the_numbers Posted January 7, 2004 Report Share Posted January 7, 2004 Vietnam, its no Bangkok. However, Saigon has a few pieces of magic up its sleeve and a bevy of girls out for $$. I did venture around on research <clears throat> a bit to very mixed results. First off, upmarket hotels doing "body massage" or any variation with sauna vary between 50K and 100K dong and are mostly hand job joints. The girls are used to upmarket fellas and robbing blokes blind for hand jobs, and you'll wind up with a headache if you want a fair price except by tourist standards and we aren't talking Thailand here... no, no. Girls asked as much as 50USD for a bit of yanking and could be gotten down to 20USD with lots of ugly faces. I opted out of this situation. -- This includes Rex, Palace, ___ etcetera. However, Hoc Tocs can lead to hotel liasons and bj's. Local massage parlours are far better - one example is near a giant two story coffee shop north of Dong Khoi District think it's called 13?? Its a Vietnamese massage place off Dien Bien Phu. The places provide oily massages and all manner of extras in the ballpark of 15-20 USD. Better service, no English funny how those go together.. in Vietnam. :: Go Vap is certainly even better as Bia Oms and prices go, but spoken Vietnamese is really necessary, and even in the above massage joint is a great deal of help. I did get ripped off in Dong Khoi. I did not do the 'smartest' bit but value honesty in bars. That's what I get for hanging out at one of those dodgy bars for punters in central Saigon. I was walking home and its right at the corner of Mac Thi Bieu called Thien Toi? I believe. They said I gave them a 20 when I gave them a 50. Its pratically my fault, but not obviously not because I expected not be ripped off. But failed to follow the small bill rule in bars... I put up a hell of a show at first because I was half-cut and in ill humour, but just figured fuck it because the mamasans would not even speak to me and one left the room. ::she did throw her ledger across the room first. Other notes of some use.. mini-hotels are no problem these days for girls, so don't go stay in the caravelle or continental. These hotels have picked up the Thai habit including Thang Long of tacking on 4-5 USD for a girl to sleep at yours. In the end if you go to Dong Khoi joints like Monkey Bar or Thien Toi most want 20 USD to let the girl out, which doubles a Thai barfine and then the girl will ask for alot, but can be had for 25-30USD, but not always. Same same Bangkok go-go's hot girls at rainbow want like 2-3K for s/t now.. Apocalypse is still a freelance scene, and bouncing most nights. It does require patience though, but it always did. Oh, one plus if your a night owl and one minus. Aggressive ladyboys on motorbikes will pull up on the curb with one hand on the bike and the other out to grab your cock. If you need a quick escape and can't defend yourself drop 1,000 dong and run in the other direction. Oh, the good stuff.. yeah, girls on the night off or going home. The scene winds down about 12PM, but most bars will sneak you in through the gates until 1 or 2AM. If you are out around this time you don't have to get street bric-a-brac I saw one of the girls who worked at a Dong Khoi bar around 1AM, not near her bar and she was perfectly content with 30USD for staying the night at the hotel, "everything." :hubba: not bad. I may continue later, but hope this helps any sanukers out for Saigon nights. Cheers, the_numbers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 8, 2004 Report Share Posted January 8, 2004 Wow, sounds like you're a really hardy sort...thanks for the info. Was there in '98 but the specter of police set-ups just seemed too real. Not that a single male in his 30's wouldn't get solicited on the street, but you could see bad outcomes much more easily than good. OTOH, given the performance of the Vietnamese girls in Phnom Penh, the potential for that country is absolutely mind-boggling. But authoritarian governments will suppress it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dreamer Posted January 9, 2004 Report Share Posted January 9, 2004 Great notes - you got a lot further than I did on my first trip, i'd be interested to hear more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted January 9, 2004 Report Share Posted January 9, 2004 Hi TN, Thanks for that. Vietnam has intrigued me for some time, but I've yet to read a report that doesnt shout 'Expensive', and I'm not just talking about Sanuk. I'm not sure if it was their exposure to cashed-up Americans (and the French before them), but it seems that the Vietnamese have decided that anyone with a white face must have a Platinum Visa card. You just dont find that attitude in other parts of Asia, do you ? :: What were prices like for things like food and transportation ? Did everyone look to profit from your Caucasian largesse ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the_numbers Posted January 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2004 Caucasian - yes, I am and did not come strapped with a Platinum card or the desire to spend like I had one. However, it does not have to be a blow to your bank statement to visit Saigon save the VISA, which is criminally expensive [save going to Bhutan]. Approx. 50-60USD. Fantastic dinner at a French restaurant or upscale Thai place will set you back 250-400 baht. Pho off the street in Cholon[Chinatown] 50 baht. Tasty as well. Back to brass tacks and a few choice slices of dong talk: I massage Japanese man with hand 50 dollar. yuh halp meee. How about 200 dong?? No dice. DVD in England 15 Pounds, but this guy gave up after a bit and I got some pirated dvds for just under 1 American dollar each, which beats Silom and they work. He is off to the right of the entrance of Ban The Market at Night. "Hotel room in your country is twice this much. My brother live in San Francisco." <coughs> I instantly said, "I'm not American, but a poor English man we don't have hotels there my friend," He then ignored me - English comprehension skills were selective, or he realised I was a cunt who knows? My trusty taxi driver said to me, "You want change? Its only 2USD little money for you." I've heard this shite elsewhere its not the Vietnam special, but they were damn consistent. You get hassled alot more and it gets to be annoying unless you flee Saigon. bugger. Frankly I think they need a kick in the dong. Knowing the Vietnamese national wage is below that for Thais makes it more clear that they have been living off the fat of the land i.e. 'package tourists' too long. Hotels are quite reasonable though these days and if you know where to party it's a cheap trip and good change save the mexican food (Underground has a nice pool table, but a rotten burrito) --- I got a single room that was fantastic in a mini-hotel for 20US smack in the middle of Dong Khoi with <coughs> 'breakfast' Couldn't get rid of it, and it consisted of a baguette, eggs dripping off the plate (omelette) a few slices of tomato??, and tea. Police are a non-issue as SEA Games winds down according to locals, and will be less so in a few weeks according to bar owners. Unless you are trawling the streets at 2AM dick in hand, which is what it usually means if you are walking around Saigon as a single man after everything is closed you should be fine.. and you have other options. The bars, hot tocs, and massage places are consistent, cheap, and not always terribly clean especially outside the tourist areas. No raids on bars on DL Dien Bien Phu or Go Vap where the cops and officials go for a nosh... Cheers, the_numbers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli13 Posted January 15, 2004 Report Share Posted January 15, 2004 good to hear that the authorities has loosened up a bit on sanuk & the sure no-no of taking chicks home to the hotel of say 5 years ago are pretty much history also prices seem to be getting down to almost reasonable, while opening hours for the bars stays early still as you say the worst thing about vietnam(saigon) is the hassles as a visitor & their major descrimitive double pricing, which has put the country way off my radar perhaps for good anyways good to hear some guys manage to have a bit of fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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