Ho Chi Minh City resumes open-deck bus tours

Double-decker buses carry passengers past the HCMC City Hall, January 2020. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran

Open-deck bus services that take tourists to iconic attractions across HCMC resumed operation from Monday after five months of suspension reported VN Express.

The buses have sixty-five seats, with the upper part being roofless for travelers to enjoy unimpeded views. To ensure social distancing, each bus will only operate at half capacity while passengers are required to make health declarations and wear masks during the journey.

Tickets currently cost VND150,000 ($6.56) for adults and VND100,000 for children aged six to 12 years.

Departing Saigon Central Post Office, the tour winds its way past Nha Rong Wharf in District 4, Ho Chi Minh Campaign Museum on Le Duan Boulevard in District 1, the backpacker area of Pham Ngu Lao Street, War Remnants Museum in District 3, and several other historic and cultural attractions.

The service will be available from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, with each journey taking approximately 30 minutes.

In June, the double-decker bus tour suspended operation as the city grappled with its most challenging outbreak with rising daily infections.

Ho Chi Minh City plans to resume tourism with cities and provinces where Covid is under control from Nov. 1 until the year-end and welcome back foreign travelers from early next year.

In the first nine months of this year, the city welcomed only 7.7 million domestic tourists and earned tourism revenues of VND39.5 trillion, down 31 percent year-on-year.

HCMC has recorded over 426,000 infections in the fourth wave since late April. Its high vaccination rate and a strategic shift from a zero-virus strategy to living with the pandemic has enabled the city to lift most restrictions and resume many social-economic activities since Oct. 1.