Local Interest
There are several‘ moto-mobile’ street food vendors around the Thu Thiem Tunnel Park, offering various fried snacks and sweet drinks. The Thu Thiem Tunnel closes to motorbike traffic from 10pm to 5am, so make sure you get back to the tunnel entrance before this time. Pass through the toll-booths( motorbikes go free) and glide beneath the Saigon River on this spooky, subterranean road – the longest river tunnel( according to some sources) in Southeast Asia – until it emerges out the other side, in District 1 ….
Route: Districts 1 & 4: Ben Nghe Channel, Mong Bridge, Vinh Khanh Food Street
Out of the tunnel in District 1, the Vo Van Kiet Expressway follows the course of the Ben Nghe Channel. Acting as a kind of ring road, bypassing the smaller, clogged streets of downtown Saigon, this highway was only opened a few years ago. Although not especially scenic, it’ s a multi-lane freeway that, even during the day, is fun to ride. At night, with the lights of the city reflected in the channel and the air cooled by the presence of the waterway, Vo Van Kiet is one of the most pleasurable riding roads in the city. Open the taps a little and watch the city slide by: the illuminated high-rises of District 1 to the right, and the stout apartment blocks, across the channel in District 4, to the left. Turn off Vo Van Kiet before Nguyen Van Cu Bridge. Double-back and cross the bridge over the Ben Nghe Channel to District 4. This district is actually an island, formed by two creeks – one to the north and one to the south – and the Saigon River to the east. This is most apparent when crossing the multi-tentacled Nguyen Van Cu Bridge, which straddles the watery junction at the confluence of the Ben Nghe Channel and the Kenh Te Canal.
Follow the south bank of the Ben Nghe Channel on Ben Van Don Street. This side of the channel is more scenic, with an attractive, tree-lined, bank-side park, and plenty of late night quán nhậu( food and beer restaurants) lining the road, if you’ re feeling peckish. Not long before Ben Van Don meets the Saigon River, look out for Mong Bridge on the left. Designed by famous French architect Gustave Eiffel in the 1880s, this pretty bridge is a favourite night-time hangout for young Saigonese. Go all the way to the end of the Ben Nghe Channel, ride under the Khanh Hoi Bridge, and turn back up past the pink, illuminated walls of Nhà Rồng. Now the Ho Chi Minh Museum, this French-era building was the old customs house. It was here that, as a young man, Uncle Ho set sail in 1911, as a ship’ s cook, bound for Europe, Africa and the Americas. He was not to return to his native Vietnam for another 30 years. From here, ride southwest, through the heart of District 4, via the burgeoning street food street of Vinh Khanh, until crossing over the Kenh Te Canal into District 7 ….
The MAG Vung Tau 15