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TreFitty posted:I recently bought plane tickets for my girlfriend and I to land in Hanoi, spend a few days, go through Laos, then Cambodia, then fly out of Ho Chi Minh. My girlfriend is Korean (don't know if that matters) and I'm wondering how people will treat her. I'm asking this question because I want to do everything in my power to make sure she isn't harmed in any way. 
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Jul 6, 2010 06:44
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Ringo R posted:edit: I guess it just recently hit home that I really need to protect her. Her parents will really, really not like me if she gets hurt. I'm completely okay with standing on my own two feet, but I was wondering if there are some things I haven't thought of that I should look in to before I leave and I don't have much time in the day to consider such things recently, unfortunately. I would have asked the same question if she were white, black, whatever, because you never know the racial prejudice of local areas. Also, her parents are insanely protective and it could have a huge impact on my life for various reasons if they got pissed. Thanks for the help. Made my mind a little bit more relaxed. TreFitty fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Jul 6, 2010 |
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Jul 6, 2010 07:19
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I wouldn't say Vietnam is any more dangerous than Korea. The Vietnamese (particularly the North Vietnamese) are rude, unhelpful and unfriendly, but they're not hostile.
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Jul 6, 2010 12:54
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spog posted:I think it is more likely that his white face is going to cause more interest (and potentially, though unlikely, conflict) than her asian one will. Some locals will assume an Asian girl with a Western guy is a prostitute. This is less likely if she's fair-skinned though. Also I don't know, maybe my body just exudes pheromones that make Vietnamese people be cool or something, because I had great experiences everywhere I went in northern Vietnam. People were inviting me to toke up from their big peace pipe things, sitting down to eat with me and trying to have a friendly conversation with charades/pointing, giving me free minor repairs on my Minsk, etc. I met some cadres from the Ministry of Labor and they invited me and come over to their room and chat/have some fruit later. Sure, Sapa sucked balls, but everywhere else was great.
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Jul 6, 2010 13:15
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Pompous Rhombus posted:People were inviting me to toke up from their big peace pipe things, sitting down to eat with me and trying to have a friendly conversation with charades/pointing, giving me free minor repairs on my Minsk, etc. Every time my Minsk breaks down (which is literally every day) it takes 1 to 2 hours to find someone who won't turn their nose up at it. Sometimes it's just a disgusted shake of the head, sometimes it's "Noooh" (their favourite word) and sometimes it's even "gently caress off." I realised the other night that I've been giving Vietnam a hard time, because I was talking to an Irish guy who lives in Saigon and he made me realise that it's only in the northern half that I've been having a bad experience. In the south they'e friendlier - not on the same level as Cambodia, but much better than the north, where literally every hotel and guesthouse I've stayed at has had staff that only barely manage to restrain themselves from spitting in my face. I'm really looking forward to leaving this country and moving on to... gently caress, China.
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Jul 6, 2010 14:21
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Some locals will assume an Asian girl with a Western guy is a prostitute. This is less likely if she's fair-skinned though. freebooter posted:I'm really looking forward to leaving this country and moving on to... gently caress, China. My Travels In Asia by freebooter
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Jul 6, 2010 17:57
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freebooter posted:Every time my Minsk breaks down (which is literally every day) it takes 1 to 2 hours to find someone who won't turn their nose up at it. Sometimes it's just a disgusted shake of the head, sometimes it's "Noooh" (their favourite word) and sometimes it's even "gently caress off." It's interesting... I've only been to south Vietnam, but all the locals I spoke to were super friendly. A couple of them (especially ones originally from further north) made it clear they weren't big fans of Americans, though, for fairly obvious reasons. But you're Aussie, right?
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Jul 6, 2010 22:11
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Yeah but Australia also fought in Vietnam. I do think the reason northerners are less friendly is to do with the war, I just can't fgure out how or why. Politically and socially, all of Vietnam has been North Vietnam for the last thirty-five years. You'd have to be in your mid forties to remember that war. And the north sees just as many tourists as the south. ReindeerF posted:Where Can I Hate Next? I loved Japan and I liked Cambodia.
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Jul 7, 2010 02:34
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freebooter posted:Yeah but Australia also fought in Vietnam. The stereotype among Vietnamese people I've heard is that southerners are more relaxed, chill, and prosperous (I think most of the FDI has been in the South), whereas people from the north are more dour, businesslike, and whatever. I never made it south of Hoi An so I can't comment on the former, but in the weird parallel universe Vietnam I visited people in the north were fine. Never got poo poo for being an American, even stuck an American flag sticker on my helmet after a week or two just to see what kind of reaction I'd get (might as well have been from Sweden).
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Jul 7, 2010 03:26
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Pompous Rhombus posted:The stereotype among Vietnamese people I've heard is that southerners are more relaxed, chill, and prosperous (I think most of the FDI has been in the South), whereas people from the north are more dour, businesslike, and whatever. I never made it south of Hoi An so I can't comment on the former, but in the weird parallel universe Vietnam I visited people in the north were fine. Have you ever had a bad time or met unpleasant people anywhere ever?
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Jul 7, 2010 04:37
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From my talks with people here in Korea, they (mostly Canadian, American, and British people) seem to give very mixed reviews of Vietnam. I have some friends that loved the North and had horrible experiences in the South. I have some friends that loved the South and had horrible experiences in the North. It really seems to me that it comes down to your particular experience and it's probably relatively similar all over the country. Basically, what I mean is it's luck from what I'm seeing. I'll see both parts within a couple of months for myself. Yay.
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Jul 7, 2010 04:53
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freebooter posted:Yeah but Australia also fought in Vietnam. No poo poo, I'm Australian as well, but like I said, everyone I spoke to in Vietnam was perfectly friendly. Maybe you just seem like an angry person to the locals sorry buddy brendanwor fucked around with this message at 05:26 on Jul 7, 2010 |
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Jul 7, 2010 05:24
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Sheep-Goats posted:Have you ever had a bad time or met unpleasant people anywhere ever? I got mugged in suburban Australia, in the middle of the day. E: to clarify, you can find lovely people anywhere and it's stupid to generalize like that. There are overzealous touts, scammers, and all sorts of bullshit you don't have to put up with at home in all of these countries, and I've not noticed a real difference in frequency among any of them. Personally, I feel like Vietnam gets an unjustifiably bad rap, and Thailand gets sugarcoated. Pompous Rhombus fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Jul 7, 2010 |
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Jul 7, 2010 13:10
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Planning on a trip for two later this month to either Phuket and a side-trip to Phi Phi or going to Bali. We are leaning towards Phuket it appears. Would appreciate not getting ripped off in cruel and unusual ways if at all possible, any good/cheap hotel recommendations for Phi Phi? Or are we being massively retarded and Bali would be a better choice?
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Jul 7, 2010 17:56
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:Planning on a trip for two later this month to either Phuket and a side-trip to Phi Phi or going to Bali. No to both, try Krabi, Lanta, Tao etc. Phuket and Bali are both drunken Australian and fat European central.
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Jul 7, 2010 21:53
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:Planning on a trip for two later this month to either Phuket and a side-trip to Phi Phi or going to Bali. 1) Getting ripped off in Phuket will still probably be cheaper than a normal stay in Bali. 2) Don't stay in Phuket. Fly in there but then get transportation to Lanta or Krabi and spend most of your time there. I'm assuming your "trip for two" is you and a girlfriend, and Phuket may be a little off-putting for your female company.
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Jul 7, 2010 23:43
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Sheep-Goats posted:1) Getting ripped off in Phuket will still probably be cheaper than a normal stay in Bali. Of all the beaches and islands I liked tonsai the most (next to the railay beaches). The fact that you have to jungle hike or climb over some rocks at low-tide to get there makes it a bit less 'touristy'. Although the people that do make it there are not always my type of crowd. it's the only place in thailand where you'll see more pictures of bob marley than pictures of the king if you know what I'm saying:). Lanta was ok too, but a bit boring, and basically it's part of sweden.
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Jul 8, 2010 00:56
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Some locals will assume an Asian girl with a Western guy is a prostitute. This is less likely if she's fair-skinned though. Just to chime in on this, it's more than "assume." My friend is Vietnamese, born in the US, and she went on a trip to several parts of Asia with a white guy friend. She had poo poo thrown at her on the street, people started fights with her in bars (like in Apocalypse Now), she got bad service in a lot of places, just really got treated really poorly every time this dude was walking around with her. Normal people who thought she was a prostitute would yell things and throw things, and prostitutes thought she was trying to snake in on their turf. It was pretty messed up.
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Jul 8, 2010 03:45
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Arcaeris posted:Just to chime in on this, it's more than "assume." My friend is Vietnamese, born in the US, and she went on a trip to several parts of Asia with a white guy friend.
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Jul 8, 2010 05:18
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Pompous Rhombus posted:I got mugged in suburban Australia, in the middle of the day. I am generalising, yeah. I've met plenty of North Vietnamese who were really friendly and nice and helpful. It just feels like they're the minority. And I also really dislike Thailand - it's just a monstrous tourist-processing machine, at least everywhere I went.
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Jul 8, 2010 12:00
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Sheep-Goats posted:1) Getting ripped off in Phuket will still probably be cheaper than a normal stay in Bali. We basically have a week to kill and are trying to get this as cheap as possible and as little hassle as possible as well. spend like a day in phuket when we get there and then move on to lanta or krabi? are there any ferry passes to cut costs, and what do decent hotels with internet run on lanta or krabi?
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Jul 8, 2010 17:59
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:We basically have a week to kill and are trying to get this as cheap as possible and as little hassle as possible as well. The ferry won't cost much anyway, just buy a ticket at the pier. You may get offered a ticket away from the pier but that almost always comes with a catch (like buying a round trip when you don't need it or when the return won't be able to be used in your timeframe or when it's only with one specific company instead of whatever boat is next to the dock) and I always preferred to get my ticket right at the dock (sometimes you buy it on the boat even). I'd recommend you stay in a nice bungalow with AC on the beach and visit an internet cafe now and then for your internet needs. Unless you need internet for work while you're doing your vacation thing. If that's the case a western style hotel with internet is probably going to be between 1000 and 3000B a night without going crazy, or 25 to 75 bucks a night. If you go the former route that I suggested you'll have a nicer place to stay and it'll probably be more like 300 to 500B a night.
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Jul 8, 2010 18:28
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Sheep-Goats posted:The ferry won't cost much anyway, just buy a ticket at the pier. You may get offered a ticket away from the pier but that almost always comes with a catch (like buying a round trip when you don't need it or when the return won't be able to be used in your timeframe or when it's only with one specific company instead of whatever boat is next to the dock) and I always preferred to get my ticket right at the dock (sometimes you buy it on the boat even). yep, looking like bungalow on the beach with wifi around 1000B a night is what i need. sucks, but vacation is never really 100% vacation... more like 90% vacation and 10% work (if im lucky)
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Jul 8, 2010 19:05
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:yep, looking like bungalow on the beach with wifi around 1000B a night is what i need. When I lived in Thailand most bungalow operations didn't have wifi set up but that's probably changed now, especially in Krabi. You should probably do a little Googling to find a place that fits the bill and then print out a map of its location (which beach it's on, how far up/down the beach it is).
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Jul 8, 2010 21:52
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all the places I stayed at in thailand eighter had free wifi at their reception/restaurant and most of the time in the room too. i paid from 400 to 850, never more I think. Wifi is moving up fast when it comes to hotels etc. 2 years ago in japan none of my guesthouses had it. Now I hear most of them do. Owners realise that we need internet like addicts need the needle.
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Jul 8, 2010 23:12
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What's the voltage on Thai outlets? My girlfriend told me that they're the same shape as in the US but tells me they're higher voltage. Was debating about bringing my electric razor but I don't think it has a voltage converter. Also she's trying to talk me out of bringing my laptop.
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Jul 9, 2010 01:02
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Sheep-Goats posted:When I lived in Thailand most bungalow operations didn't have wifi set up but that's probably changed now, especially in Krabi. You should probably do a little Googling to find a place that fits the bill and then print out a map of its location (which beach it's on, how far up/down the beach it is). edit: ignore that last thing. for the same money (p much exactly), we can either do: a direct flight to phuket and stay at the club med for 4 nights. or flight with a transfer in bangkok and do a day or two in phuket a day on phiphi and a while on lanta and stay a total of 9 nights. not like loving extravagant hotels or resorts or whatever, and more hassle... but prolly worth it. looking at a budget of about $650 each for the tickets+transport+hotel Pro-PRC Laowai fucked around with this message at 03:23 on Jul 9, 2010 |
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Jul 9, 2010 01:33
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C-Euro posted:What's the voltage on Thai outlets? My girlfriend told me that they're the same shape as in the US but tells me they're higher voltage. Was debating about bringing my electric razor but I don't think it has a voltage converter. Also she's trying to talk me out of bringing my laptop. 220v 50hz. laptop should work just fine.
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Jul 9, 2010 01:37
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:220v 50hz. laptop should work just fine. She doesn't want me to bring it because I'll spend all my time on it  Also the internet at her house isn't wireless. I'm still debating but I only really need it to upload pictures. I can't possibly take 200 pictures in a month, right? Maybe I should just buy another memory card.
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Jul 9, 2010 03:37
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C-Euro posted:She doesn't want me to bring it because I'll spend all my time on it There are cybercafes that can handle that (they'll burn images from a memory card to CD/DVD for you), but yeah you should probably buy a bigger memory card too.
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Jul 9, 2010 03:46
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C-Euro posted:She doesn't want me to bring it because I'll spend all my time on it bring a small wireless router 
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Jul 9, 2010 04:25
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:bring a small wireless router ^____^
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Jul 9, 2010 06:58
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ReindeerF posted:Bring plenty of sunscreen, pasty North Asian expat! We actually have sun here. Also, when you go to a buffet, tell your girlfriend she doesn't have to stack three feet of food on top - it's Thailand, we have plenty more! she's well traveled and used to being spoiled far more than i can afford, so i really dont worry too much about that ^_^ was tryin to get in touch with you actually, hit me up on aim d3v2600 Pro-PRC Laowai fucked around with this message at 15:45 on Jul 9, 2010 |
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Jul 9, 2010 14:33
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I arrive in Bangkok in less than a week. Can anyone reccomend a computer repair shop with decent odds of repairing my laptop screen? I would also like specific reccomendations of upscale bars and nightclubs. The kind with few foreigners, no ladyboys, and no prostitutes. Thanks.
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Jul 9, 2010 17:20
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DustingDuvet posted:I arrive in Bangkok in less than a week. Can anyone reccomend a computer repair shop with decent odds of repairing my laptop screen? Pantip Plaza (an IT mall) has a ton of shops there. Just shop around until you get the best price.
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Jul 9, 2010 20:18
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DustingDuvet posted:I would also like specific reccomendations of upscale bars and nightclubs. The kind with few foreigners, no ladyboys, and no prostitutes. Thanks. Bed Supperclub Demo Club Culture QBar Glow Narcissus Slim/Flix My recommendations anyway. Real Bangkok partying, none of that Irish pub Khao San backpacker crap. In fact I'm wondering which to go to next weekend.
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Jul 9, 2010 21:24
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Thank you both for your reccomendations!
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Jul 10, 2010 02:35
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Pantip Plaza note: You'll have to bargain and put up with some annoying hawkers and hassle but that's the place to go to get things done. Bangkok Nightlife Note: Part of being an upscale club in Bangkok is attracting foreigners. With that said, none of the bars in Brendan's list should be hooker infested (though there will be a few here and there) and they're all cool places.
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Jul 10, 2010 05:17
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TreFitty posted:Wow, that's rough. At least my girl doesn't look anywhere close to Vietnamese. I hope that doesn't happen with us. I went to Vietnam a few months ago with my little Vietnamese girlfriend. She was born and raised in Australia but can speak the language because of her parents. Despite being there for a month traveling south through to the north we never really encountered any hostility towards us as a couple. She did get hit on a lot though which was pretty funny, and a lot of people would come up to her and ask her where she was from, often in a bunch of different languages. Maybe because she is quite fair skinned. . . . Also, we found in general folks were more friendly in the north rather than the south. Everyone in the south seemed hell bent on making money but in hanoi it was a little more relaxed
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Jul 13, 2010 02:03
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Thanks, william. Any suggestions on where to get a Vietnam VISA online? I'd rather have suggestions than go with any random outfit I find in Google. I feel like that's a bit of a risk. Or can I just call the Vietnam embassy in Korea? Which is easier?
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Jul 13, 2010 02:40
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