Vietnam Trip

[Guest GaySacGuy]

I am going to travel to Vietnam midweek, and will give a full report on my return to Thailand late next week. We (my boyfriend and I) will be visiting the tunnels used by viet cong during Vietnam War, the Mekong Delta, the Rex Hotel, and maybe some gay spots. I am travelling with Purple Dragon, so it should be fun. Hope the weather stay cool a few more days!

[fedssocr]

I will be very interested in hearing about your trip. I have been trying to decide where to vacation this year and Vietnam is on my list of possibilities. I have heard some conflicting reports about it though.

[Guest lvdkeyes]

In April 2008, my bf and I went to Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An and Hue and had a wonderful vacation. We stayed at the Elegance 3 Hotel and the staff could not have been more friendly. The only negative thing was we took the overnight train from Hanoi to Hue and I would not recommend it. It wasn't very clean, the food car was not good and the train was very loud and not a smooth ride. We did a trip to Halong Bay and spent a night on a sampan. The food was very good and the group were diverse (we were the only gay ones). It was well worth the trip. This year we are planning to go to HCMC during Songkran. I was there 4 years ago and enjoyed it. The highlight of that trip was a day trip to a Daoist Temple and the Cu Chi Tunnels. Vietnam is a bit less expensive than Thailand, the food was very good and not as spicy as Thai food and the people were great.

[Guest GaySacGuy]

I have returned from Vietnam, and had a very good trip. I am working on getting photos uploaded so that I can post a few.

 

We flew from Ubon to Bangkok on Thai Air (used some airmiles!), taxi to the new airport, and flew Air Asia to Saigon. We arrived in the evening on the 14th, and didn't do anything that night...ate with room service.

 

On day two, we took a tour that included a temple near the Cambodia border, and the the Co Chi Tunnels that the Viet Cong used during the Vietnam War. This tour is well worth the time and travel, especially for those of us that remember the Vietnam War quite vividly.

 

That night, our guide from Purple Dragon, took us to dinner at a Vietnamese Bar-b-que. It was really good, and had a gas BBQ built into the center of your dining table. We had shrimp, salmon, wild boar, beef, and salad. The beef was much better than most beef here in Thailand. It was upstairs, 2nd floor, and had a small spiral staircase to get to the top. I thought a lot about how to exit if a fire started, and am still not sure what I would have done.

 

Friday we travelled to the Mekong Delta and took a 3-4 hour boat trip that included stops on several islands. It was a nice tour, and some of the stops were interesting like the coconut candy factory. This was by Purple Dragon again, and the tour was well worth the time and effort. Enjoyed it very much.

 

That evening we had dinner at a French Restaurant accross from the Sheraton called La Mekong. It was reccommended by our guide, and he made the reservation for us. It was very good, and reasonable with the bill about $70 with each of us having a drink

 

Saturday was our free day, and we shopped and walked around downtown. That night we at dinner in the roof top restaurant of our hotel, Eliose. It was good, and had a very mixed menu. We had both some Vietnamese food, and some Western food.

 

On Sunday, we were taken to a coffee shop that the gays gather at every Sunday morning. It was packed..probably 150 people plus. I could never find it again without help. We stopped on street, and entered this small walkway back between two buildings. About 25 yards in, it opened up to three buildings, and we were there. Was interesting, and met a couple of falang from Australia and Denmark. We then continued on a city tour, and visited several markets, temples, and a noodle place where Bill Clinton ate while President.

 

Sunday night we were taken to another nice Vietnamese Restaurant, and had a dinner of Vietnamese food. It was very good, and again very diffucult to find without help.

 

On Monday before the flight home, we did some shopping, and had lunch at the 33rd. This is a bar/restaurant on the 33rd floor of a building near the Saigon River. I had a good hamburger, and my bf had some more Vietnamese food. It is quite a site from up there, and I would reccommend it you travel to Saigon.

 

We flew back to Bangkok Monday evening, spend the night in Bangkok, and continued to Ubon on Tuesday afternoon.

 

I had a great time, and would say it is a great place to visit. I did the visa on arrival from the internet, and was only delayed about 10 minutes getting the visa, and then our bags were available right after that. Customs/Immigration was a snap, and no delay.

 

Upon return to BKK we were trough immigration in short order (there were people waiting in long ques (20+ people), when there were empty windows 25 yards to their left...they needed to look around!!