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Walking at night alone (around 23:00 to 4:00) at the center of Ho Chi Minh (mostly district 1), so many touts tried to get me on their bike. I have never got on it, but it might be that they talk to me since I look like a foreigner.

They usually talk to me in English (e.g. Can I help you? or Where are you going?), or something like "Hey" to get my attention.

But I feel that there is no meter on the bike, and it sounds unreliable to begin with.

Is this a tourist scam? Is it safe to get on their bike? How is the fare calculated? Or do they get me to the correct destination like a taxi, in the first place?

Blaszard
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1 Answers1

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It is to scam you out of your money. They offer prices significantly above market, around 3-5X times what you would pay for a taxi in the area. Some of them will offer more elaborate plans like taking you to visit certain places and they will but again will charge you significantly more than a typical tour bus.

Actually, I was there a month ago and this happened to me all the time. They would call for attention or sometimes strike a conversation first, usually starting with Where are you from? or Where are you going?. I could also clearly tell that I was targeted more than others by a significant margin since I do look like a tourist, this increased to another level when I had my camera gear out and some would get right in front of where I was shooting.

One of the city guides given at the bus station even said about taking motorbikes:

Motorbike Taxi: If you like having helmet hair, a filthy place and an empty wallet, go right ahead.

One in Hoi An, a few days before reaching Saigon, even convinced me to take one as he said I was going to a car-free part of the. That turned out to be false and the charge was about 4X times what it cost me to do the way back using a metered cab. This scam is prevalent in all parts of Vietnam.

Itai
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