The Ho Chi Minh thread by VOR

[Voice of Reason]

Hi. I would like to create a thread about my experiences in Ho Chi Minh. I will write as much as I can about what I see, hear and learn, and I will answer any questions.

I plan to stay here for two months, and then travel north up the rest of the country.

I hope you enjoy!

[Voice of Reason]

Well, this is actually the second time I have been to Ho chi Minh…but before I only stayed a few nights. This time I plan to stay for two months.

- The city is really easy to get around. All the streets signs are clearly marked and it is easy to use a map to find landmarks and places you want to go .

- Food more expensive than I anticipated and remember from two years ago. The prices are similar to Bangkok…I don't know if this is due to inflation or if my memory is just not serving me correctly. But then again, maybe I am too close to the tourist area.

- So far, I have found the food to be 90% as good as Thailand…which is pretty darn good. Tonight I had a dish called Bun Cha, and the flavor was amazing.

- People in Ho Chi Minh are very sociable compared to Thai people. I have stayed at three different hotels in Ho Chi Minh, and at each hotel the staff smiled at me and said hello each time I walked in and out. In conversation, people are very approachable and responsive. Thai people - especially in Bangkok - are a little bit strange.

- It is not highly consumeristic like Thailand is. In Thailand there is advertising everywhere, and excessive malls (though interesting), and everyone seems crazy for shopping. I went to a mall today and the escalators were designed in a way to make it as easy as possible to go from floor to floor, as opposed to escalators in MBK (Bangkok) that force you to walk all the way around the centre.

- Ho Chi Minh is a very lively city…more so than Bangkok. Sometimes I found Bangkok a little bit oppressive because of the close in in feel, the traffic and the consumerism.

Well that's all I have so far, and these are just first impressions. I will be happy to answer any questions you have, and I'll keep this thread updated.

[insanity]

Enjoy your time in HCMC...It´s really a nice city, I liked it a lot when I was there in 2010. Much better then Phnom Penh, Hanoi, Manila. I liked it even better than Bangkok. It´s my favorite city in SEA

[xiongmao]

Wow, good update!

Are you coming here later? I hope I can fit in a side-visit to Vietnam.

Yes Thailand (or maybe just Bangkok) is really consumer-orientated. The TV channels are just white-legged Hiso girls promoting the latest lipstick or Samsung phone (hope you've sold your Apple shares guys - I've not dated an iPhone user since February!!!).

And Bangkok has about 300 or maybe its 3000 shopping malls. They sell Nike and Addidas flip-flops for 1500 baht, but I went to Big C and bought my Adda's for 150.

I've also never been to a country where the women wear so much makeup.

But the food here is indeed very good - 27 baht green curry was pretty good and I don't remember ever seeing anything as cheap as that in China. And this was eating in one of Bangkok's best shopping malls.

Almost forgot to ask - are the women hot? I dated one Vietnamese here, but I can't really extrapolate her to a whole country. Do they look Chinese or Thai? How white are their legs?

[Attorney at Large]

VOR,

Looking forward to hearing about your travels there in Vietnam. Interesting that you found HCM more lively than BKK and food 90% as good. I think the climate's similar to BKK?

So where in the north do you plan on going...Hanoi, Haiphong, mountains?

Safe and interesting travels to you.

[Voice of Reason]

Almost forgot to ask - are the women hot? I dated one Vietnamese here, but I can't really extrapolate her to a whole country. Do they look Chinese or Thai? How white are their legs?

Yes, there are quite a large number of good looking women here, and obesity isn't at the levels of Bangkok. In general they look more Chinese than Thai...some have dark skinned legs, but not as dark skinned as the dark skinned Thais.

But the food here is indeed very good - 27 baht green curry was pretty good and I don't remember ever seeing anything as cheap as that in China. And this was eating in one of Bangkok's best shopping malls.

That wouldn't be Terminal 21, would it? I love that shopping centre, and there is a lot of good cheap food there.

[Voice of Reason]

VOR,

Looking forward to hearing about your travels there in Vietnam. Interesting that you found HCM more lively than BKK and food 90% as good. I think the climate's similar to BKK?

So where in the north do you plan on going...Hanoi, Haiphong, mountains?

Safe and interesting travels to you.

Yes, I plan on gong up to Hanoi, and then China...stopping at any city along the way that takes my interest.

[Repatriate]

Vietnamese tend to be shorter, with more doll like faces, and many have a very Chinese look. That's why foreign asian men overwhelmingly favor marrying Vietnamese brides over any other SE Asian. I think on average Viets do tend to have prettier faces than a lot of Thais from what I saw in HCMC. They just have that innocent look down and don't cake on as much makeup as thais.

[Voice of Reason]

Anyway, I've found a place to stay now, and I am right away from any foreigner enclaves (a Vietnamese friend in Australia set me up). I'm paying 150k dong per night.

Wow, is all I can say.

One of the guys here took me around on his motorbike to temples and other places. He kept talking about women. He was trying to convince me to get a Vietnamese girlfriend, and said that if you have an American girlfriend and you have a fight with her, she will call 911 and you go to jail. I found that rather amusing.

I was talking to this other girl as well, and she's very friendly and we are going to do something tomorrow. I don't think it's as a date, she is just very friendly...it's a huge contrast to western women who look down on you.

[Voice of Reason]

Vietnamese tend to be shorter, with more doll like faces, and many have a very Chinese look. That's why foreign asian men overwhelmingly favor marrying Vietnamese brides over any other SE Asian. I think on average Viets do tend to have prettier faces than a lot of Thais from what I saw in HCMC. They just have that innocent look down and don't cake on as much makeup as thais.

Yes, I really love the Vietnamese look, and they are better to have a conversation with as well. Vietnamese women are less under the control of mass consumerism, and are not dumbed down by Thai television like many Thai women are.

[Repatriate]

Yes, I really love the Vietnamese look, and they are better to have a conversation with as well. Vietnamese women are less under the control of mass consumerism, and are not dumbed down by Thai television like many Thai women are.

Vietnamese are pretty smart on average too. Definitely the smartest out of all the SEA nations. That's a quality that shouldn't be underestimated because you want a wife that can still do shit and isn't a dim bulb like a lot of other SE asians.

[pete98146]

Vietnamese tend to be shorter, with more doll like faces, and many have a very Chinese look. That's why foreign asian men overwhelmingly favor marrying Vietnamese brides over any other SE Asian. I think on average Viets do tend to have prettier faces than a lot of Thais from what I saw in HCMC. They just have that innocent look down and don't cake on as much makeup as thais.

On average I found the Vietnamese women the prettiest in ALL of Asia and I have high standards.

[xiongmao]

I might come and visit if you're in Ho Chi Minh for a while. Just got to figure out the visa exit procedure here and make sure I got room in my passport for another trip.

I dated a Vietnamese girl here, she was quite nice. Her legs were very white. She was also very friendly, but maybe living here has ruined her.

Thai girls are often crazy for makeup. And dare I say it, they don't seem that smart. I'm not actually that interested in smart girls, but if you are, don't come here.

Of all the Cupid dating sites, Vietnam Cupid has the hottest girls on it. I wonder what the options are for a long term visa?

Do you think the language is easy to learn?

Do Vietnamese girls carry umbrellas all the time? That was a great thing about China, I once dated a girl who turned up wearing a white Chinese dress and matching parasol - awesome!

Yes the food in Terminal 21 is great, and cheap also. Cheaper than restaurants, and cheaper than most of the street food I've eaten. It's also good having Thai, Malay, Japanese and Chinese food in the same place.

If you head out of Vietnam then Yunnan is worth a look. I only dated one Yunnan lady but she was great. The women from around that part of China tend to be quite mild. Also Yunnan food was a rare glimmer of hope in a sea of bones, offal and cheap noodles.

[Voice of Reason]

Well this thread sure did fall by the wayside!

I ended up staying with a Vietnamese family, and they never gave me time to myself. It was a good experience. I have been traveling around the Mekong Delta, but now I'm back in Saigon again and this time I'm staying alone (because I need time for myself).

I will tell you some of my observations of far on VIetnamese women and Vietnamese people, bearing in mind that I've only had six weeks here so far.

Vietnamese Women

Very slim and very feminine. Of course there will be individual differences, but overall I would say they are better then Thai women in terms of dating. They are generally better looking, and smarter…they don't have the cultural brainwashing that Thai women have.

One problem with the women there though is that many of them have stained teeth. It must be something to do with the diet there. Thai women - especially women from Isaan - usually had better teeth.

Vietnamese People

Overall they are vey sociable compared to Thais, and they act more naturally. If they want to talk to you, they will go straight ahead and start talking to you. People in Vietnam initiate conversation much more often than Thai people.

One thing that I dislike though, and is getting very exhausting is their persistence. Vietnamese people don't like taking no for an answer. Tonight some guy on a pushbike start riding alongside me and offering to take me to a "massage". I kept on saying no, but he kept on following me down the street asking again and again.

A tactic VIetnamese people use is to not "understand" you when you object. Today a guy asked me to go on a tour on his motorbike, and showing me a book of comments from previous travelers (these guys are scammers) and I told him that I had done it all before. He seemed not to understand that, and just kept on insisting.

They make it very difficult and exhausting to say no.

But overall I love the VIetnamese people.

[Voice of Reason]

I might come and visit if you're in Ho Chi Minh for a while. Just got to figure out the visa exit procedure here and make sure I got room in my passport for another trip.

Please don't hesitate to come, but I don't know how much longer I'll be in HCM. I'm probably going to start heading up North in a week or so.

Do you think the language is easy to learn?

Not that hard compared to Thai because it goes by the Roman script, which makes it easier to absorb more of the language from the start. The language does have four levels of tones though (Thai has three levels), which could make it harder.

Do Vietnamese girls carry umbrellas all the time? That was a great thing about China, I once dated a girl who turned up wearing a white Chinese dress and matching parasol - awesome!

Wow, that sounds amazing! It sounds like she was very feminine. But no, I haven't notices Vietnamese carry umbrellas all the time unless it rains. Vietnamese women like to protect themselves from the sun by wearing socks, gloves and a hoodie.

If you head out of Vietnam then Yunnan is worth a look. I only dated one Yunnan lady but she was great. The women from around that part of China tend to be quite mild. Also Yunnan food was a rare glimmer of hope in a sea of bones, offal and cheap noodles.

I could very well head to China after I finish up here...do you mind if I hit you up when the time comes for advice on which cities to go to?