I found an organization online that does "free" motorbike tours throughout HCMC. The tour guides are university students who want to practice & improve their English. The tourists pay 70,000 dong for petrol for the motorbike (plus presumably a tip) and the guides show them around the city for free. I signed up for a food tour before I arrived in the city and a girl from the hostel later decided to join me but there was some confusion in the communication and the tour company never found out that there were 2 of us. So one guide showed up with a tiny motorbike that couldn't seat 3. Luckily, he was adaptable and we did the tour by taxi instead.

To call it a food tour is a huge overstatement. We went to one street food stall for crab soup and the guide rushed us off before we were finished. Would have been alright if we had a few more stops, but the only other food place we went was an ice cream shop. Barack Obama was in town and some streets were closed, so MAYBE that was the reason, but the guide was very bland and uncommunicative so we'll never know... He did take us to see the Town Hall and Opera House, which were very pretty all lit up. I wouldn't have known to go there otherwise, so I'd call the tour a success :) He told us about a bar on top of the tallest building in the city, so I might head there tonight if I can convince some of the other hostel guests to join me!

Today is a relaxation day - it's noon and I still haven't showered or left my hostel. I'm feeling a bit run down and exhausted from the constant movement, so I'm taking it easy. This morning I booked my flight to Laos for tomorrow, so I've got a bit of research & planning to do and I might even leave the hostel on search of a massage...