you will see
what a fascinating destination it is
and you'll notice that many of the
people here are really quite friendly
they see us driving along and there's
some smiles and there's some waves and
very very nice people on the roads here
this video is photographed using a
special Steadicam rig to make it a very
smooth and flowing picture for you so
it's easy on the eyes
well we've covered the Central Market
area and district one now we're going
over to cholon
which is Chinatown
[Music]
it's another busy area
it's rush hour it's right about 5 30 on
a Monday so traffic is pretty heavy but
it's amazing it moves pretty well yeah
it moves pretty good thanks to all these
motor scooters
most people in Saigon they drive motor
scooters or motorcycles instead of a car
and they're just little motorcycles
about 100 cc engine
and that's that's all you need right
right big enough
okay where are we going now
81 this way a Chinatown okay let's go
I think that's busy Place yeah yeah I've
been very busy many people yes so much
chill out yes
the drivers are driving really in
harmony with each other
without worrying about dodging it's
almost a subconscious kind of reaction
as they're driving along
they're alert they're aware they're
looking around and listening No Doubt
but it's almost automatic pilot
at times it might look a little crazy to
a western viewer or one who's accustomed
to
automobiles but you'll soon realize that
the motorcycles are the best way around
town
you might be used to some
bumper-to-bumper traffic at home but
it's really nothing compared to what you
see here in Saigon
the motorcycles are everywhere including
on the sidewalks oh yes they can park on
the sidewalks it's all very casual here
their rules are pretty loose even the
traffic regulations are pretty loose the
traffic lights are more advisory than
mandatory in some cases here
but why not allow the motorcycles to
park on the sidewalk as long as they're
not blocking the pedestrians
and there's room to get by generally and
they're driving along at a very moderate
Pace it's only about 20 miles an hour 30
miles an hour
just enough to keep moving
you're not stopping you're not slowing
down you're not speeding you're not
racing
so young people two years old three
years old are very used to riding on
these motorcycles they all do it that's
how they get around
and this turns them into really
excellent drivers
think about it if you've been on two
wheels riding on a motorcycle since you
were a baby
it's ingrained in your behavior
[Music]
power is reaching a peak and yeah
10 years 10 years I'll probably be not
very good
not so good now
the population is increasing rapidly
here in Saigon
in the last 10 years it's doubled
so it's pretty wild traffic situation
but imagine if everybody had cars it
would really be gridlock it would be
completely impossible
you know they're talking about building
a Subway
might build Metro but that's expensive
takes a long time it will be underground
if they do it a nice modern Metro system
and people wouldn't have to ride so many
motorcycles all the time
but the weather is good for riding a
motorcycle
the drivers are really good they just
beer and weave and Dodge and you know
they they're not going to hit you
everybody's good behavior on the road
and it's and it's really not going that
fast
we're putting along at about 15 20 miles
an hour
so it's a comfortable speed we're making
progress we're getting across town we're
not stuck in gridlock
some of these intersections have traffic
lights
and they pay attention others there's
traffic lights and they just drive right
through if it's red they don't care
and a lot of intersections don't have
any traffic lights at all you have two
streets coming together
and the motor spikes just take their
turns and weave in and out
how it all seems to function
although the motorcycles are small they
do have some power and that's important
for a safety Factor
you want to be able to get out of a gym
with a little squirt of the gas and
acceleration
so these motorcycles have got about 150
CC's and some of the newer ones have got
fuel injection which certainly helps to
boost the power
so that you have enough Reserve power to
accelerate away from a jam
but that's unusual they're all going
about the same speed
you really see a lot more around you
when you're riding on the scooter
compared to being inside a car locked up
inside a metal box
you might have air conditioning and the
windows up you can't really see 360
around you when you're in such a car
but on the motorcycle you can see
everything
automobiles are quite expensive in
Vietnam when you buy a new automobile
the tax can be as much as one hundred
percent of the sales price of the car
and then you've got the problem of
parking and you've got the biggest
problem of driving cars just don't get
by in these streets nearly as well as
motorcycles do
can you imagine what these streets would
look like how crowded they would be if
all of these vehicles were automobiles
instead of motorcycles
it just wouldn't work it would be
complete gridlock
but instead even though the traffic is
pretty heavy with the motorcycles it
just keeps moving it keeps flowing it's
like a flock of birds or a school of
fish
and for the tourist you can very easily
take advantage of this situation
by hopping on the back of a motorcycle
taxi as I'm doing here today
it's only about a dollar or two dollars
an hour for driving around
and you can negotiate a price with your
driver for a half day of touring if you
like
the driver will take you to the various
sightseeing highlights and do a little
bit of describing and translating for
you and and they'll certainly sit and
wait outside while you go in and take a
look take some pictures come on back out
your driver is waiting for you and you
hop on and off you go to your next
destination
that's the easy way on the back of a
motorcycle Taxi
[Music]
hey if you're more daring you can rent a
motorcycle yourself
no problem you don't need any special
license there's motorcycle rental shops
all over town and the going rate is
about five dollars a day
compare that to the cost of a rental car
in America so this is really a good deal
we've now arrived in the heart of
Chinatown at the binte market it's a
huge covered Marketplace it's wholesale
and Retail and just a fascinating place
to walk around and do some shopping or
window shopping or just simply browsing
and people watching
we'll bring you inside the large Market
of bintan in another episode about
Saigon
[Music]
as we drive by the shops along the
outside of the market you get a real
feeling for the Casual life in the
streets here in Saigon
it's a busy City it's a huge City but
it's also a very laid-back kind of place
after all here we are at a central
shopping area and there's people hanging
out this is a lifestyle that's gone on
for generations and it's wonderful to
see it continuing today
it's the binte market which is the
biggest covered market and Market Street
area in all of Saigon very much a local
place really a lot of hustle bustle here
in the streets and inside the market
the entire neighborhood for several
blocks all around the outside of the
market is also a happening place with
lots of Street vendors and open front
shop stalls and people everywhere this
is a great place to explore when you're
visiting
you'll find the motorcycle taxi drivers
everywhere in town you'll see them
waiting around one sure sign is that
they have an extra helmet because
helmets are required some drivers don't
wear helmets but the helmets there's a
helmet law here so you see a couple of
guys with their motorcycles and extra
helmets
very easily
you can get a ride with them they call
it a moto
or a sealm that's the local slang for
the motorcycle
and they are available on many street
corners the men are sitting on or near
their motorbikes and yeah they're pretty
obvious they will perhaps approach you
they might be driving by and offer you a
ride
so you'll find it very easy to find
these motorcycle taxis
well it took about one hour to drive
across town and show you the sites that
we've just seen
and holding that camera out on the
steady camera arm got a little tiring
after a while so the driver suggested
that we return via a speedier route
there's actually a nice Highway along
the edge of downtown
paralleling the canal and that would be
much faster maybe 10-15 minutes to get
back to where we started rather than
going back through the busy streets of
downtown
so I guess we've seen enough it's time
to head on back to the hotel rest up a
little bit and head on out for dinner
hope you enjoyed the ride
that just about completes our wild
motorcycle ride through Saigon
we went from one end of town to the
other
busy downtown the upscale shops
buckets all the way over to Chinatown
kilometers from one side to the other
so it took us a little while but it's
about a one hour sightseeing ride
it's a great way to see the town so you
can use the motorcycle taxi for
sightseeing for a little tour
just let the driver
TQ where he knows best
or you can use a taxi to get from point
A to point B if you're going to a
restaurant
we're going to sightseeing hop on a taxi
and go
you'll love it
and that brings to an end our Long
Motorcycle ride through Saigon taking
you from one end of town to the other
when we got back to the caravel Hotel I
asked my driver to recap our journey
where do we go on a ride we are go to uh
City Saigon and a Chinatown so many
busy yeah yeah very busy
but no problem for you yes easy yeah
easy driving
okay well you did a good job what's your
name
very easy Vietnam
fortunately we had just enough daylight
left to cover the Odyssey from one end
of Saigon to the other ending up with a
beautiful sunset and a return to the
five-star Comforts of the caravel Hotel
we have a lot more movies about Vietnam
covering the highlights of this
wonderful country taking you to Hanoi
Saigon Hui hoi on and much more