I chanced upon a wonderful site which brings us a glimpse into our impending Vietnam trip…here’s some extracts
VIETNAMAlthough US dollars are still widely accepted everywhere in Vietnam, it sometimes pays to pay in dong. Most museums will quote a price in dollars, but accept dong at 10.000 dong to the dollar. Given the exchange rate of 11.000 dong to the dollar this means a 10 % profit.
It's no longer necessary to show the receipt of your travellers' cheques if you're changing money. Cashing them is a hassle-free five-minute operation.
Like almost anywhere in Asia, tourists are overcharged in Viet-nam. Therefore always bargain for everything, it will make your stay in Vietnam a lot cheaper.
HanoiHo Chi Minh's mausoleum closes at 10.30. Naturally there is no entrance fee, they only charge 4000 dong for guarding your bag. We personally are not sure whether the maintenance of uncle Ho is done by Russian experts or by experts of Madame Tussaud's.
Ambassadors' Pagoda was one of the temples in Vietnam we liked best. Very peaceful in the middle of city bustle, very friendly worshippers and a great assortment of temple 'souvenirs' for sale.
Hanoi's prisons are rapidly disappearing and being converted to high-rise officeblocks and hotels. The nicknamed Hanoi Hilton might actually become real!
The Lotus guesthouse has become too expensive at $ 12 for a small room without windows. We stayed in the Nam Phuong ll hotel at 26 Wha Chung. A nice double room with aircon and hot water costs $ 13. Next door from the Nam Phuong hotel there is a cultural centre with regular musical performances. We stumbled upon a very entertaining song contest and even had the honour to speak to the female singer who won the 'very most emotion' prize.
There is an excellent Com-Pho place on the north side of Hang Khai street between Na Chung and Le Thai To streets.
HALONG BAYDon't do it yourself; take a trip. They cost as low as 20 dollar with some bargaining. We booked a two day / one night tour at the New Ton Dan guest-house, but it was organised by Queen Cafe. Good value at $ 23, clean room, good bus, two boattrips and cheap food provided.
SAIGONImmigration at the airport is very efficient, provided you have brought an extra visa form and passport-size picture. Money can be changed in an open-air bank, 40 metres to the right just outside the exit of the arrival hall.
Sinh Cafe has an excellent one-day trip to the Mekong Delta. It costs $8 and even includes a packed lunch. Our guide had been working for the Americans around the end of the Vietnam War and had been unemployed for 20 years after a six-month tour in re-education camp. In one day he tried to make up for 20 years not speaking English, so we got 10 hours of lecturing on all aspects of Vietnamese life from the cradle tot the grave. Great guy!
The Sinh cafe open-end tour to Dalat-Nathrang-HoiAn-Hu・is not good value at $35 as they use over 30 year old fifth-hand Chinese city buses. It's even worse value the other way around, because they leave out Dalat, as the city busses cannot make the steep ascend from Nathrang tot Dalat. Fortunately we only took the Saigon-Dalat-Nathrang leg and minibuses for the rest of the journey. Use minibuses and buy your souvenir T-shirt yourself.
There is a Baskins and Robbins ice-cream parlour on Tran Hung Dao Boulevard!
According to the survival kit the revolutionary museum used to have very good guides. Well, that probably was the case when entry was free and the guides depended on tips for their income. Nowadays you pay 20.000 dong and the eager guides have become bored civil servants.
The war crimes museum is far from objective and at some times nauseating. There is an excellent small Pho restaurant opposite its main entrance and we suggest that you take your breakfast before visiting the museum.
There's a well stocked supermarket at the first floor of the department store at Nguyen Trung Truc street.
Crime is on the increase in the streets of Saigon and we not only say so because a pick-pocket stole our camera. We spoke to lots of tourists who had things stolen, and foreign residents told us that it is a real plague. How about a group of twenty elderly French tourists who were stripped clean of all their bags by a gang of 25 boys only seconds after they left their hotel to go on a daytrip? We weren't to optimistic about filing a report (for the insurance) with the police, but that went excellent in a little police station on Ho Tung Mau street. We were helped by a friendly female police officer who had learned all the relevant questions by heart (no much feedback though) and a policeman even walked us to a shop to get us a copy of the report. It's probably possible to buy your stolen camera back at the Huyn Thuc Jang market just south from Le Loi street where it was stolen.
The Vieng Dong hotel has non aircon rooms for $ 12.
(sources:http://www.travel-library.com/asia/vietnam/damen1996.html, map from microsoft)
