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So we're in Nha Trang, headed north to Hoi An next (booked a six bedroom Villa for ourselves with a pool for $26/night)... Girlfriend forgot her MacBook laptop charger, did the math, a laptop charger costs 1/10 of the salary of a scooter security guy for a year, one of the shop owners laughed when we asked if he sold them. Managed to find an old 4 pin adapter but none of the new 5 pin adapters. Anyways, we exhausted all of the local knowledge and all the apple retailers on Apple's site. Anyone know if there's a good Apple store in Hanoi? Things are going to get pretty slim pickings as we head in to Laos and Cambodia. Also what's the going rate for scooter rentals in Vietnam? Is $5 about the going rate? That's what we paid is mui ne. Any suggestions for private hai long bay charters? We found a deal for two nights one cabin junk for $215
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Oct 6, 2017 11:47
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Hadlock posted:So we're in Nha Trang, headed north to Hoi An next (booked a six bedroom Villa for ourselves with a pool for $26/night)... Is that just for one of the rooms? SE Asia is cheap, but it ain't that cheap and a price like that would immediately make me suspicious
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Oct 6, 2017 12:42
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We got this place in Saigon for $25 a night through Air BnB, five star review, whole apartment including well stocked kitchen (had a makeup vanity thing, girlfriend loved it): Forgot to take a photo of the place in Mui Ne but we paid $18 it was effectively the same as a Motel 6 Staying at this place on 30th floor beachfront place in Nha Trang at $30 a night via Air BnB:   It's decorated like a Tsarist palace and it's slightly grimy (looks like it hasn't been remodeled in 10 years after a hard life as a vacation rental) in that everything looks like it's been wiped down with the same rag without being rinsed out first, but otherwise at least as clean as your average south american or spanish hostel. The six bedroom place (all six bedrooms) at $26 is about 2 miles outside of downtown hoi an, has 250 five star reviews  There's a bunch of ridiculously priced "entire apartment" listed places in vietnam for almost free if you're looking in the $18-35 range on Air BnB. So far good luck.
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Oct 6, 2017 13:26
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I think next time I travel, I'm going to get 20 cheap fake state IDs printed, like hotel key cards. Everyone here wants some form of ID to check out anything. Then just drop off the scooter and go. Waited 15 minutes today for the lady to set up two dudes with scooters to drop off our scooter, and when she looked for my ID she had already lost my ID since yesterday. Supposedly when we go back downstairs they'll have found it, will see.
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Oct 8, 2017 05:16
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I'm gonna be working in Hong Kong for a few weeks and a colleague and I are planning a weekend trip. I wanted to go to Cambodia but we can't make the flights work. So we're thinking of going to Vietnam. I've been but 20 years ago, so my memories are super obsolete. I remember HCM being completely chaotic and Hanoi being really chilled and beautiful. We're just looking for some great food, great bars, great wandering around. We're not going for sex-adjacent tourism or tons of crazy dunk backpackers or touristy whatever. It's such a short trip it almost doesn't matter. Any suggestion on which one to do? We'd only be there from Friday night to Sunday afternoon.
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Oct 8, 2017 17:33
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Bill Pullman posted:I'm gonna be working in Hong Kong for a few weeks and a colleague and I are planning a weekend trip. I wanted to go to Cambodia but we can't make the flights work. So we're thinking of going to Vietnam. I've been but 20 years ago, so my memories are super obsolete. I remember HCM being completely chaotic and Hanoi being really chilled and beautiful. We're just looking for some great food, great bars, great wandering around. We're not going for sex-adjacent tourism or tons of crazy dunk backpackers or touristy whatever. It's such a short trip it almost doesn't matter. Any suggestion on which one to do? We'd only be there from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. Sorry, best I can do - I'm not a Vietnam expert 
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Oct 8, 2017 19:04
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ReindeerF posted:Dalat maybe? Hue? I checked flights and you can connect to both on what I'm sure are one or more dodgy Vietnamese carriers! Based on friends' recommendations I would say Sapa, but you're not there long enough, I think. Dalat is the old French colonial vacation city, while Hue is an ancient capital. In closing, Vietnam is a land of contrasts. Cool, thanks that's something to chew on. I've been to Sapa in Prague (google that if you don't know it) but not Vietnam. Could be worthwhile. Although thinking about the guy I'm traveling with urban adventure with a mix of culture and nice bars is the way to go. That said, Hue is a beach area, isn't it? I think I was briefly there on my original trip. Could be nice too. But I'm more of a city break kinda guy.
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Oct 8, 2017 20:44
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Yeah, Hue or another more accessible place would probably be a better choice then. I don't think I'd describe Hue as beach-y, it's next to the mountains and sort of central, though the coast is never *that* far away in Vietnam. It's been a loooonnngggg time since I was there, though, but it sounds like much more is going on these days. Senso or someone else would know more and have better recommendations.
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Oct 9, 2017 03:05
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If I just had a couple days in Vietnam and was looking for city over nature, I'd go with HCMC or Da Nang. Da Nang has everything really. Awesome beaches nearby, rent a motorbike for a day and take a ride on the peninsula or Hai Van Pass, decent nightlife, good food, Hoi An is only a short distance away if you want some more history / culture. HCMC has a lot more going on at night and is more modern than Hanoi. Hanoi is a little sleepy for my tastes.
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Oct 9, 2017 03:10
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Agreed, Da Nang is nice for its proximity to Hai Van Pass and Hoi An. Da Nang itself has a long stretch of beaches, it's a big-ish city but more with a "countryside" mindset. I don't count the number of times, when a local saw us in a shop/restaurant/etc. and just sighed, sometimes silently pointing to the door we came in. The Da Nang nightlife is almost non-existent. A few bars on Bach Dang, next to the river, but they're either loud Asian dance music type or sleazy old expats western-style boring places (looking at you, Bamboo). Also everything closes earlier, there are no 24/7 Circle K/Kmart anywhere, the good restaurants and bars are spaced out quite a bit. The big bonus of Da Nang, at least for me, is the great mix between ocean and mountains. You can be literally in the clouds in the morning, check out langur monkeys in the mountain on the peninsula at lunch and feet in the ocean in the afternoon. Also it's a 30 minutes drive to Hoi An (usually ~$25 for a both ways car ride), where you've got more of a touristy feeling, crowds shopping, you can visit old buildings and pagodas, do day boat trips, etc. HCMC is more frantic, has terrible traffic (6 months in Da Nang without a single motorbike incident, not even lightly brushing one. Two days in HCMC and a tiny girl with no helmet clipped me while I was making a turn, sprawled on the road and yelled at me for murder). But at least HCMC has awesome restaurants of all types, bars for all likings, it's easier to be understood and I find people less scared of interacting with a dumb whitey. Hue is kinda cool, we drove there for a weekend from Da Nang. I don't remember much of the city, apart from the Imperial Citadel. The drive to there and back was more exciting itself. I'd feel Hue would be boring for more than two days but it's still interesting to see.
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Oct 9, 2017 05:03
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Yeah if you are looking for mod cons and newer glitzy city (huge grain of southeast Asian salt with that descriptor) then you're looking for HCMC. Hanoi has a more old school sort of charm. Hope my vague vibe descriptions helped. Both cities are worth a visit but not necessarily for the same reasons. Also regarding cheap airbnb condos, I imagine their availability has a lot to with foreign (Chinese, Russian, other) and newly minted Vietnamese money parking cash in whatever flavor of the week condo development is going in at the time. Da Nang is overdeveloped a bit at this point, to say nothing of the situation in the capitols. Fun experiment: drive from just south of Mui Ne and head north along the coastal route for I dunno, 100 km or so, and count how many unfinished or clearly unoccupied developments you see. I lost count.
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Oct 9, 2017 05:12
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Ally McBeal Wiki posted:Yeah if you are looking for mod cons and newer glitzy city (huge grain of southeast Asian salt with that descriptor) then you're looking for HCMC. Hanoi has a more old school sort of charm. Hope my vague vibe descriptions helped. Both cities are worth a visit but not necessarily for the same reasons. That's how I remember it from 20 years ago. Welp, doesn't really matter since my travel companion booked Hanoi in the meantime anyway so that's where we're going. But I think we're gonna have an awesome time anyway. I spent more time in HCM than Hanoi back in the day anyway so looking forward to this a lot. (And the month in HK of course as well...)
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Oct 9, 2017 05:17
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All I remember of Hue was walking to the imperial city from the train station and being constantly hassled to buy weed
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Oct 9, 2017 12:59
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Da Nang was where I finally said, "Okay, I'm done, get me to Hanoi and then China." heh. I hear it's now the fire breathing dragon bridge / Silicon Valley capital of Vietnam so I'm sure it's changed to some degree. I felt like I was in the Long Beach or Rotterdam of Vietnam. As in, well, this is a real city, and it's industrial and it's probably fine if you know it well and full of local character, but there's nothing obvious to do as a furriner. I'd be more adept these days, so who knows. That was some time ago.
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Oct 9, 2017 14:57
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ReindeerF posted:Da Nang was where I finally said, "Okay, I'm done, get me to Hanoi and then China." heh. I hear it's now the fire breathing dragon bridge / Silicon Valley capital of Vietnam so I'm sure it's changed to some degree. I felt like I was in the Long Beach or Rotterdam of Vietnam. As in, well, this is a real city, and it's industrial and it's probably fine if you know it well and full of local character, but there's nothing obvious to do as a furriner. I'd be more adept these days, so who knows. That was some time ago. I've heard of Da Nang being the NEW TECH CAPITAL of Vietnam, maybe that's true - there are a lot of tech jobs posted every day. Problem is (for us), absolutely none of them are for expats. I work remotely for a foreign company so I have no problems but my girlfriend spent 6 months sending multiple resumes every single day and they don't even bother replying. I have a feeling Da Nang wants to be the "We can do this on our own!" tech city and I wish them luck. I'll miss the ocean and the gorgeous mountains but Saigon is where it's at.
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Oct 10, 2017 02:40
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Senso posted:I've heard of Da Nang being the NEW TECH CAPITAL of Vietnam, maybe that's true - there are a lot of tech jobs posted every day. Problem is (for us), absolutely none of them are for expats. I work remotely for a foreign company so I have no problems but my girlfriend spent 6 months sending multiple resumes every single day and they don't even bother replying. I have a feeling Da Nang wants to be the "We can do this on our own!" tech city and I wish them luck. I'll miss the ocean and the gorgeous mountains but Saigon is where it's at. Just a short ferry ride and drive away is the beach at Mui Ne! Or rather, the lack thereof 
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Oct 10, 2017 03:21
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Senso posted:I've heard of Da Nang being the NEW TECH CAPITAL of Vietnam, maybe that's true - there are a lot of tech jobs posted every day. Problem is (for us), absolutely none of them are for expats. I work remotely for a foreign company so I have no problems but my girlfriend spent 6 months sending multiple resumes every single day and they don't even bother replying. I have a feeling Da Nang wants to be the "We can do this on our own!" tech city and I wish them luck. I'll miss the ocean and the gorgeous mountains but Saigon is where it's at. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 03:48 on Oct 10, 2017 |
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Oct 10, 2017 03:45
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Ally McBeal Wiki posted:Just a short ferry ride and drive away is the beach at Mui Ne! I did drive from Saigon to Phan Thiet and Mui Ne, 5 years ago. I'll definitely do it again, to see how much it has changed. I'm expecting a 500% increase in fat Russians wearing speedos.
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Oct 10, 2017 04:01
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Thanks for making GBS threads all over Da Nang. I'll go stay in Hoi An instead.
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Oct 10, 2017 08:29
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Do people here have Opinions on whether Bangkok or Chiang Mai is a better place to go? Sounds like Bangkok is more bustling but Chiang Mai is cheaper. Planning on going for an CELTA study trip in nov-dec, so I won't be touristing constantly but should have a few days to look at things here and there. Also any hotel tips would be appreciated I've never traveled overseas by myself before lol
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Oct 10, 2017 12:11
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Fauxbot posted:Do people here have Opinions on whether Bangkok or Chiang Mai is a better place to go? Sounds like Bangkok is more bustling but Chiang Mai is cheaper. Chiang Mai will probably be cold. I've been told that up north is where all the old Americans are hiding out, but I can't say if that's true or not. Bangkok is a huge metro area with all the things that means.
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Oct 10, 2017 12:44
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Atlas Hugged posted:Chiang Mai will probably be cold.
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Oct 10, 2017 14:09
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Fauxbot posted:Do people here have Opinions on whether Bangkok or Chiang Mai is a better place to go? Sounds like Bangkok is more bustling but Chiang Mai is cheaper. Depends entirely on what you like. Bangkok is big and busy. Chiang Mai is smaller and more relaxed. I think they're both nice in their own ways, and you wouldn't go wrong picking either, but you do you.
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Oct 10, 2017 14:26
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Pilsner posted:Cold, as in what? Looking at climate charts, it looks pretty nice in winter - 28-30 degrees during the day, 15-16 at night, no rain. Yeah, cold as in you'd probably want a jacket at night. I've been in Bangkok for years. That's freezing to me.
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Oct 10, 2017 14:29
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Avoid Chiang Mai during the burning season (not now). Otherwise, it's a fine provincial capital if you hate public transport and like Mainland Chinese tourists. I kid (partly) but my eternal quote on Chiang Mai, which remains true, is that everything people recommend you to go to Chiang Mai for is outside Chiang Mai. I was the O.G. person on the forums to say, "Get out of Bangkok and come back later." but Chiang Mai is just kind of forgettable for me. At minimum I'd recommend another provincial capital like Kanchanaburi or Chanthaburi or Trang or Petchabun or Phitsanulok or something. Granted, not as touristy (outside of Kan) but that's part of the appeal.
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Oct 10, 2017 17:39
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Oh poo poo I love public transport though. Bangkok it is!
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Oct 11, 2017 00:21
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Bangkok is always the answer
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Oct 11, 2017 05:31
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Senso posted:I did drive from Saigon to Phan Thiet and Mui Ne, 5 years ago. I'll definitely do it again, to see how much it has changed. I'm expecting a 500% increase in fat Russians wearing speedos. The drive is great once you get out and away from the other side of Cat Ba. The fat speedoed Russian index seems high, yes. But the lack of beach along the main drag keeps it to a minimum. Also, Chiang Mai if you like going out to see nature (that is, leaving Chiang Mai regularly as Reindeer said). Bangkok if you like having all kinds of stuff closer at hand.
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Oct 12, 2017 03:53
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So far two weeks here in vietnam 1. HCMC/Saigon - crazy busy, crazy hot city especially district one, stayed across the river from D1 and was still pretty nuts. No shortage of things to do here. 2. Mui Ne - No beach, random lovely pit stop. Ended up spending more time in Phu Thuy. Average at best. 3. Nha Trang 4. Hoi An - crawling with tourists, pretty boring, two days was one day too much 6. Hanoi - freaking love this city, reminds me of Budapest Tomorrow we head out to Ha Long Bay, do the boat thing, then trying to decide on what to do next; we're 95% sure Sa Pa is going to be a tourist hell hole, everything we read about Hà Giang is that it's way less trafficed and almost identical visually to Sa Pa. Hadlock fucked around with this message at 10:15 on Oct 12, 2017 |
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Oct 12, 2017 06:39
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Chiang Mai itself rules but imo the real good poo poo to do around there is Doi Inthanon national park, because the novelty of walking around outside in Thailand and not being able to stop shivering is pretty cool
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Oct 12, 2017 07:01
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I now really want to visit 80s Miami in Da Nang
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Oct 12, 2017 07:12
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simplefish posted:I now really want to visit 80s Miami in Da Nang Haha same
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Oct 12, 2017 07:47
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Whoops I meant Nha Trang I swear, two weeks here and the language here still just sounds and reads like gobldygook to me. Within a week of being in south america I was able to string together small sentences in spanish
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Oct 12, 2017 10:15
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Ninh Binh is an option too after Hà Long. It's a few hours bus ride away from Hanoi I really enjoyed it there - just checking out the area via motorbike and climbing limestone cliffs.
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Oct 12, 2017 13:11
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Yeah, I was confused by Da Nang being Miami. Nha Trang is a stretch, but makes more sense. I actually had a great time there, but, again, years ago. There were just a few bars and the only big late night thing was the Nha Trang Sailing Club or something like that, which was pretty much a giant wooden cabana with beach chairs and loud house music. I'm sure the whole place has grown up quite a bit. One of my favorite things about that and other areas was spotting the old Russian-era brutalist vacation dacha compounds. Man, how bad was poo poo back home that those seemed like a great vacation. Here's your cinder block hovel and rusty swingset surrounded by 12' tall chain link fence, Boris. Knock yourself out.
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Oct 13, 2017 13:02
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Yeah, Sailing Club in Nha Trang is famous. Just a big dirty club, seems to be more "respectable" these days. Da Nang has an attraction park, been there a few times with the girlfriend - it's hilarious because they obviously hire a lot of Russians/Ukrainians to do entertainment (big band music, cheerleader style not-even-athletic dances, waving light sticks around while dressed as Mortal Kombat characters (not 10 years ago, a month ago), etc.). It made me think about standards in East/West society and I guess here, a sign of wealth is if you can hire white people to do cheap amusement. Re: Miami in Vietnam - years ago, I heard someone say, maybe in this thread or in real life - I forget where - that Hanoi was New York City and Saigon was Miami. Mostly in terms of how people behave and how women dress. Even coming from central VN back to Saigon, I had forgotten how much, huh, sluttier women dress, or at least how much more legs I'm seeing everywhere. So I tend to agree that Saigon is Miami and Hanoi is the posh pretentious NYC.
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Oct 14, 2017 08:04
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Ok garbage weather in northern vietnam (55F and rain) is forcing us to Malaysia this morning, flying in to KL ($63 from Hanoi!), then after a full day and a half of exploring the city, heading out north via car to the highlands to the northern Cameron Highlands (sorta Sa Pa-esque?) and then driving to Penang and fly to singapore for $30 Any suggestions? I did not research this country at all, all I know is they will let you in easy on a tourist visa and alcohol isn't banned there. Oh and they filmed that Millennium movie with Sean Connery and the lady in the yoga pants at Petronas Towers.
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Oct 14, 2017 19:34
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Anyone going to be in Hoi An for a few days? Or can recommend a nice, social place to stay that's not too crazy?
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Oct 17, 2017 07:14
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I'll be there in four days or so. Do share any great places you find. Da Nang is pretty alright so far but then I just got here. Even cheaper food and beer than Bangkok it seems.
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Oct 17, 2017 14:00
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Yeah, Bangkok is no longer considered "cheap" in Southeast Asian terms. It's not expensive in the way Singapore is or anything and you can still get noodles and street food and whatnot for 35-40 THB most everywhere, but the combination of the continued regeneration of the economy post-1997 and the debt boom of the last decade have really created a lot of inflation within central Bangkok, but also as things move outward, where more and more middle class Thai people are creating American-style suburban bedroom communities. If you're interested in some idea of what the last ten years have been, go to an area like, here on Google Earth and check historical imagery for a decade ago. I'm from the countryside around Houston, which was pretty much the fastest growing major US city of the latter half of the twentieth century. We didn't invent suburbs or master-planned communities, but aside from a couple of groups like the Toll Brothers, Houston is (I *believe*) home to the major builders in the country and it's un-zoned, so I saw a poo poo-ton of this exact kind of growth, but the population density here and the relative importance of Bangkok to the country (as the only major city) is a force multiplier on the unchecked growth here and while it doesn't touch the scale of changes you've seen in a place like China, it's pretty insane to watch. Anyway, all of that's a roundabout way of saying that while you can of course rent a very cheap, decent flat in a local area not on the skytrain or subway for 2,000-3,000 THB (or a lovely room for 1,000-1,500, maybe less in a slum), and you can eat cheap street food, the part of Bangkok that's accessible to visitors and that most of us live in as foreigners is definitely not cheap.
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Oct 18, 2017 00:33
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