First Time In Vietnam

[MANICHAEAN1]

Well actually, I'm not even there yet. Currently at base camp at Terminal 4 Heathrow on my second pint of Guinness (£4.95) waiting for the Vietnam Airlines overnight flight to Hanoi. Not sure what to expect. Pound sterling to dong goes into astronomical figures ( bit like Iran now, or Italy before the euro).

[Pragmatic]

Why Vietnam?

[diverken]

^
Because he gets alot of Dong for his pound

[Neverna]

Have a good (and safe) trip. Enjoy.

[MANICHAEAN1]

18 month contract working on a new refinery being built 200 clicks south of Hanoi. I'm told the women are really attractive.

[Davis Knowlton]

I'm told the women are really attractive.

The ones I recall were stunners...of course, they'd all be pushing 70 now.

[fishlocker]

Good luck to you on this project. Post some pics if you find the time. Both of the girls and or the Project. Start ups of this kind can be hectic. Would make a great picture thread. If one is in a position to take pics.

[beerlaodrinker]

18 month contract working on a new refinery being built 200 clicks south of Hanoi. I'm told the women are really attractive.

a They are very easy on the eye, foods good, beers good, you will love it.

[SiLeakHunt]

you might have trouble getting on the internet though, because "Charlie don't surf"


I'll get my coat

[BaitongBoy]

The ones I recall were stunners...of course, they'd all be pushing 70 now.

Phone numbers?...

[hallelujah]

18 month contract working on a new refinery being built 200 clicks south of Hanoi. I'm told the women are really attractive.

Very quiet outside of the big cities and tourist spots, so you might wanna find yourself a bird pretty sharpish.

You won't be far from Tam Coc if you're 200 clicks south of Hanoi:


This place is definitely worth visiting.

[ltnt]

Ought to be a pretty nice assignment. Just don't take it serious. Are the financials firm for the build?

[Necron99]

The Guinness tap line in terminal 4 is quite possibly the worst tap Guinness in the known world.

[billy the kid]

^ tanks for the warning.

nothing worse than piss guinness.
and at £4.95 a pop.

[thaimeme]

18 month contract working on a new refinery being built 200 clicks south of Hanoi. I'm told the women are really attractive.

a They are very easy on the eye, foods good, beers good, you will love it.

200 kms from Hanoi.
Still in the north....which can be quite a different experience from central and southern Vietnam. Dialect, cuisine, customs, etc.

I believe the north is the most preferred by intrepid old-hands.

Best of luck, Mani!!

[mingmong]

Why Guinness?

[fishlocker]

^No New Glarus of course.. In that instance a Beer Lao would do. Or about anything in a bottle.
Have one for us that are still locked into that daily grind.
That being said I for one would not relish another start up. If I could turn back time, hell yes! Money to be made if your worth your salt.

Keep us up to date if possible and like I said, good luck.

[Rumbo1915]

Beware of the Taxis, they just pluck numbers out of the air for fares, i think the ones you need to use are the Blue ones.

[MANICHAEAN1]

The flight by Vietnam Airlines was not bad. Something called premium economy with plenty of leg room and free booze. Most of the passengers were tourists as Vietnam seems to have really grasped the opportunities there. Hanoi Airport: clean, modern, no paperwork. Tried to change some travellers cheques but no one seems to accept them now. So changed £200. Mostly 500,000 dong notes worth £16. Smallest notes are 2,000 dong worth £0.06, so a good tip for the bar back in Heathrow.
Driver was there and a five hour journey down to the site near Thanh Hoa. Lots of really pretty, small, reserved and polite female staff. It will be interesting to see if they open up as thing progress.
In the evening to a new bar (springing up everywhere) called the Oasis with three South Africans, one Australian and a Geordie. Tiger beer, Ballentines whiskey and coke, bangers and chips. Bill must have come to twenty seven billion dong!!
Start work tomorrow.

[cdnski12]

I vaguely recall the 100,000 Dong note & 1 Million Dong Notes look very similar. The taxi drivers, street sellers, money changers, bar people were all trying to fool you a time or 2. So be careful. Take a side trip to Da LAt to cool off. Nice golf course there. Hue is also very interesting. No mention that the VC started the scrap there in 1967 and destroyed the town, the citadel and 25,000 local innocent people. Check out HCM's corpse in his mausoleum in Hanoi. His body is way too huge!

[panama hat]

The ones I recall were stunners...of course, they'd all be pushing 70 now.

Perhaps Manich prefers the more mature lady . . .

Just returned from a few days in Hanoi, working on a consultancy gig . . . chaos, bicycles, smog, people/people/people everywhere . . .

I'll post pics later.

Good luck with the project.

[greasystick]

Any updates?