Getting There, Visa, Accommodation & other information

From Singapore, besides Tiger Airways ( http://www.tigerairways.com ), Vietnam Air and Singapore Airlines fly there daily.

You can also book to fly via Bangkok (with or without a stopover in Bangkok) to Ho Chi Minh city on Thai International.

There are good connections via Bangkok, Hong Kong and Taipei and other Asian capital.

The best thing to do is to check out zuji.com and other internet sites to see if you can hook into a “best deal” or special fare offer. The local tour operator in your locality (whether it’s in the US, Europe or Asia) can also be found to be selling a good value for money package which is best for airfare-hotel combination.

Some facts for the Traveler

Visas
In Singapore, visit this URL to apply for your Vietnam visa http://www.applyentryvisas.com.sg/index.html Bangkok appears to be one of the popular places to get one. Best to get a travel agency to assist in the application if time is of the essence. Tourist visas for a 30 day stay would cost you about us $40 in Bangkok. ASEAN nationals do not need a visa for a visit.

When to Go?
In the South, the wet season is from May to November and the dry season from December to April. For mongering activities, rain is not an issue.

During Tet, the major Festival for Vietnamese, usually around late January or early February (according to the Lunar Calendar), hotels run full and many establishments are closed from one to two weeks. Unless you are specifically there for the festivities, it’s best to avoid Tet.



Public Holidays
late Jan / early Feb - Tet
30 Apr - Liberation of Saigon
1 May - Labour Day
Aug - Wandering Souls Day
1 Jan - New Year's Day
3 Feb - Communist Party Foundation
19 May - Ho Chi Minh's Birthday
28 May - Buddha's Enlightenment
2 Sep - National Day
3 Sep - Ho Chi Minh's Death Anniversary
Money and Costs
The Vietnamese Dong is not an international currency and it is best to change some local currency on arrival at Saigon Airport.
Change the bulk for your needs when you are in the city as the rates are better there than at the airport.

Cost of Meals
From 15,000 Dongs to 30,000 Dongs if you eat at the budget local styled places while modest meals in simple food shops would cost from 30,000 Dongs to 50,000 Dongs. In the finer places such as hotel coffee shops and fancier restaurants, expect to pay from 100,000 Dongs upwards.

Accommodation
Budget accommodation are from US$5 to US$10 while the better budget rooms are from US$10 to US$25. Expect to pay from US$25 to US$55 for “star-rated” hotels and more than US$55 for the upper end hotels many of which are now charging more than US$100.

In hotels and the better establishments, a service charge of 5% is added to bills so there is no need to tip. However, in other places, a small tip will be appreciated by the staff. This includes hired drivers and guides.

For Hotels, try http://www.asiatravel.com or other internet booking sites you know.

If you want to avoid the hassles of being refused entry for your mongering night's dates, my suggestions is to forget about normal hotels (3-5 star variety) and get yourself a clean decent room in a budget hotel (guesthouse) of the sort you find in Pham Ngu Lau Road area.
There are many there.

Heres one that is liked by some mongerors in that area.

Name of Guesthouse : Ngoc Minh
Address: 283/11 Pham Ngu Lao st., D.1, HCMC, VN
Tel: (84.8) 836 5215 Fax: (84.8) 837 6407
Email: ngocminh-hotel@hcm.vnn.vn

Good information on the hotels and expenses.
I guess it hotel policies must have changed since I was there last when there was strictly no overnight guess allowed.

PM,

Hotels are as strict as before.

We were lucky to have very special arrangments for our superb apartment hotel. Its unlikely that others will be able to get the same privilidges.

The budget guesthouses are also very flexible.

Another idea that I have mooted but not tested again is to book two rooms between two mongerers and leave one without a name when you check in.

Both mongerers check into the same room.

When you have the two ladies (one each), check them into the other room as twin sharing and physically split up when you overnight.

This does not help with ST ladies but can work for LT. We did use this method successfully on my first visit on my second night at the Kimdo.

Hahaha. This is exactly one of the trick I have used over the years. I check in the hotel by myself and my date checks in the hotel herself and we try to get the room on the same floor and in some cases right next to each other. Since these hotels do not have (had) cameras it was easy to just come to my room. Everyone has to, or used to, register all the information, passport, IDs, etc. it was way too high risk to do anything illegal. It was a costly alternative but a safe one. Since when I went to Vietnam I was not going for numbers but quality I did not see too many girls in Vietname but saw good model quality ones.

PM,

When you do the rooming in pairs, you do not end up paying for an extra room.