#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Vietnam, Nepal and Burma  Travel Forum >  >  Ho Chi Minh Holiday

## Loy Toy

Fingers crossed, I hope to have won another project in Vietnam which of course meant I had to visit there.

After a 200,000 Dong trip from the airport I arrived at my new Ho Chi Minh home.

My colleague had told me the room he booked cost 27 USD a night and I wasn't expecting too much but was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. These type of Smallish Hotels litter the city and depending upon the area can be very cheap. I have been told the major hotels are very expensive so anyone wanting to visit Ho Chi Minh look out for these little boutique hotels and they are good value. 



The reception staff were great, all speaking perfect English and when I went to the room I had to double check the price.





And the bed was enormous with the matress and pillows perfect. Too bad I am abstaining from filling up the beds these days but we could of had a bunch of cheer leaders on that one. 



It was also made quite clear to me that the hotel was guest friendly as a lot of hotels in Vietnam are raided by the BIB for prostitution so you must be careful.

The hotel is located very handy to everything and one thing that amazed me, although there was heaps of traffic on the road you never stopped moving for more then 30 seconds and at the traffic lights.

The place is clean, the roads are good and Ho Chi Minh, with its European influence can be quite nice in areas.

One thing you notice almost immediately is that the girls cover all parts of their body from the sun.

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## Loy Toy

Anyway off to work and first stop is to inspect the factory site which is in the Southern suburbs of Ho Chi Minh section 2.

Quite close to the city and you can see the tallest building in Vietnam sticking out of the city centre like a sore thumb.

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## Loy Toy

The people I am working with are of Chinese heritage and are into everything from running stock exchanges to processing food products.

The invested about 2 million USD 15 years ago and up until recently were the biggest suppliers of plastic PET bottles in Vietnam.

Today the machines are worth nothing and the factory is full of bottles they cannot sell.





Anyway their bad luck has given me the opportunity as they have decided to produce my bucket designs in Vietnam.  :Smile:

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## Loy Toy

They have given me two adjoining factories to work with and to plan there production lines.





The factory above is still under construction which is perfect as we can put all their services (water, electricity and compressed air) underground.

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## Loy Toy

Anyway too much work makes bucket makers hungry and I was treated to what I was told was the world famous beef noodles called Poo I mean Pho.

Ho Chi Minh City is very clean and quite green and this picture displays this fact.



The Poo, I mean Pho menu and prices.



I had the combination POO and it was delicious especially throwing in their supper hot chillies.

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## Loy Toy

After traveling around the city I was wondering how they manage all these motor bikes and they have a great system about organizing parking.

You pull up onto the kerb, a parking attendant writes you out a ticket and then he marks the time onto the seat. You return, hand over the ticket, he calculates the time parked, checks it with time written on the seat and he charges you accordingly.

No ticket, no pay.........no bike.



Walking around the city was fun and this guy was doing a roaring trade with obviously very little over heads.



And Vietnam, being the second biggest supplier of coffee in the world have thousands of coffee shops everywhere.

I love the distilled local coffee in these little cafes.

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## Loy Toy

I have been also offered this place as my accommodation and whilst staying in Ho Chi Minh.  :Smile:

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## Loy Toy

Some more random pics...........



Like all Asians they love their rice.



24,900,000 for a foking TV.  :kma: 



Apparently this form of massage is very good for you sucking all the bad shit out. I just took one look at the bruises on the blokes legs and done a runner.

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## Loy Toy

A view of Ho Chi Mihn's tallest building at night from right opposite the bus station.



I actually thought this place was open to the public and someone handed me a glass of wine when I walked in. I then realized I had gate crashed a wedding, finished my wine and exited stage left.



Yes there are back packers in Ho Chi Mihn and this is the place to find them. I sat in the pub for hours drinking beer trying to get a picture of this stunningly beautiful Tiger waitress and she always managed to evade my line of sight.



For those that know Ho Chi Minh this is the Seventeen Saloon and the band were absolutely awesome.

In fact I was sitting with some farang at the bar and we were going to auction off that body suit the female singer was wearing.

Foxy looking lady with a great set of lungs.

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## Loy Toy

Anyway that was my last months adventures and I am wondering what next month will serve up.

Signing off now with a picture of some traditional Vietnamese mums out trying to make a living.

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## Up2U

Good idea of how HCMC is. I love it.

Living in An Phu, District 2, working on the construction of a new power plant.

There are occasional power cuts still in Saigon area, but not like it was 7 or 8 years ago. Now maybe one or two cuts a month, for an hour or two.

Not really any girlie-bar scene, but it's easy to find company. And company that speaks better English than the vast majority of Thai girls, and with more intelligent conversation.

Living is cheap, as could be seen y the Pho 24 menu. The US dollar buys just under 20,000 VN Dong, so most of the meals are around 2 dollars. Rental on my 2 bedroom apartment is US $ 700 per month, which is my biggest outlay. For food, entertainment, clothing, laundry, etc., I spend much less than that.

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## Loy Toy

> Good idea of how HCMC is. I love it.


I certainly enjoyed my short stay there and look forward to working in HCM City in the near future.

When I was there we experienced power outages every day in both District 1 & 2 but most places have power generators to cover these problems.

Mate. as we are proposing a new production factory there what are the long term predictions with regard to reliable power supply and will your new power plant solve these present problems?

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## Butterfly

renting is very overpriced, no enough accommodations for expats, prices are at par with major European cities

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## Loy Toy

> renting is very overpriced, no enough accommodations for expats, prices are at par with major European citi


That's exactly what I was warned about before I went there but having a local high flyer business mogul showing me around certainly opens new doors to great cheap rentals.

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## SEA Traveler

I have two free hand to carry bags on the next trip LT.  Great report by the way.  Enjoyed it tremendously... and the pics aren't all that bad either.

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## Butterfly

> having a local high flyer business mogul showing me around certainly opens new doors to great cheap rentals.


does the place has running water and electricity ?

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## aging one

Wish ya luck on the factory, and thanks for the report. With Air Asia I just might have to go.

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## Butterfly

I can't wait to return, really enjoyed Saigon

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## Davis Knowlton

I hooked up with two real little sweethearts last time I was there - course, they'd be in their 60's now.............

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## Loy Toy

> I have two free hand to carry bags on the next trip LT.


Your very welcome mate and probably the only time we could catch up for a game of golf.  :Smile:  



> does the place has running water and electricity ?


What do you think butters?




> Wish ya luck on the factory, and thanks for the report.


My pleasure mate and your girls would probably love the place as well. I can't wait to take my tribe there.




> I can't wait to return, really enjoyed Saigon


But is Saigon ready for you.  :Smile: 



> they'd be in their 60's now


Recognize the one on the left mate.  :Smile:

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## Tunaka

Nice thread, Loy Toy.

I lived in Saigon, working for an international company for three years.

Great pics, that captured the city.

The comment I want to add is that HCMC is not green.  It's a polluted chaotic city.  District 1 and 3, and Phy My Hung are nice however.  An Phu (no offense) to Up2U is pretty dull and isolated from the city. 

But overall Saigon has it's bright spots in the nooks-and-crannies.

You brought back memories, LT.

Cheers.  :beer:

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## Stinky

> Some more random pics...........
> 
> 
> 
> Apparently this form of massage is very good for you sucking all the bad shit out. I just took one look at the bruises on the blokes legs and done a runner.


Ive had this shit done to me before, it don't hurt mate  :Smile: 

Very interesting thread LT  :Smile:

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## Thep den

That CRAZY BUFFALO joint used to be a guest house. Stayed there many times.

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## Loy Toy

> But overall Saigon has it's bright spots in the nooks-and-crannies. You brought back memories, LT.


It certainly has mate with some very pretty and elegant nooks and crannies.  :sexy: 
And I am very pleased to have lit some old fires.




> Ive had this shit done to me before, it don't hurt mate Very interesting thread LT


Mate the bloke bashing the fook out of that old geezers legs looked in enough pain to me for me not to try it.

And it's a pleasure to share my experiences mate.  :Smile: 




> That CRAZY BUFFALO joint used to be a guest house. Stayed there many times.


The area was jammed packed with foreigners and back-packers and it somewhat reminded me of how Bangkok was 20 years ago.

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## Thep den

The area in question is District 1 Its the Khoasan Rd. of Saigon

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## Loy Toy

I ended up walking about 50 metres down the road and found a few "hole in the wall bars" that were open to the street and had a great cheap evening.

One place had this Mamasan who spoke perfect Thai, do you know the place I am talking about?

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## Cujo

I get down there a lot, I reckon we'll be having a beer in that street before long LT.

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## Loy Toy

> I get down there a lot, I reckon we'll be having a beer in that street before long LT.


Look forward to it mate.

In fact the atmosphere of the place was wonderful and the girls without coming across as tramps had huge sex appeal.

Not that you and I, being the happily married men and fathers we are would be at all interested......... :Smile:

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## Pol the Pot

That street you're standing on, taking the pic of Buffallo is called Bui Vien Street, in Pham Ngu Lao Ward in District 1.

In your back there are quite a few newish bars with lots of hoes, turn right at the first junction and you'll find even more.

Parallel to Bui Vien is Pham Ngu Lao, right on the park. Stroll along there at night for the freelancers on scooters.

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## terry57

Interesting thread LT,

Cheers

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## Bangyai

Great pics . Wish I could go but I'm skint .

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## Cujo

> I ended up walking about 50 metres down the road and found a few "hole in the wall bars" that were open to the street and had a great cheap evening.
> 
> One place had this Mamasan who spoke perfect Thai, do you know the place I am talking about?


I sure know the stretch of street.
Some of the sweetest girls around down there.

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