#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Vietnam, Nepal and Burma  Travel Forum >  >  South and Central Vietnam.

## Primo

I started off my trip by flying into Thailand and picking up a girl I have known for a very long time,two days in Pattaya and then off to the airport for an Air Asia flight to Ho Chi Minh City. First time for me and her in Vietnam,I had done a lot of reading about travelling around Vietnam before hand,read some horror stories but as it happens everything went fine.

We landed about 9.30 am and I was surprised by how quiet Ho Chi Minh airport was,anyway speed thru the immigration as I already had my visa,Thais do not need one so no problem with my friend getting thru either. Just outside the immigration there are a few money exchange booths, pays to check them all as they have different rates. The rates were not as good as in the banks but that is to be expected at airports I have found.

I just changed £100 which gave me over 3 million Viet Dong,I was now a millionaire, a first for me. Walk outside and it is absolutely steaming,hotter than Thailand. I have read about the best taxis to catch and headed thru the usual guys offering a ride to the taxi rank. Went straight for a Mai Linh Taxi which are white and green and also just green,these are all over Vietnam and I used them a fair bit,they were mostly very good and honest apart from a few.

The company has a man at the airport who came over wrote down the taxi number and destination and off we went to our hotel. Cost of taxi into the District 1 which is the tourist area was 135,000 dong plus 10,000 dong airport toll,so 145,000 which works out at about £5.00 and took about 20-30 minutes,the traffic was pretty light so could cost more if stuck in rush hour.













Arrived at the hotel at about 10.30am and they would not let us check in as we were too early,so dropped our bags there and went for a stroll around.Pretty close to the hotel was a nice park so went and sat there for a bit and had a few groups of students come up and talk to us,they were interested in what we thought of Vietnam and where we were from,they were all very nice and polite and spoke a bit of English.




 Had to say no to a few vendors and shoe polishers but no problem with them. Headed back to the hotel after about an hour and they let us check in.

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## kingwilly

Vietnam's a nice tourist destination, nicely done.

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## blue

like the photo of the temple 
friendly students  too !

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## Primo

So we get checked in,they take our passports and keep them until we leave,all the hotels did this apart from one which only took my passport. This is so they can show the local police who is staying I believe,I had no problem with it but I saw other travellers later on who would not hand over their passport and the hotel just took a copy.

The hotel was the Dai Nam,79 Tran Hung Dao, District 1 - Ben Thanh Market, Ho Chi Minh City. It was a nice hotel and a 5 minute walk from De Tham/Them street which is tourist central.The rooms were about £23 a night thru Agoda

Dai Nam Hotel Ho Chi Minh City Vietnam - Best discount hotel rates

There is a disco next door and I did hear before I went that it was very loud and you needed to get a room high up to avoid the noise but the two days we were there the hotel was very quiet and we heard nothing.Very nice room, good wifi,nice staff here and the breakfast was buffet with choice of western and Vietnamese. Only problem we had there was the checking in thing.

So quick shower and out the door and straight into Saigon traffic.




It took a while to get used to crossing the road but after an hour or two we were experts. General rule,move slow and keep eye contact with on coming vehicles,they were pretty good and no one ever hit us.We had a little map that the hotel gave us which was helpful and made our way over to De Tham street to find the Sinhtourist (formerly Sinhcafe) office to book a day trip to Cu Chi tunnels. Found it easy and booked up for the day after at a cost for a half day trip of about £6.00 each,then went to eat at one of the cafes next door to it which caught my eye because it had a sign outside that beer was 10,000 dong a bottle which is about 30p.

https://www.thesinhtourist.vn/Default.aspx    I cannot recommend these enough,they did great tours all over Vietnam and the prices were fantastic.They also do buses between the cities and again good prices. We used them a lot.

Nice food which was about £1.30 a dish



and my cheap beer.



So finished eating and headed up to the Reunification Palace which you can walk to from De Tham and it would take you about 20-30 minutes but it was very hot with the sun beating down so opted for an aircon taxi. I will add that there are some dodgy taxis in Saigon(that's what the locals still call it) but if you use Mailinh or Vinasun you should be fine.

The Reunification Palace was the office and home of the President of South Vietnam before the war ended,it has been left virtually untouched since then so it is like walking into a timewarp,well worth a visit,entrance fee is 100,000 Dong,about £3.00.



So we had a wander around,many rooms to see and a few war time tanks,helicopter and aircraft in the grounds,it was pretty busy with other tourists but had a good time and found some shade in the grounds to get out of the sun for a bit.



Old Huey helicopter as used by the American and South Vietnamese military during the war.



NVA tank,like the one that crashed thru the gates of the palace at the end of the war.



American jet fighter although could be a South Vietnamese one.

So left the palace and decided to walk back to the hotel. Stopped in some cafe at the back of the market and got robbed for two cokes at 30,000 dong each,never went back there but some places do have two menus which I later found out because the girl I was with was mistaken for Vietnamese all the time and in one such place in Nha Trang they gave her the Vietnamese menu and then tried to switch it when they found out she was not one, I took both the Viet one and English one and the English one was about 30% more money,not a lot you can do about that but did not eat there anyway.

We had a quiet night as had to be up early in the morning for the Cu Chi tunnels trip and were tired from travelling and the sun.


_to be continued_

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## roamer

Nice report.

Thank You.

Looking forward to the rest.

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## Davis Knowlton

Thanks. Looked a bit different in 1968.......

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## beerlaodrinker

Cheers Primo.
Vietnams a great spot imho, been there a few times now, last trip drove from Vientiane to nha trang and back , wont be doing that again anytime soon as way to much traffic on the roads now, done a similar trip to hoi an about 5 years ago, Ho chi minh looks alright and wouldnt mind a visit there but , thinking of a quick trip to Hanoi in August or september , Looking forward to more of your thread

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## CNF55

Nice thread, thanks.

Been to Saigon and Vung Tau on business a few times but never had enough time to do some sightseeing.

I really like Saigon, got a much more pleasant feel to it than Bangkok, with wide, open boulevards and side walks. Good and inexpensive food and drinks and some eye candy, too (mostly Russian).

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## Primo

So up early and down for breakfast,nice breakfast in the hotel and we are the only foreigners there as far as I can see,I go for something western while the girl I am with eats just about everything Vietnamese. All sorted and off to the Sinhtourist office to get the bus to the Cu Chi tunnels.

We all pile on the coach which leaves about 8.30am and it is a bit of a drive to the actual location,maybe 1.5 hours but some of that is used up actually getting out of Saigon in the rush hour.

The tour guide was from the area and had left Vietnam at the end of the war but then came back when it started to open up in the 1990's. He gave a good talk on the way there about what happened in the war,very interesting. We get there and it is already baking hot.

What they have done here is lay out on top of the ground what was underground back in the war,so it is easy to access for the tourist.We had to pay to get in on top of the tour fee,it was about 90,000 dong as I remember,just under £3.00,well worth it.



This place is where they show you a short film (propaganda) from the 1960's about the VietCong.



One of the tunnel entrances and some tourist example of how to get in,very tight.




VietCong at work making good use of the bombs the Americans dropped plus some traps that were set underground to maim unsuspecting American soldiers.The VietCong used to take unexploded American bombs and recycle them,they were the pc green crowd of the day.

Rice paper making.




Inside the tunnels,this is the girl I took. It was tight,dark and very hot down there even though the tunnels have been enlarged for western tourists,they were half the height back in the war.




They also have a firing range on the site where you can blast away with M-16's. M-40 machine gun and AK-47's, I had a pop on an AK which was about £12 for 10 shots.




I actually hit the target a few times,first time shooting for me so not too bad. So all together a nice half day trip.

https://www.thesinhtourist.vn/tour/s...nnels-half-day

We got back into Saigon about 1.30pm.

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## terry57

Ive done 3 trips to Vietnam and have covered most of the country.

Ive just bought 20 nights accommodation in Hanoi for $380 on Special.

I'm just going to base myself there and cruise around the joint eating Pho and drinking they're cheap beer.

Most probably head up there in October sometime.

Good fun innit.

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## dobella

What a brilliant thread this is, i have worked with many who served in Vietnam during the war both Aussies and Americans and have always been interested in that era.
You wouldn't get me down one of those tunnels at Cu Chi because of 2 reasons.
1. My beer belly, and 2. Claustrophobia and you and your girlfriend have balls for going down there, great stuff.

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## Primo

So we had two days in Ho Chi Minh City,it was extremely hot and good fun with the day trip to the tunnels as well. I had already booked a bus to Nha Trang with Sinhtourist which was pretty cheap but it was a 12 hour trip. The thing with Vietnam is that it lacks infrastructure,the roads were pretty bad everywhere and only two lanes. They really need to improve that and to ditch the visa if they want to get a good tourist trade.They should hand out a 30 day visa at the airport like they do in Thailand I believe.

Up early and on the bus and off to Nha Trang which is a beach resort. I had read that the beach was dirty and not that good but that was incorrect,they had people keeping it clean all day long,lovely beach.

The drive up.






The Vietnamese love the horn on the their cars and trucks,they are always on it warning other road users that they are there. I have never been to a country where they use it so much but could be a good idea as sometimes the traffic all over the place with no rules of the road as far as I can see but saying that they seem to be better drivers than the Thais.

At last we get to Nha Trang,what a relief,it was dark and we went off to find our hotel which proved a bit difficult as the numbering on the street was all over the place,anyway found it and checked in.The hotel was the Phu Quy,54 Hung Vuong Street, City Center / Nguyen Thien Thuat, Nha Trang, and was only £11 a night for a big room with a caged balcony with views of the backs of houses/shops but it was fine. It was 5 minutes from the beach and the girl on reception was a star and spoke good English. We were only going to stay in Nha Trang for a few days but it ended up to be 5 because I came down sick for about 2 of those.

Phu Quy Hotel Nha Trang Nha Trang Vietnam - Best discount hotel rates



After I had recovered we wandered along the beach which was empty apart from some mad people from the west,lots of Russians frying themselves in the sun,the locals were dressed head to foot showing no skin really. The Vietnamese cover up in the day if it is sunny and they come out about 5pm when the sun goes down and swim,it was packed down there at that time.Nice beach,great views and you can do some water sports if you want to but they were a bit overpriced I thought.

The first two streets by the beach are not cheap for anything so make your way out from there and the prices drop accordingly. So we headed out from the tourist area to find a place to eat and came across this place which does not open until 4pm,ate here a few times,very nice authentic Vietnamese food.


20,000 dong each and 5000 dong for ice tea,very nice.Nice couple runs this place as well. Meal came in at 50,000 dong with drinks,that is under £2.00. Bargain.

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## terry57

^

Next time you go take the Train.   Cheap, Safe and relaxing.

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## Primo

> ^
> 
> Next time you go take the Train.   Cheap, Safe and relaxing.


  We took the train back down from Hue,it was ok but took 24 hrs but we had a sleeper.

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## terry57

I like to travel slow so its short trips between cities for me. Great way to meet people, sit back enjoy a few beers, food and views.

Don't do buses if I can help it.   Work around them.

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## Primo

> I like to travel slow so its short trips between cities for me. Great way to meet people, sit back enjoy a few beers, food and views.
> 
> Don't do buses if I can help it.   Work around them.


You can travel slow on the buses because they are slow.  :Smile:  They were ok,just long trips between the cities that we decided to go to.

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## Primo

Up in the morning and down by the beach for breakfast,its a beautiful day again.



Not too sure what these ladies were up to,like sales reps I think for some place on the beach.Looked very nice though.

I went and booked a tour with a place that was not sinhtourist,big mistake. I wanted to go out on a motorbike and tour around the countryside,they wanted 1.8 million dong for two people if you rode behind them and 1.5 million if you rode yourself,it looked like a good tour but decided to ask them if we could go in a car instead. So got charged 1.5 million for a supposed tour of the countryside which is about £50 ish.



So we turn up the following morning and wait for the car,not too long and we are off. First stop just the other side of the city was an outcrop of rocks and some building in the Chinese style,not even sure what it was,so the guide hops out and gets us two tickets which cost 40,000 dong each..so about £1.30 and we are in.



There were some Vietnamese film makers here working on a documentary,seems there was some fossil in the the side of the rock,I could not make out what it actually was.It was super hot and there was no shade here but nice views of the bay. So back up the steps and back in the car then we are whisked off to a Champa temple.

The Champa were the people who were here before the Viets turned up and they were Hindus heavily influenced by India.







View from the temple


Nice temple,had to be up a load of steps though.Lots of tourists here and some locals.They had some traditional weaving going on as well.At this point the sound went on my smart phone video but the weavers were talking to the girl I was with because they thought she was Vietnamese..obviously she did not understand them,hence the laughing.



We moved on from this to a tour of local workshops. One was two women weaving carpets,they were very nice and commenting on how my friend looks just like a Vietnamese.Nice ladies and very friendly.



We then head off to some guy and his wife who had their own kiln and were making pots that are used in cooking,you put coals in them I believe. The guide tried to pay the guy some money for our visit but the owner was having none of it.

We were then driven out into the countryside maybe 5 minutes from the city and stopped to look at the fields and were told what was being grown there, a lot actually,rice,watermelon etc.

The we went for something to eat down by the river but we had already eaten so opted for a drink instead.Nice place full of locals and cheap.Good views here of the river.





They had a wooden bridge here and a guy sat in a booth taking tolls for motorbikes to whizz across. The bridge gets washed out in the wet season and has to be rebuilt when it is dry.

Then it is off to a Buddhist temple and up some more steps,I wished these people would build things at ground level,its just too damn hot to climb up but we did.Nice views up here.

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## nigelandjan

Nice one Primo , green in the bin

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## Primo

View from the Buddhist temple and another Buddha which funnily enough had Vietnamese, Chinese and Thai writing carved into it.





We then sped off to a Catholic church which we could not get into but it looked nice from outside. Plenty of Cathoilcs in Vietnam,saw churches everywhere also plenty of Muslims there which was news to me,homegrown ones not from the middle east and that was the end of the tour.

I was expecting more for my money actually and felt disappointed,I thought we were going off into the countryside being as it was called the countryside tour but we never..you live and learn..just one of those tourist things that you get caught on once in a while.So if in Nha Trang avoid that trip,go book with sinhtourist as they do better trips for little money.

The day after we caught the night sleeper bus to Hoi An,if you are 6ft 4 like I am then it was a bit of a squeeze,I did not sleep anyway but it was not that bad a journey and the time went quick even though it was 11 hours.



We arrived in Hoi An at about 6.30am and it was very hot even then. Get the bags and get hassled by a few motorbike taxis that want 100,000 dong for two bikes to the hotel,I now thought I was an expert in the price of transport in Vietnam and told them it was too expensive even though it was about £3.00. Flagged down a Mailinh taxi and got to the hotel for £1.00,it was not that far away as it happens.

This was my favourite hotel that we stayed at in Vietnam, it is called the Sunshine Hotel,02 Phan Dinh Phung Street, Hoi An City Center, Hoi An. I love this place and recommend it to anyone. First off they let us check in at 6.30am with no extra charge,then they gave us the best room in the place on the top floor with a huge balcony overlooking Hoi An and the mountains.

http://www.agoda.co.uk/asia/vietnam/...%2fbXG4w%3d%3d

It was £20.00 a night and well worth it,it was clean,the room was huge,the bathroom/shower was great and it had a seperate toilet as well.It also had a 32inch lcd TV/fridge/safe/tea making..it was the bollocks. The hotel has a nice pool and it has a shuttle service into town which runs a few times a day and comes back to the hotel as well,it also has free bike rental,the beach is about a 15 minute ride up the road and the town is about 10-15 minutes as well. The staff were all very helpful.

Hoi An is a lovely quiet place and my favourite in Vietnam.

View from the hotel.



So we get settled in and then head out to the old town down by the waterfront which is magnificent. Hoi An was a trading port and is a world heritage site listed by UNESCO. It was most active from 15th to the 19th century.The building are Chinese in style and well preserved.

Hoi An waterfront.





There is a very nice place to eat down here,so walk past all the places with recommend by trip advisor boards outside and head over the bridge,turn left and walk down to the end of the road,just on the bend,the first place in a row of small open air eateries,go there,its great food and its cheap,its run by a nice old lady and old guy,very friendly,great service.



Anyway we did not eat that day we just had a few drinks and then wandered around the area,there are loads of shops here but they all sell the same tourist stuff but you can get cheap tshirts here and there is a market as well but the houses are the best thing about the place and you could spend a fair bit of time looking around,we did.

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## Primo

This is the Japanese bridge in Hoi An,it probably dates from the early 17th century.



Hoi An down by the waterfront comes alive at night as well,with street performers as well as the many tourists,it is all lit up as well,looks lovely.







So we spent a fair bit of time down on the waterfront while in Hoi An,it is one of the main draws here. Next day we head on our free bikes to the beach.



I was surprised to see these type of boats,we have them where I come from as well but not used that much these days, I guess it is such a good design it has travelled around the world.Anyway we parked up our bikes in the bike park for which they charged 5000 dong which is pennies and they keep and eye on them. Not many people on the beach, a few tourists. The places to eat and drink up here cost more than other places but then you are on the beachfront, a coke was about £1. Spent time haggling with a vendor to get my friend a swimming costume because she forgot to bring hers, did not get one in the end either,due to size problems,she is very small.

Only spent a little time up here as I am not really into lying on the beach getting roasted by the sun. We took the long way back looking for the other beach but did not find it but it is there we just took the wrong road. We rode up past peoples houses and many called out to us to say hello. I will say that people in Vietnam are generally very friendly. We ended up on the main road and had a slow ride back to the hotel. Then in the pool for a dip later in the evening,she went in her bra and knickers.



We spent 3 days in Hoi An and it was great,if you are going to Vietnam put it on your list. Avoid the restaurant two up from the hotel,it is overpriced,crap service and run by youngsters who seem clueless.

I booked a tour to My Son with sinhtourist,cheap and well worth a visit. Very good tour,there was a bus ride to My Son and a boat ride back plus a meal in a nice restaurant in Hoi An,drinks not included. Funny that, it happened on a few trips,we would get food provided but anything to drink you paid for yourself but the trips were so cheap it did not bother me.

My Son.

_ To be continued_

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## Mid

> I was surprised to see these type of boats,


more than one made the trip to OZ during the refugee exodus / war days .

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## beerlaodrinker

Excellent stuff primo, Did you take the cable car over to Vinpearl island ? A bit Touristy but good if youve a couple of kids in tow as i had. Hoi an is a lovely place and has definately been "Discovered now " by the mainstream Tourists

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## Primo

> Excellent stuff primo, Did you take the cable car over to Vinpearl island ? A bit Touristy but good if youve a couple of kids in tow as i had. Hoi an is a lovely place and has definately been "Discovered now " by the mainstream Tourists


Did not bother,I had a look what was on the island on the net and it was a theme park,not my scene really. Hoi An is great,I love it.

I would just like to thank everyone for all the reps and the nice comments on the thread

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## terry57

Well put together thread mate,

Cheers

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## diverken

:Smile: Great thread good photos would like to go there next time we are in asia

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## Loombucket

Good thread primo, with some excellent photos! Thanks for sharing.

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## YorkshireMan

What a good thread - enjoyed the pics and the commentary - gonna have to put it on my list of things to do.

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## Primo

While in Hoi An we booked a tour to My Son an ancient Champa temple complex a few hours away. This was another Sinhtourist tour,they have offices thru out Vietnam. The day started at their office where we were picked up by bus and then driven to My Son, I think it took about 1.5 hours or so and we had a tour guide with us.



We had a little talk about the site and then headed off to each individual piece where our expert guide did his job very well.They have a bit of show a few times a day but we missed the beginning.



We then headed off to the temples.











There are actually bomb craters all over this site because the Americans bombed it during the war,why? Who the fuck knows.







So after a tour around the site we made our way back to the beginning and waited to board the bus back to Hoi An but there was a choice to be made,you could stay on the bus to Hoi An or go to the boat station and go back down the river,we opted for the river and it was a good choice.Some people decided to go by bus..not too sure why,they missed out.







River taxi,takes people and goods across the river.





Chugging down the river.




After cruising down the river we stopped off at a wood carving village.





Our tour guide,nice guy and knew a lot.







Mother of Pearl inlay.These people were all craftsmen,well apart from the women who were craftswomen. Saw some very nice stuff here but not cheap.

So we had a good look around and then back to the boat. We set off to Hoi An and were dropped at a restaurant overlooking the river where a meal was supplied,it was only like egg fried rice with veg but very nice and that was the end of the tour,came out of the restaurant and we were back down in Hoi An waterfront. Great day out for little money. More pictures and less writing in this piece because I am lazy.

We left Hoi An after 3 days and headed up to Hue which is about 3.5 hours away on the bus and the other side of Danang.

Nice rural scene just outside Hoi An.

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## Primo

The way up to Hue is supposed to be some of the best scenery in Vietnam but if you go on the bus you do miss some of it because it goes thru a very long tunnel,if you go on the train you get a better view.









Nice drive up and just a few hours on the bus this time which beats spending 11-12 hours on one which is normal when travelling between major tourist places in Vietnam.We arrive in Hue and jump a taxi to the hotel. The Century Riverside hotel,49 Le Loi Street, Riverside / Perfume River, Hue where we stayed is huge.We had a very nice room here overlooking the Perfume River,checking in was easy and the hotel is very central.

View from our balcony.






Hue is the old Imperial city of Vietnam and the seat of the Emperors when they were around. After checking in we dashed out for a walk around. The whole area by here caters to tourists and is priced likewise so if you like to overpay for stuff then stay in that area and if not walk thru it and find somewhere cheaper.We found a few places to eat which were much cheaper than the tourist robbers in front of the hotel,you just have to look around.

Our hotel was on Le Loi street and if you come out of the hotel and head right after a very long walk you will find the railway station,which is handy because we had to go there to book tickets back down to Saigon. Advice: take a pen with you and try and book a few days in advance.There are lists up on the wall of the trains and their times,I had a very nice Vietnamese guy who came over and helped me out,he even wrote down everything on a piece of paper for me to hand to the ticket seller. He was not after anything just being helpful.

So got the tickets for a few days time,they cost about 2.4 million dong,which is about £75 for two in a soft sleeper,means you have a bed. I had to borrow a pen off some guy who run a road side eatery and then felt obliged to go eat there,wish I had waited a bit longer as the guy who was helping me turned up with a pen as well. So went off to eat and got some noodles with very little meat for about £1 each,it was pretty poor but there you go, the lesson here is not to lend pens off bandits.

We headed back to the hotel via aircon taxi. We went out later to eat and ended up at this great little place full of locals and had a good nosh there for a fair price,the people who run it were very nice as well,we were the only tourists there and it was full,a good sign.On the way back we checked out a tech store and I could not believe the prices in there,the phones like Apple iphone and Samsung Galaxy were well over priced by hundreds of pounds,actually all the electronic goods in there were expensive,same in other shops as well,maybe there is a high tax on these items.

When back to the hotel and crashed out. Up early and off to the Imperial city which is based on the one in Beijing I think. Caught a taxi and was there in about 10 minutes,I think it was about 100,000 dong entrance each but cannot remember.







More pictures in my Gallery.

We had a nice walk around the place and then started to head back to aircon in the hotel. I found a few thousand dong on the way back which was nice but had to fight off my Thai friend to get it first,she was just not quick enough though. We only spent 3  days in Hue and missed out going to see the tombs of the Emperors which are up the river a bit, you can book a tour to get there was between £4-7,shop around,that price does not include entrance to the tombs but is for a morning trip of about 5 hrs. On the last day we switched hotels to the Gold hotel, which was fine but had hassle getting the room I booked,first off they gave us a smaller room without a balcony so I complained and said I want what I paid for,then they gave us another room with a balcony but was still smaller than I had booked,at least we got a big room/balcony but the aircon was wanked..so we ended up in another room slightly smaller with good aircon,turns out that the aircon on the 5 tops floors was out that day but they were very nice about it. Up in the morning and head for the train station.

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## chingching

very good ,,grub looks good

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## beerlaodrinker

Viet foods great, Primo youve just convinced me that a quick trip to vietnam is needed , ive instructed the wife to nip down to Lao airlines and grab 2 tickets for my next R&R in August , We will just have 3 nights in Hanoi, No kids this trip, there granny can look after em,      Lao airlines are having a promo at the moment so pretty cheap to

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## Primo

> Viet foods great, Primo youve just convinced me that a quick trip to vietnam is needed , ive instructed the wife to nip down to Lao airlines and grab 2 tickets for my next R&R in August , We will just have 3 nights in Hanoi, No kids this trip, there granny can look after em,      Lao airlines are having a promo at the moment so pretty cheap to


Nice. I will probably be heading up that way in October. I love Vietnam.

I have more to write about the trip in this thread but a bit busy in work at the moment but will get around to it.  :Smile:

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## tonyroma

great trip report  hue is a great place ...hue maidens supposedly the most beautiful girls in viet nam  but they r all mostly glamours

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## cdnski12

An interesting post. I past thru these areas in 2009. I was impressed c/w Hoi An and intend to return one day. I didn't really like Saigon ... too crowded hot & muggy. Stayed c/w an old pal there. I liked Vung Tau. Take the Russian Hydrofoil from Central Harbour. Local Canuck Bar owners in Vung Tau, will rent Toyota SUV's for $50/day i/c Car/Fuel/Driver/Drv's Food & Hotel. Seemed a good deal. 2 Couples or 4 Blokes would make a good trip. Go anywhere in VN. Check out Nelly's & Belly's adjacent Bars. Owned by Cdn Offshore Oil Guys. Excellent food & Info. Many local expats arrive on their Harley M/C's for afternoon beers. I went golfing with them @ Paradise GC. Golf really expensive in VN. Oh those noisy Honda Boat motors are hard on the ears! I hired one Hanoi for a river cruise and was really ripped off! Hired a quiet motored one in Hue and cruised up the Perfume & Pearl Rivers and a connecting canal. Took all day. Just me, the boatman & his small son. No English. My VN is non existent. Had a great day. Stopped for food & beers a few times. Had a great day for under $100 USD.

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## Primo

So up very early,the train leaves at about 6.30 am,it is the SE21,the slowest train in the history of trains. The better trains which are faster are the SE1,2,3,4 I believe but could not get tickets for them.We should have booked a bit earlier but our train was OK.If you want to catch a train in Vietnam then this guys website is very good but the prices are not correct,they have gone up now slightly.

Train travel in Vietnam | Train times, fares, photos, how to buy tickets





Hue station,not much too it really,ticket office,small shop and trains.

So we board our train,find our room and off we go. The room,a soft sleeper consists of 4 beds,two lower and two above,some storage space,aircon,and a table. The staff came around and handed out some free water.

The trip was 24 hrs from Hue to Saigon,yes you read that correctly. The beds are comfortable and you get a pillow and blanket,might be an idea to take a warmer jacket/jumper as it can get slightly cold with the aircon blowing all the time.

When we left the station we were the only ones in the sleepers and I thought great but at the next station a guy and his kid got on,he was nice enough.Later a lady got on as well so there were 5 of us in the sleeper but no problems.

Some views from the train journey.













On the train they have soft sleeper where we were which is the most expensive,then they have a hard sleeper which sleeps 6 people and is cheaper but not a lot of difference.



This is the hard sleeper carriage,looked a bit like a prison with big metal doors and metal beds,they did have a mattress on them though,our carriage looked nicer.

There is a trolley service on the train,they came around many times selling food and drinks. A meal which consisted of rice,pork or chicken and soup was about £1 which beats the ass off the trains in the UK. The food was not too bad.

This train stopped everywhere,It stopped at local station where the faster trains do not.it stopped on the sidings to let the faster trains go past,it just stopped for no reason I could see and that is why it took so long to get where it was going.

All the other people got off at Nha Trang and a yank and his Thai wife and kid got on but we did not say much as it was night and we just slept thru until the train reached Saigon.

So after a day on the train we arrive in Saigon,there is a queue of taxis but we could not get one,they were all ignoring us,maybe we smelt too bad  :Smile:  So we walk a little way out of the station and flag one down.

Just a little piece about the name of the city. It is called Ho Chi Minh City,if you catch an airplane there it will say that on your ticket but if you catch a train in Vietnam to there it will say Saigon on the ticket,the station itself has a huge sign on top of it saying Saigon,the locals call it Saigon..it is a bit confusing.

Anyway off to the hotel.

We stayed in the Saigon Mini 6,198 Bui Vien Street, District 1,  Pham Ngu Lao / Tay Balo, Ho Chi Minh City,they have a few of these in the same area,next door is the Mini 5. Not a bad hotel in the centre of the tourists area,I booked a suite which was fairly cheap but was just a very big room with 3 double beds in it and a sitting area,bathroom. It included a set breakfast but you had to go to the sister hotel next door to get it which was not really a problem.There is a 24hr shop just over the road,like a 7/11 type of thing which was good and a local Vietnamese street restaurant just outside the door.

This area is full of tourists ,some bars,massage,plenty of eateries,lots if not most of them are overpriced.They sell fake goods here as well,lots of fake North Face, jackets,trousers,bags but the prices were over the top I though for fakes. £20 for a pair of fake north face trousers.

Anyway the staff in the hotel were very good and nice,when the kettle would not work in the room they took it away and fix it in about 10 minutes,they spoke fair English and I cannot fault them but that was the case in all the hotels around Vietnam.

French bread,we have it at home but they certainly make it better in Vietnam,it tasted fantastic and was always very fresh obviously a left over from the French colonial days.They served it in the hotel at breakfast and they sell it everywhere,you can buy a French bread sandwich/Baguette on the streets for 15,000 dong,about 50p,which makes a nice snack.

We were in Saigon about the 9th June and this was the beginning of the rainy season,it was more cloudy and there were outbreaks of heavy rain but not that much,it was still pretty hot though but nice hot,where you could walk around without sweating your ass off. Although it was the rainy season in Saigon if you went up the coast they have less rain this time of the year. The climate in Vietnam is different depending on what part you are in,maybe that is stating the obvious.

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## beerlaodrinker

Keep em coming primo. ^ Love those french bread baguettes, Its the same deal here in Laos, probably the best/only contribution the french made to indo china, Yesterday the wife confirmed that Lao airlines are still having a promo to Hanoi from Vientiane so i will book that for august 1st when i get to vientiane tomorrow, Dont really want to do any tours or anything just bum around the city and eat good food, Mate of mines building a tailings dam for a mine project near hanoi so will be good to catch up with him to ,
Might do a saigon trip later in the year, with a hydrofoil trip to vung tau, only 1.5 hours according to the info i googled

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## Raesum

Thanks Primo.Hubby and I are taking some of his family from here in Bangkok to Vietnam
in the next few months.So far 6 have put their hand up.!Wasn't sure where to start or try and fit everything in-but you have convinced me -stay South-at least for this time and enjoy, rather than trying to cram it all in.Appreciate the tips on the transport as that was a bit of a worry but it looks like Mai Linh taxis,sinhtourist tours and the train system will take care of most of it.(might give the 24 hour Hue-Siagon train ride a miss tho)

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## Primo

OK then into the final stretch. So we were back in Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City if you are a member of the communist party of Vietnam. We decided to get out of the tourist area for a bit and head over to China town,hoped in at taxi and off we went looking for anything to see,we went to the market there which is huge but caters to wholesale I think although they would sell you what you wanted,I wanted to buy an umbrella as it was starting to rain but they wanted too much for it,I could have bought one cheaper at home.

Not a single white person in this area apart from me. Having had a look around we went for a walk back towards district one,just follow the sign posts if you can,they are in Vietnamese but I had no problem. Stopped off in the Lotteria for something to eat..Lotteria I believe are the local Asian version of KFC/Birger King etc,they are Japanese I think. Good food and their ice cream is 3000 dong where as KFC charge 7000 dong.More choice as well than KFC etc.

Walked on and some Vietnamese young guys wanted me to arm wrestle their mate,they were friendly enough,just joking around.Anyway we walked for a long way and got back down on the main road and jumped a taxi back to Bui Vien street as we were tired.

Went out in the night time to a little street bar on Bui Vien just up from the hotel, draught beer 7000 dong,very cheap and not bad,bottled Saigon green label beer 12,000.It is run by a lady and her family,even had her mother helping out sometimes. Some tourists,some expats and lots of Vietnamese drink here.

I got talking to all sorts of people at this place and made it my local for the days we were in Saigon. The Vietnamese were very friendly.




Day after we went for a wander around Saigon again,this time to see the old French post office and Notre Dame cathedral which as it happens are opposite each other.Taxi driver took the long way around I think because we walked back and it was not as far as he drove,still the taxi was £2,so no great loss.














Some shots of the inside of the post office,it is still a post office today with some tourist shops thrown in for good luck as you enter but they are tucked away up the side. Could not get into the cathedral as it was closed and did not want to wait around for an hour for it to open.There are some funny opening times in Vietnam,so check before you go.

We headed off around the corner where there is a park,lots of parks in Saigon,all well tended and nice looking,popped into some posh place for an iced tea and paid about £2 each,then walked back towards the market and had a look around in there.mostly the same shit on every stall here,t-shirts,caps,pants etc..wooden stuff,there is a food section as well and lots of ladies clothes.

Girl I was with wanted a traditional Vietnamese dress so we looked for one and haggled and the day after paid the going rate as they would not come down. It was only £10 so was not too bothered,not a quality thing but looked nice.If you want a good one head to a tailor,they are everywhere but cost more.We went in some other shop before buying one and they were very nice and friendly but when asked how much it was they said 900.000,I just laughed and said they were 300,000 all day long in the market as as we walked out the price came rolling down to 300,000 but by then it was too late. A Vietnamese lady I got talking to in the bar with her husband said they cost 100,000 for Vietnamese.

Back to the hotel and aircon,great..later more drinks and food,bed.Up early in the morning for another sinhtourist trip .

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## Primo

Up early again for another Sinhtourist tour,this time to My Tho-Ben Tre which are in the Mekong Delta. So we board the bus at their office and off we go,it took about 1.5 hours to get to My Tho and then we boarded a boat to head down the Mekong.

https://www.thesinhtourist.vn/tour/m...ho-and-ben-tre

You do not have to book any of these trips on their website,you can just go to their office and pay there which is what we did.

Some views from the coach ride.



If you are looking for some second hand denim then this is the place for you.  :Smile: 





I saw these all over Vietnam,graves in the rice fields. I believe they are graves but cannot understand why they are buried in the rice field and not the graveyard. There are plenty of graveyards in Vietnam because we saw them driving thru.Anybody got an answer? I would be interested to know.







Tourist boats just like the one we were on.So off we go and first up are the floating fishing houses,basically fishfarms on the river.







We had a nice boat trip and got off to have a look around Con Phung (Phoenix Island) then we were off for dinner/lunch. Very  nice spread all included in the price of the trip,you just pay for your  drinks but as it happens some very nice Asian guy at our table paid for  them. 

All kinds off handy crafts where we stopped for dinner , I did not buy any because would have to lug them home then.*



*Inside the house by where we ate*.* These people must have some bucks but then again they do get many tourist groups pouring thru everyday.It was then back on the boat and head into the creeks off the river,was getting a bit tight but nice views and a bit of shade from the sun.






We get off again and it is a bee keeping villageso we get some honey tea and fruit and shown more stuff to buy,all forms of honey and the like,get to hold a honeycomb complete with bees. Obviously lots of these tours visit places of interest but they are always selling their products,this trip was full of that type of thing but still a good trip, you do not have to buy anything of course and the people are very nice.

We were then whizzed thru the village on horse and cart which was OK but not really my thing, I felt like a Gypo.  :Smile: 



The we dived down some alleyway and were back in the creeks lined with small rowing boats,so 4 of us get on and off we go with some lady old enough to be my mother rowing us down the river. I rowed as well as I felt sorry for her but she was probably used to it anyway whereas I was not.She rowed us back to the tourist boat and I tipped her about £3, not sure why,she was telling everyone the mad guy over there gave her 100,000 dong,she was happy I believe.



This is our rower,nice lady. These boats look like row boats but as we got back to our bigger boat it turned out that they had engines on as well and some of the ladies rowing the group were off across the river to spend their hard earned tips,there was some stunning young girl rowing one of the boats..missed getting a picture but she could have been a model.

We then went down the river and stopped at a Candy Coconut factory,very nice stuff but be careful if you have dodgy teeth as eating these could spell trouble.

They went thru the whole process of how they make the stuff,this photo is the end of it,the packing.



Then back up the river and on the bus back to Saigon, not the best trip I have been on but it was a nice day out and it only cost about £6.00 each.

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## Primo

On our last day in Saigon we went off to visit the war museum,it is just around the coroner from the Reunification Palace so you can visit both on the same day if you want.

The war museum was set up just after the end of the war in  1975 and was called Exhibition House for US and Puppet Crimes which is a very catchy name. It is now called War Remnants Museum. Anyway it is a few floors of exhibitions about the war,lots of propaganda here but worth seeing anyway.The grounds are filled with various US military hard ware that they left in Vietnam when they ran away.













Various bombs that the Yankee imperialists dropped on Vietnam.



Here are some very nice posters from the era with pretty girls on, you can now see why the VietCong won,they were just better looking than the Americans.



Poster below from Germany showing support for VC..








They also have a mock up of the prisons used by the South Vietnamese puppet regime.



Tiger cage.



Froggy head chopper.

Well worth a visit,cheap to get in and that was our trip to Vietnam,I got a bit bored writing a trip report towards the end so please forgive me. 

My impressions of Vietnam are,its cheap,the food,drink,hotels and the people in general are very nice and helpful. I would recommend it to anyone.The day after we flew back to Bangkok.

_The End_

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