Ho Chi Minh City???

[Torneyboy]

Big brother is watching..

[bibblies]

Cleaner than HCM? You say that as if HCM is dirty. I just come back from there a week ago and it looked spotless to me. It was one of the differences between it and Bangkok that really struck me.

 

I can't quite be arsed to do a proper trip report but one thing I can say, as a dedicated sanuker who ventured out every night, is that the 'girls approaching you on scooters' thing doesn't happen. Actually, it's worse than that. Girls don't approach you on scooters. But horrible ladyboys do. I was approached by about 4 scooters in 6 days - all of which were driven by ladyboys. In one case, the scooter had another passenger - a fairly cute girl - but I was too put off by the ladyboy. They're worse than the Thai version for me. More persistent. Maybe that's just because it takes a while for a new tourist to get the right veteran and jaded 'I'm not interested' stare though. (I noticed after a few days that vendors were giving up more quickly so I must have nailed it )

 

I went half for a visa run and half because I was interested in the country. I'm not the 'usual' sort of tourist, even if you take out the sex aspect, in that I like to go alone and watch the people and their behaviour much much more than the 'sights'. I don't understand the 90% of tourists who go in groups of their own culture and kind and delight in ticking off the sights and then claim that they've 'seen' a country. For me, a country is its people and I got my kicks just walking around and observing little things.

 

If you're walking around, one thing that you'll have to pick up is how to cross the road. (Yes, you read that right!) During the first couple of days, I found it difficult to cross roads at the best of times and nearly impossible at rush hour.

If you think Thai and Cambodian driving is haphazard, you should see Saigon. Everyone's on a motorbike or scooter, no one stops (I never had 100% stopping at traffic lights, even), people come from all unexpected directions, often on the wrong side, bikes brazenly ride over pavements especially in rush hour.

 

After a while I worked out that the ONLY way to cross was the opposite of what we westerners are used to. You simply start walking into the sea of traffic, slowly and evenly, and let everyone avoid you. It's the only way. :thumbup:

 

Food is good, though not spicy enough for me after Thai. I got to love Pho 24, which is a chain that has branches everywhere. Upscale options are good too and I noticed bottles of wine in restaurants can be a lot cheaper than in Bangkok. Coffee, of course, is great - it's a real coffee nation.

 

They say Saigon's the liveliest place for sanuk in Vietnam. Well, if that's the liveliest, after 6 days I didn't want to see the rest - for now, anyway. (I like to get a 'bite' of a country first, to see if I like it. Then I'll have a pause and try to learn the language and more about it before I go back because the experience of a country without knowing its language is pretty hollow for me.)

 

Pretty much everything closes around 12-1AM, sometimes later but sometimes even earlier if the police come. Everyone was frightened of the police although I didn't see much of a presence. The ones at the airport were a joy compared to Bangkok (as many immigration counters open as Suvarnabhumi but with 10% of the tourists).

 

As others said, the main action is around the area of the Caravelle hotel - Dong Khoi and Hai Ba Trung street. You can find some pretty girls but there's not many bars compared to Thailand. Girls are dressed in sexy dresses - some really a bit too short to be playing pool in.

 

Another difference compared to Thailand is how the girls will react in the bars. They'll do anything to get you in but, once in, they'll nearly all slink back to the corner, silent, doing their nails, playing with their phones, eating or (I'm not joking) simply staring into space. It's really weird to see the lack of effort most will make to engage you although they're desperate for money.

 

Girls will be told to line up and you're supposed to choose one (or more) to sit with. Lady drinks are usually 50,000 dong ($3). They tell you that they get no commission from the drinks and, if you decline their other services, will ask for a tip of 100,000 dong. I'm not sure how true this is - I couldn't confirm it from any old hands.

 

Usual services in these bars are quoted at $50-60 s/t, $70-100 l/t. Barfines are very variable. I didn't see them set anywhere - you kind of just had to do a deal with the boss. Depending on how much you'd drunk, what time of the night it is, etc, you can get away with less. Mine varied from about 10 to 20 dollars. You might be able to get away with less. Compared to Thailand or even Cambodia, bars are pretty empty. Lots of times I'd sit down and be the only customer.

 

Although I stayed in a hotel that allowed girls, most bars were extremely wary about letting girls use any hotel other than their usual 'mini-hotel'. I usually had to spend quite a time convincing them it was OK. One night the police were particularly vigilant and I couldn't convince them so I tried one of these famous 'mini-hotels' (the girl offered to put up $10 of the $20 hotel fee to help convince me). It was fine - better than my usual hotel, in fact. I'm not sure if they'll let you stay there l/t but I've got the card with the address if anyone wants to try.

 

There's a sort of 'taxi dance' you have to go through which I'd already heard about but it wasn't that bad. When you take a girl out of the bar, they'll summon their own taxi, check for police at the door and then give you the all clear to get into it. The girl will follow after about 30 seconds. It's all a bit silly. (The special taxi will also try to hit you for a 50,000B fare even though it's usually going just a few blocks )

 

There was another option offered to me (which I was proud to take in my first night ). Blowjob in the backroom for $25-30. (No barfine needed :thumbup: ) The girl was tiny and very cute so I took it. The backroom turned out to be the men's toilet cubicle! :hubba: Cramped and awkward and a bit offputting if some guy wanted in. Still, it was an experience. 'Bj in a toilet from a Saigon hooker' kept going through my head.

 

Not all bars offer this s/t option. It's very unofficial.

 

I went l/t only once. As it was unplanned and I didn't have enough money, I had to walk outside with her the next morning, circa 7AM. We got a few stares - Vietnam's definitely not as friendly for that as Thailand.

 

Damn, I ended up pretty much writing a trip report!

[Torneyboy]

Imo the place just looks dirty ...

The streets were not as clean as up north and the tricycle guy's were in uniform and smart looking..not sleeping in the things as they were in HCM..

Agree with the bikie gang however...i was (approached) by a bike with a young gal on the back i think maybe the mom driving..she jumped off and was by my side and in stride in seconds ...but no way ..she was way to young...

[bibblies]

I'll say another thing about the traffic. The Vietnamese are noisy cunts, unable to keep their hands off their horns ( !) for more than 5 seconds. As a result, I often found it difficult to sleep at night, even though I was 6 floors up and tired. Take that into consideration when you're choosing a hotel.

[kamui]

I often found it difficult to sleep at night, even though I was 6 floors up and tired. Take that into consideration when you're choosing a hotel.

 

That's a very good advice, since can't sleep at all in noisy places.

 

[Torneyboy]

 

Yes good point .

To see them drive around the huge roundabout outside the Renaissance riverside hotel is a sight to behold ...

[bibblies]

I often found it difficult to sleep at night' date=' even though I was 6 floors up and tired. Take that into consideration when you're choosing a hotel.[/quote']

 

That's a very good advice, since can't sleep at all in noisy places.

 

Also avoid the Asia Hotel in Phnom Penh then. I'd planned to stay in the Paris Hotel but it only had a box room left so I let the taxi driver take me to the Asia. Nice enough looking room and guest friendly but it's just on a main road, the Cambodians are almost as noisy as the Viets and the sound just came through the thin walls. I changed to the Flamingo the next morning and that was fine.

 

Basically, anything on a main road in a noisy driver country needs to be checked for noise at rush hour times.

[kamui]

I often found it difficult to sleep at night' date=' even though I was 6 floors up and tired. Take that into consideration when you're choosing a hotel.[/quote']

 

That's a very good advice, since can't sleep at all in noisy places.

 

Also avoid the Asia Hotel in Phnom Penh then. I'd planned to stay in the Paris Hotel but it only had a box room left so I let the taxi driver take me to the Asia. Nice enough looking room and guest friendly but it's just on a main road, the Cambodians are almost as noisy as the Viets and the sound just came through the thin walls. I changed to the Flamingo the next morning and that was fine.

 

Basically, anything on a main road in a noisy driver country needs to be checked for noise at rush hour times.

 

I will stay at the Big Luck Hotel in PP.