Bicycle Ride - HCMC to Vung Tau

Last weekend a friend and I took of on our bikes and headed in to the unknown. The final destination was Vung Tau, the busy coastal town south of HCMC. The ride is about 110km in length, flat and good fun. All the juicy details are below, along with a map outlining our route.

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Start Point - The ferry crossing on Ton Duc Thang, near the bottom of Dong Khoi Street. 

(Note - You could also go along HWY 1 to Bien Hoa and then turn right on to Hwy 51. However it's longer and much much busier!)

Going/Landscape

The entire ride is flat. The area around District 2 is residential and busy. Roads 769/19 are light in traffic and heavy on scenery, while highway 51 is flat easy going. We only got a head wind with 24km to go!

Roads

The roads were all surprisingly good! The only real exception to this is a short distance of road works in District 2 and just after the second ferry crossing at Cat Lai. Immediately after the ferry, there's several km's of really crappy road, but not really worth worrying about it. 

Roads 769 and 19 are both in really good shape, very smooth and easy to negotiate. Highway 51, which you spend 64km on, is a large 4 lane highway that is smooth, busy and noisy! There's a large shoulder designed for bicycles and carts! 

Traffic

Traffic for the first half of the ride was light. On Roads 769/19 you ride through rubber tree plantions and an industrial zone before hitting the highway. Highway 51 is another story! The main road for all traffic heading south, the road is busy, noisy and at best crazy. But like anything, common sense will go a long way to keeping you safe. The highway has a large shoulder which is good for cyclist. 

Food/Drink/Repairs
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Repairmen line the roads of Vietnam regardless of your location! At most you will have a couple of k's to walk before finding someone that can fix your problem. On the highway, repair shops are located every 500m. We had one puntcure and a guy on the side of the hwy fixed in 5 minutes for 5,000vnd (USD$0.25).
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Drink/food - Along road 19 you go through rubber plantations which have small local cafe's set up amougst the trees. This is a great spot for a cold drink and rest. Hammocks are lined up in the plantations and the cool shady areas makes it an ideal place to relax. Along the highway there are cafes and restaurants everywhere where you can get a feed or a drink. 

Vung Tau

Vung Tau is a large coastal city, chocker block with hotels and places eat. We arrived on a Saturday, during school holidays in perfect beach weather and still got a room (after some searching). We stayed in a small hotel near the ferry terminal, which suited us to a tee at only 400,000VND/room. Around this area are some really cool to places to eat, all dishing western and local fav's.
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We hit Ned Kelly's for a really tastey feed and ice cold beers. The next morning we found a another expat style hang out which dished up a mighty fine "Big" Breakfast for only 90k - look for the sign with a kangaroo and kiwi on it!

Return To HCMC

Our return to HCMC was by ferry. We caught the Greenfields Hydro Foil (160,000VND p/p one way) which got us back to HCMC in 1 1/2 hours. Ferry's depart Vung Tau every half hour from 6am and tickets can be purchased at company booths near the terminal. 

Other options include riding back or catching the local bus. Mai Linh Bus Company does not allow bikes on the bus.

The Good Oil

Nice ride, flat and easy to navigate around. Traffic isn't really an issue, so long as you use common sense and stick to the right! 

Leave HCMC early and avoid the heat, it gets bloody hot after 10am! 

Midweek is the best time to visit Vung Tau and you miss local travelers from HCMC.

If you are fussy with accomodation, book in HCMC through an agent or read about the Palace Hotel here. If you don't mind what you get, do what we did and worry about it when you arrive!

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