[Afarang]

Hey guys,

I recently went to Hoi Chi Minh for 5 days and I thought I would share some information on this place. I don’t have enough information to write a datasheet but saw a few things to give people an idea of this city.

Visa
Visa is pretty simple, just Google “Online Visa Vietnam” and you can get it set up before you arrive. It costs $17 for them to process it and within 2 days you get a letter which you need to print off. Be sure to print this letter, as I boarded my flight from AirAsia they asked to see my Visa before they let me on the plane.

On landing you need to go to the ‘Landing Visa’ and hand them another $45 USD (they only accept $) along with two passport photo’s and your online visa form. About 20 minutes later you get your visa. I got a 30 day visa.

Taxi from the airport
As soon as you leave the airport you will be harassed by several taxi drivers who are going to scam you. Only use Vinasun or MaiLinh taxis as they are the most trusted. Beware that some taxi drivers have fake Vinasun taxis that are labelled as Vinasune but use a near identical logo and colour.

The safest thing to do is go upstairs to departures and get a taxi there. You don’t get harassed, don’t need to wait in a queue and the process is much simpler. A taxi to the center should be around 170k + 10k for airport toll.

District 1
I stayed in District 1 at the BizU Hotel. The going rate is $22 a night but I managed to get it for $15 as I would review them on my site. The room was clean and it had a safe, I think the cleaners stole $5 from my bag though as I couldn’t find it, after that I put everything in the safe.

My room, small but had aircon, bathroom, window and a comfy bed.



My hotel was on De Tham street which is where a lot of the backpacker bars at, it’s not the best place to stay because the clubs blast their music until 4-5am some nights and you cant get to sleep.

De Tham Street



I would advise staying in D1 while you’re here though, you can walk to most places, there’s plenty of bars and clubs about too. There's a few street food options that cost around 30-50k and plenty of restaurants that cater just to westerners, food is usually at least double what you expect to pay on the street.

Baguette for 20k



Curry and rice for 37k with ice tea, very nice.



In the backpacker area people are trying to grab you into their bars, they offer cheap drinks (usually $1) and moto drivers are offering you weed every 5 seconds. I didn’t take any but from what I’ve read police are pretty relaxed about westerners taking it. But still I rather not as it feel like a setup in that area.

Dating apps and site
As for apps I just used Tinder. I was too lazy to use any others nore did I need to. Spend a few minutes in the morning swiping right, and look at your phone 30 minutes later and you have several matches. Pretty easy to meet girls off it, although some do flake and just don’t reply. Standard in Asia.

I also used Vietnam Cupid to pipeline pre visit and it’s prob the best site to use. I couldn’t find any other sites other than Date in Asia which was ite. I didn’t meet any girls from VC but that was because I got sick for 2 days and just laid in bed.

Clubs
Gossip Club – Located in the Dai Nam Hotel and markets it self as “up market”. I was quite drunk at the time but the girls in there were pretty hot. The mix of people were locals, expats and a few backpackers who looked like they had gotten lost. Music was techno I think. Literally next-door is a happy massage place that is open 24/7 and from viewing the girls were very hot. I was not there long enough but I would assume some of the girls go to Gossip afterwards, I would gather it would not be hard to take them home for free.



Apocalypse Now – A bit seedy and has a lot of backpacker types which also means a high % of hookers. The place has two floors and an outdoor area. There's a % of normal Vietnamese girls too but you kind of need the "hooker radar" to spot the normal girls from the hookers.

My overall impression of Vietnamese girls were they are pretty laid back, easy and overall better looking than Thai girls (although thats just personal opinion).

Shoring
I have a friend who lives in HCM and this is what he told so I figure I would pass it one.

“About 90% of the hookers in the club will rob you if you go home, it’s not like Thailand where you think they like you and will sleep with you. Most have pimps and their aim is to take as much money from you as possible. You may even get drugged.”

So make of that what you will, but he said NEVER to shore a freelancer, because as soon as you get her into your room and you’re either asleep or in the shower, they will run out with as much as they can. He said this only applied to freelancers and not shoring massage girls etc.

Other things of note
Most taxi drivers spoke good English, although a lot of Viet girls did not. Foreigner food is actually quite good in HCM if you do a quick Google of some places before hand you will get some great value. I went to the Indian Tandoor restaurant and some Sushi place which was had top food and low prices. At least 20% cheaper than Bangkok.

Overall It's a cool place to visit for 5-6 days but the infrastructure sucks and the city is too small for me to want to live there. I think overall Bangkok beats it on pretty much everything but price.

I managed to catch a bug on my 3rd day and I was in bed for 48 hours so I could not report too much more. But feel free to ask questions and I will do my best to answer what I can. I posted a link to my HCM blog site, I will be writing small reviews on restaurants, and sights later when I feel better so feel free to keep an eye out for them.

Other pics

Sushi plate for $5, was kind of meh but not bad for the price



Go bar - good place to drink beers and watch the traffic



Random street



Pho



Old man cooking noodles



Feel free to ask any questions, sorry for the spelling I have still not recovered fully from the bug.

[Cyclone]

Awesome work Arafang, great to see more people dipping into VN. I'm about to go to Saigon myself this Friday for the weekend and will check out some of those pointers. Hope my lil "bullet list" helped you out , feel free to update me with what you agree / disagree with.

One thing I'd dispute with is size.. SGN is absolutely huge.. honestly I've spent a total of 3 weeks there and have yet to see the end of this city. Hope ya get better soon man.
.

[rishboy77]

Very informative report.
Were you eating only cooked foods when you came down with a bug ?

[Kdog]

Wish I would of done more research on the visa to go there. Admitted I was a bit half assed but as far as I knew it was over $100 and took weeks. Oh well next time, those baguettes look awesome.

[berserk]

Thanks for the report. HCM seems like it's worth considering again, particularly if you're a digital nomad type.

[Corroncho]

Nice report, great photos too. I spent some time in HCMC recently as well, so I'll give a little more data here. OP is right about the backpacker district being noisy, but it's a great place to be close to because of all the cheap food and stores. If you can find a hotel off of Bui Vien/Pham Ngu Lao/De Tham, it will be much quieter. I ended up with an apartment on Nguyen Trai, which was a 5 minute walk from there but very quiet. The Galaxy Cinema is on Nguyen Trai and on Tuesdays the movies are $2.50; it's tough to beat a $5 date. Be careful with your phone or bags in the BP district, as there are snatch-and-grab duos riding around on motorbikes.

I had the same experience as OP online- Vietnam Cupid was pretty good, nothing else was really working for me. There is some talent on WeChat, but be prepared to get a shitload of hellos and dickpics from ladyboys.

I thought the best gym was GetFit in District 4, it cost me $58/month. There were two super-hot girls who worked out there sometimes, but neither spoke English (or at least pretended not to when I talked to them.) A scooter will cost you $5 a day on the street but through my landlord I was able to get a Yamaha 125 for $50/month.

The cheapest place to get your Happy Hour drink on is a restaurant/bar in the BP district called Five Oysters. From 5 pm to 7 pm you can get three big-ass 450ml Saigon Green beers for 24,000vnd or roughly $1.15usd total (I say three because during happy hour it's buy 2 get 1 free.) It has a rooftop bar as well. The best food deals are in the alleys, Saigon street food can actually be pretty healthy because they don't use much oil or fry much, so you can find soups like bun rieu and bun ca for under a buck. I know this isn't a foodie forum, so if anyone wants a rundown of good, cheap places to eat in District 1 just pm me.

I could never tap into the highest-end talent in Saigon; those girls are super fucking hot but aside from the gym I never saw an 8+ alone or online. But there are plenty of 6s and 7s to go around, and the attainable girls are still hotter than say the Filipinas, imho. The biggest problem with the Saigon girls in my estimation was their lack of muscle tone. They all ride scooters instead of walking, very few go to the gym, so while many are petite and pretty, you're still often left with rather flimsy, skinnyfat little bodies (disclaimer: I spent the last four years in Colombia, so I am picky as fuck right now.)

Saigon is still the cheapest big city I've ever been to, including Phnom Penh. You can actually live quite well there on $1500 once you know the lay of the land, one month I only spent $1100. The food is great, the beer is good (at least if you like light beers), and I didn't find the pollution or trash to be an issue. I didn't love it as a gaming destination but it's very livable, safe, and well-organized for a third-world country, and Saigon has none of the anti-Western sentiment that you get sometimes in northern Vietnam.

[Afarang]

(10-15-2014 10:03 AM)Afarang Wrote:  

Dating apps and site
As for apps I just used Tinder. I was too lazy to use any others nore did I need to. Spend a few minutes in the morning swiping right, and look at your phone 30 minutes later and you have several matches. Pretty easy to meet girls off it, although some do flake and just don’t reply. Standard in Asia.

I also used Vietnam Cupid to pipeline pre visit and it’s prob the best site to use. I couldn’t find any other sites other than Date in Asia which was ite. I didn’t meet any girls from VC but that was because I got sick for 2 days and just laid in bed.

Clubs
Gossip Club – Located in the Dai Nam Hotel and markets it self as “up market”. I was quite drunk at the time but the girls in there were pretty hot. The mix of people were locals, expats and a few backpackers who looked like they had gotten lost. Music was techno I think. Literally next-door is a happy massage place that is open 24/7 and from viewing the girls were very hot. I was not there long enough but I would assume some of the girls go to Gossip afterwards, I would gather it would not be hard to take them home for free.



Apocalypse Now – A bit seedy and has a lot of backpacker types which also means a high % of hookers. The place has two floors and an outdoor area. There's a % of normal Vietnamese girls too but you kind of need the "hooker radar" to spot the normal girls from the hookers.

My overall impression of Vietnamese girls were they are pretty laid back, easy and overall better looking than Thai girls (although thats just personal opinion).

links fixed.

(10-15-2014 12:22 PM)rishboy77 Wrote:  

Very informative report.
Were you eating only cooked foods when you came down with a bug ?

I ate a mix of cooked foods and cold. Cold was sushi and the baguettes. I didn't get diarrhea but I had a huge migraine and I could not stop coughing for about 2 days.

(10-15-2014 01:11 PM)Kdog Wrote:  

Wish I would of done more research on the visa to go there. Admitted I was a bit half assed but as far as I knew it was over $100 and took weeks. Oh well next time, those baguettes look awesome.

I think it depends what visa you go for and where you are from. Online Visa just took two samples, was quite simple.

(10-16-2014 04:16 AM)berserk Wrote:  

Thanks for the report. HCM seems like it's worth considering again, particularly if you're a digital nomad type.

Yeah there's plenty of coffee shops about, didn't bother looking at co-working spaces but would be sure there's a few about.

(10-15-2014 11:38 AM)Cyclone Wrote:  

Awesome work Arafang, great to see more people dipping into VN. I'm about to go to Saigon myself this Friday for the weekend and will check out some of those pointers. Hope my lil "bullet list" helped you out , feel free to update me with what you agree / disagree with.

One thing I'd dispute with is size.. SGN is absolutely huge.. honestly I've spent a total of 3 weeks there and have yet to see the end of this city. Hope ya get better soon man.
.

Yeah it was good mate, defo helped a lot. I was mostly in D1, and that felt quite smaller, the city had a compact feel too. But as I did no venture out too far out D1 so maybe you're right.

[Patriarch]

Saigon is a massive city. Districts 1, Binh Thanh, Phu Nhuan, 3, 5, and 10 form the "core" of tall buildings and that you'd consider the city center, but the outer districts and suburbs even further out are sprawling. Take a motorbike through the outer districts like Thu Duc, Go Vap or D7 and you'll feel like it's another world.

I live in Binh Thanh right now, a very short drive away from D1. I am on a minimalist budget, but I spend roughly $600 per month, including my studio apartment (balcony, hot water, AC), eating a ton of extra meat with every meal, coffee or beer every day, monthly gym membership, etc.

It sucks you got sick. You would have enjoyed the city a lot more if you got out of the shitty Pham Ngu Lao/Bui Vien/De Tham area. I lived on Co Bac street two blocks south of Bui Vien for 6 weeks, and even there was infinitely better than that filthy, scammy shit hole. I highly recommend Nam Chau Guesthouse for those willing to make the 10 minute walk to the backpacker area. I had the place to myself for almost the entire time I stayed. You can get a pretty big room with a balcony for $240 per month or a small room with no balcony for $200. Rooms are extremely clean, it's run by a sweet family, and it's close to a lot of cheap food. I think nightly rates were about $9 for the small rooms when I left. Miles above Saigon Youth Hostel, where I stayed for the first week.

You shouldn't pay more than 10000 to 15000 for a can of beer (333 is the cheapest, Tiger beer is pretty good, Bia Saigon is ok). Just ask for a "ba ba ba" for the 333.

One thing I didn't see you mention that I encourage everyone to seek out, are the vast number of refreshing beverages available around the city -- not coffee, beer, or green tea.

sâm lạnh -I'm told it's made with Irish Moss, but I don't know exactly. Tastes very grass-y and refreshing.
nước mía - pressed sugarcane juice. Sweet as hell, but delicious.
mía lau - the descriptions sort of get lost in translation, but this is either another kind of sugarcane juice or it's made from a tree related to sugarcane. It's brown, not as sweet, and tastes completely different from nuoc mia.
I can't remember the name off the top of my head, but it's made with tree sap. A lot better than it sounds.
nha đam - aloe vera juice. My favorite.
thốt nốt - Vietnamese call it Cambodian coconut. I couldn't find out if it was from the actual fruit or the sap. It's really good, but I could only find these near the Cambodian border (surprise)
dừa - you see these everywhere - coconuts.

I might try to make a big post about Vietnamese food and drinks if anyone is interested. My biggest expense every month is food.

[Cyclone]

(10-16-2014 06:04 AM)Corroncho Wrote:  

A scooter will cost you $5 a day on the street but through my landlord I was able to get a Yamaha 125 for $50/month.

That is insane.
That means if you are in Saigon for a year, you only blow $600 for a sweet motorbike.

On another note, does anyone know of any awesome massage spots that are the $6/hour type? Literally massages are one of the top reasons to visit Saigon. I dont have too much of a problem blowing $35 on a legit and satisfying session, but surely there are other options that are more low-key but still amazing. Or does it entirely depend on the masseuse?
.

[Patriarch]

Delete

[Patriarch]

(10-18-2014 06:31 AM)Sweet Pea Wrote:  

(10-18-2014 01:26 AM)Cyclone Wrote:  

(10-16-2014 06:04 AM)Corroncho Wrote:  

A scooter will cost you $5 a day on the street but through my landlord I was able to get a Yamaha 125 for $50/month.

That is insane.
That means if you are in Saigon for a year, you only blow $600 for a sweet motorbike.

On another note, does anyone know of any awesome massage spots that are the $6/hour type? Literally massages are one of the top reasons to visit Saigon. I dont have too much of a problem blowing $35 on a legit and satisfying session, but surely there are other options that are more low-key but still amazing. Or does it entirely depend on the masseuse?
.

Yeah, never go to the first place advertising scooters. I know a guy who does monthly rentals for $50 too if anyone is interested. $5 is insane, and for people who come to Saigon to drink at Crazy Buffalo for 7 nights and then leave. Also keep in mind you can buy a bike for a similar number, just in case you want to stay for a while or you plan on riding around Vietnam. Personally I have no desire to drive here. I see people get in accidents almost every day, and you're fucked as a foreigner if you hurt someone. It WOULD be awesome to ride around the countryside, but this city is a massive clusterfuck.

You can definitely get a LEGIT massage where they won't try to grab your dick for $5, because there is a place a block away from my apartment that my girl told me about for $4.50. Places in D1 will likely cater more to busted old expats. You can easily spot the sex massages -- there is less lighting and they just look seedy. In fact, I'll try to make time for one this week and get back to you.

I can't recommend this enough, but if you are going to stay in Saigon for any amount of time, DO NOT stay near Pham Ngu Lao/Bui Vien/De Tham unless you like all of the worst parts of every tourist trap you've ever visited. It was fun for a couple days, but I got tired of it by day 3, and keep in mind this is the first time I've lived outside of the US so it was still "new and exciting." If you like Vietnamese bar girls with Halloween-level makeup, or gargantuan, sweaty western girls, ignore me. If you're really on a tight budget, I suggest staying near a university. Eating food at places catered to students means you can eat to your heart's content. Hu tieu near my house is about 75 cents. It will probably run you $1.50 in the backpacker area.

I've heard a few times since I got here:
"Work in District 1, eat in District 5, sleep in District Binh Thanh." I'm inclined to agree, except I work in my house and I eat everywhere, since you can't walk 10 steps without getting hunger pangs. Oh and seeing that picture of your sushi reminded me, there's a great sushi restaurant in District 4 (I see Japanese guys here a lot, so it must be decent) at 122 Vinh Khanh. It's as good as any sushi place in my hometown, and I think they deliver to District 4 and 1. I ordered 5 rolls last time I went and it cost me $12. Even specialty rolls that would cost $12-15 in America are usually $4-5 at the most (Rainbow Roll is $4 I think). The only thing that was really expensive was the unagi, which cost $10 for some reason. They also have loyalty cards -- 10% off your 3rd visit and 20% off your 6th.

[Cyclone]

(10-18-2014 06:47 AM)Sweet Pea Wrote:  

Personally I have no desire to drive here. I see people get in accidents almost every day, and you're fucked as a foreigner if you hurt someone. It WOULD be awesome to ride around the countryside, but this city is a massive clusterfuck.
You can easily spot the sex massages -- there is less lighting and they just look seedy. In fact, I'll try to make time for one this week and get back to you.

I can't recommend this enough, but if you are going to stay in Saigon for any amount of time, DO NOT stay near Pham Ngu Lao/Bui Vien/De Tham unless you like all of the worst parts of every tourist trap you've ever visited.
I've heard a few times since I got here:
"Work in District 1, eat in District 5, sleep in District Binh Thanh."

I don't mean to give the wrong impression - i've lived in VN (mostly Hanoi) for about a year now so pretty comfortable on a motorbike haha. In fact I got a similar deal with a great Honda Wave (bought for 12 million, sold for 6 million, so $300 for 9 months) but that's still very cool of your landlord.

I had no idea you're in Saigon now - damn would've hit you up this weekend. I fly back to SP tonight. Went to Lush last night and it was the best club yet, yet still deafening. Bring ear plugs people. and your dancefloor game. Regarding the spa massage hunting - i actually did find an amazing masseuse off BV a couple months ago - "$6/hour" but it was literally just as good as the legit places, she truly put effort and passion into it, seriously amazing and sensual - but at the end she tried charging an exuberant price for blowjob (or handjob?). I said no but still gave $10 and it was all good and she even tried adding me on FB. But, i'm pretty sure if i went back there this weekend she'd give me half-assed treatment this time..

On that note, how you can expect to spend most of your day in SGN i.e. right now:
   

[FretDancer]

I can vouch for Lush, the place was legit. Good ratio but super packed, basically people couldn't fit on the dance floor, which is very small.

When I went there it started becoming a sausage fest like around 2am though if I remember correctly.

[nomadicdude]

Nice report. For the visa on arrival there's actually a somewhat cheaper service (cheapvietnamvisa.net) that only charges $8. I have used them twice now and they are fast and legit.

Lush is good but as others have said it gets jam packed by midnight, especially during Ladies Night on Tuesday. You can barely even walk let alone order drinks. Prices are basically western too, I blew $70 bucks there on a Tuesday once- I probably should have just gotten a bottle. Not sure how much it is but you get a table with it and can probably ask the waiter to bring over girls. Lots of the chicks ask for money too, but there are some pretty hot girls. I feel like it was better years ago though.

Like others have said Saigon is actually a huge city. I usually just stay in District 1 so never appreciate how huge it is but the other night I ended out in one of the further District's and it literally takes an hour to get there. It's still Saigon.

Saigon is one of my favorite cities in the world and I think Vietnamese chicks are in the top tier in Asia. The food is amazing, not just local food, but I've also had good Indian, Japanese and Korean food here. That said, I wish the nightlife was different. There are plenty of places to go out, and you can drink cheap beer at pretty cool sidewalk bars, but there's a huge divide between foreigner places that expats/tourists can hang out in and local only places. It is not like say Bangkok where it's easier to find the local places and blend in. Most of the bars in District 1 in the backpacker area are absolute shit, most of the local girls in those bars are whores, and you won't even find that many backpacker chicks in the clubs/bars compared to KSR in Bangkok. Then when you go to a more local place you'll be charged western prices or even more to basically stand in a crowded as fuck place with little to no dance floor (ala Chinese style) and few girls will speak English. So that's the deal with Saigon. I also wish it was easier to get around but they are building a subway that I believe will open in 2015. Taxis are really cheap and clean/modern so it's okay.

Also, while the backpacker district is touristy, I don't really agree with others who are dissing it. Compared to the backpacker areas in many places of Thailand, Saigon's is really not that bad. First, atleast outside of super high season, it is not packed with foreigners. There are tons of Vietnamese that hang out there. I was around in the rainy season and most of the outdoor bars were full of locals. Also, you can easily stay a 10-15 min walk from the backpacker district and just walk there. There are plenty of hotels in the vicinity. I agree it is probably not a good idea to stay right on the street as it's noisy as hell. I got a pretty nice 1 bd apartment for $31 a night about 10 minutes from the backpacker street.

Also, keep in mind that the vast majority of Vietnamese hotels will not let a Vietnamese female stay in your room because of local laws. As far as I can tell, this rule is taken pretty seriously. I believe someone on this forum once posted a list of girl friendly hotels, but if you just roll up to a District 1 hotel and expect them to let you bring in girls, you probably are going to have an awkward experience at 2 am one night.

[Patriarch]

I'm only dissing the backpacker area because you are guaranteed to pay more for less quality with just about everything. Like you said, stay a few streets away and walk. Speaking of walking, I love strolling through Saigon's meandering alleys. Sometimes the buildings are so close and cramped above you that you'll wonder if you're walking into a dead-end or not. Check Google Maps for places near your hotel, but it won't list most of them. It's seriously cool thinking you know your way around and then finding an alley that cuts the walk in half.

[Patriarch]

Haha I didn't mean to say 'make time for a sex massage.' just a regular one.

[Kangaroo]

Just got back from my 11 day trip to HCM. Nice place but the nightlife is tame. Online game is your best bet.

I got 5 new notches, 4 from online, 1 from Lush. Went out 10 nights.

Online:
Vietnamecupid – Mainly good girls.
Tinder – Some sluts in the mix, 50% white chicks, i was selective when swiping right, got 40 matches over the 2 weeks.
Dia – Good girls but not many girls on there.

Accommodation:
Stayed in District 1, anywhere in District 1 is fine as most girls have scooters and can meet close to your place. My hotel was one of the ‘guest friendly’ hotels but i paid $10 on three separate occasions, the guy at reception had in for me as when someone else was on shift they just made the girl give her ID.

Gym:
I snuck into the Sheraton a few times, good gym but only goes up to 22kg dumbbells. There are a lot of 5 star hotels in District 1 that you could probably sneak into or buy membership for.

Food:
Very healthy and small portion sizes.
Check out Nha Hang Ngon, order grilled chicken to get your protein.

Night life:
Lush – only place i liked, Thursday is ok after midnight, fri/sat are hit or miss, Tuesday its good and packed, there is actual competition on Tuesdays.
Fuse – upscale table service sort of place, i lasted 1 hour as i was solo and it was a sausage fest.
Observatory – cool place but not my style of music, many white girls.
Kingdom Beer Club – went here with a date, was busy on a weekday, i was only white guy there, i think the place has potential.
GO2 – full of working girls, but i only went on a weekday, weekend would probably be better.
Apocalypse Now – don’t bother on a weekday as its 90%+ working girls, on a weekend try upstairs.
Chill Skybar – nice place, expensive, not good to go solo.
Pandora – nice rooftop bar, similar to Chill.
Seventeen Saloon – live band place, good for a date but it’s very loud, bartender girls are mad hot. One floor is rock music and the other is pop music.

Girls:
Conservative, most need 2 or 3 dates which i couldn’t be bothered with. In clubs they are very receptive and nice but only dance and kiss, i ended up with a few numbers which i ran out of time to set dates for. If you lived here you could do well from getting numbers. The girls are very hot overall, white skin, long black hair and not many fatties.

[coffeessss]

thanks for your share, I'd travel to the country 6yr ago

[WanderingSoul]

Just checked out a bunch of party photos from Lush. The quality of girls looks like a huge step down from RCA or Thonglor in Bangkok.

Is Lush the best place to meet quality girls open to foreigners?

[peloozoid]

yes, Lush is the only place to meet vietnamese girls open to foreigners!
at least the only place where you can approach many
there is also apocalypse but there are too many hookers
there are also hookers in Lush..but much less than Apocalypse

[JJ Roberts]

Was only in HCM once and that was 20 years ago.

From reading this report it seems that it basically hasn't changed much lol. I remember Apocalypse Now.

Pretty much every single bar in the city has working girls in it. Talked the owner of the one and only bar with no working girls in it and he says he has to bribe the police to keep the working girls out of the place.

Lemon grass restaurant is really good for Vietnamese food. Had the lemon grass chicken there which was great. They even had a string quartet playing live classical music. It's still open now.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_..._City.html

[Kdog]

Headed to Vietnam February first. I think I will do 2 nights in HCM then head to Nha Trang for 3-4 nights and fly back for another 3. Whats a good amount of nights to stay in HCM?

[Afarang]

I think 3-5 is good, really depends on how you get on with the city. If you get on apps and dating sites, then 5 days sounds about right imo.

[Chengiz88]

@Kangaroo Am slightly confused by your claims - 5 notches in 11 nights - yet you describe the girls as conservative needing 2/3 dates and you only got telephone numbers which you didn't follow up?

[Kangaroo]

The 5 girls:
1 from Lush who has lived in Australia for 4 years
2 sluts from tinder
1 girl from online who i went on 2 dates with
1 girl from online who slept with me on the first date

I went on many dates that went no where.