Buses, Ho Chi Minh City

We only use bus between cities and not in the city, so I cannot comment of the city own bus transportation quality but in general buses in Vietnam can be very old and crowded, so be prepare for that. The good thing, they are very cheap.

Windsor Plaza Hotel, which is in District 5, is some distance from the centre of the city. The hotel provides free Shuttle Bus Service every hour on a loop route.

The red maroon mini bus can seat about 12-15 persons and would seems insufficient given the size of the hotel.

At about 10:00am, the shuttle bus arrives at the hotel promptly and only 5 persons boarded the bus (including the 3 of us).

The first stop was on the side road of the roundabout (across from Ban Thanh Market). Second stop is close the Tax Mall (shopping center with fixed prices goods/products).

On this return trip, there was only 2 persons in the mini bus and one alighted soon after leaving the 4 of us in the mini bus.

If you are staying in the central district there is not much use for you to take a public bus, except perhaps for the ride to the airport in which case you can take number 152.

For those who like to explore the surroundings/outskirts of HCMC, taking the bus is not that difficult as it looks but keep the following rules in mind:

- Standing at the busstop is not enough, hail the bus like you would hail a taxi (wave your hand).
- Get on the bus quickly, the do not stop for you, when driving slowly simply jump on and hold on tight :)
- If you pay on the bus for a ticket it costs you 6000Dong, simply sit down and the conductor will approach you and you get a receipt, hold on to it as sometimes inspectors check the bus.
- Tickets purchased in advance are only 3000Dong, you have a coupon (or a coupon booklet with more coupons in it) with 2 identical numbers, board the bus, once the conductor approaches you, tear the ticket in half and give 1 number to the conductor, hold on to your receipt.
- Getting of is like getting on, before your stop comes get up, walk to the door.. and get out. The conductor will warn you and motorcyclists wenn you can get off.. but still keep an eye out for those motorcyclists.

Ignore the taxi drivers telling you that there's NO BUS from the airport. Actually THERE IS !!
Keep walking towards domestic terminal which is located right from Intl. Airport. In the last lane you will see the buses. There fare is only 3000VND. Takes about 45min. to Bus terminal near Ben Than Market.
To the airport, from bus stop #16 ( sorry I forgot but front side ) same bus #152 is going to the airport.
Have a nice trip.

A great, cheap and easy way of travelling the whole length of the country from north to south (or vice versa) is by taking the Sinh Cafe Open Bus. They have an office in each major town/city and offer a daily service between the main sightseeing points of Saigon, Dalat, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue and Hanoi on modern clean buses with plenty of leg room and (where applicable) sleeper buses. If you go to their office, they'll explain everything for you along with a timetable and costs (this is also found on their website below so you plan this before you arrive in Vietnam). The first leg of my trip involved travelling between Ho Chi Minh City and Dalat which took about 8 hours with a stop for lunch along the way and cost me 100,000 VND (Jan 2009). They pick up and drop you off at their offices so it's probably best to find out where they are in each place before you arrive.

4 more images

I took a Phnom Penh Sorya Transport Company bus from their office near the Central Market in Phnom Penh to Saigon. The buses depart at 06:45, 08:00, 11:45 and 13:00. The bus cost me $10 (December 2008) and took about 6 hours. Along the way you'll cross over the Mekong River by ferry and then over the border after about 3 hours where you'll stop for lunch at the border town of Bavet.

Happy Tours (139 Bui Vien Street) offer good tours, and if you take their bus to Cambodia, they have affiliates who connect with their clients at the border and take them into Cambodia (Phnom Penh). Journey time is about 3.5 hours.

Location: Bui Vien Street, Dist 1, Saigon.
Where all the tourist buses from Cambodia or Northern Vietnam stop

For anyone intersted in going from HCMC to other major tourist centers in Vietnam, I would advise taking an express "sleeper bus".

These buses are convenient and cheap (we went from HCMC to Muy Ne for $8), and travel as fast (or as slow) as a private car. They have upper and lower rows of bunks, which enable you to recline or lie down quite comfortably.
You can make a reservation in any travel agency in Pham Ngu Lao, HCMC, and that is also the area where these buses depart from.

There are good sleeper bus services between HCMC - Dalat - Hanoi, and between HCMC- Muy Ne- Na Trang - Hanoi.

One word of caution: the driver has absolute power to decide when and where to make a toilet stop! On our bus two pretty desperate girls pleaded with the driver to stop as soon as he could for toilets, but he just drove on for another hour before making a stop!