i had visited saigon, vung tao, and nha trang within the last year (3 different trips, about 5 weeks total time). wanted to try danang, the fourth largest city in vietnam but really a pretty small city. it was a huge base of operations for the US during the war. hue, where there was fighting in the streets, is 2 hrs north, hoi an (historic commerce center) is 30 minutes south, and the famous "china beach" is 10-15 minutes from the city center. i guess there are some world heritage sites also (mostly temples i think). so if you are big on checking all the sites on your travels, you can easily spend a week btwn danang, hue, and hoi an.

i liked the all around feel of danang the best out of the places i visited in vietnam. you can stroll along the han river and hang at a bar and watch the world go by. the river in sgn is basically an industrial zone, not a place to hang out. danang has a really nice beach, i liked it better than the beaches of nha trang and vung tao. and, like vung tao, you don't see many tourists (nha trang has too many). i think most tourists fly in to danang but move on to hotels on the beach or head to hoi an. to use a simple analogy to california, i'd say saigon is los angeles (minus the beaches) and danang is san diego.

i arrived in the early afternoon and strolled the city in the early evening as it was a bit hot when i arrived. i liked to establish a grid/box of sorts when i arrive so i become familiar with my surroundings. during this stroll, i was approached by many moto taxis. i talked with many of them about the girls, the big party spots, etc... if i got a good vibe on the guy, i put his name/number in my phone. i had bought a sim on my last visit, i think it was $10 and you got minutes with that too. "mobi" is the service i bought. on day two, i called one of the moto guys and began my activities (paid him 100,000vnd/day but tipped 50,000vnd to 100,000vnd depending on what we did each day).

just to keep you interested, there are girls to be had here. moto girls and freelancers. 400,000 to 700,000vnd for s/t with moto girls. $100 to $200 USD l/t for the freelancers.
the hotels that you book over the net probably won't allow girls to your room. it cost 100,000vnd/per hour for a s/t room so not a big deal there. if you want to play the l/t game, book a room for a night or two over the net and then once you are on the ground you change to girl friendly hotels. just have your moto guy take you around to some lady friendly hotels and pick the one you like. two nights also gives you a chance to sample some s/t so you can decide if you like the local talent and the s/t. then you can make the plunge to l/t if you like the talent but aren't satisfied with s/t.

here are some helpful numbers (rough math):

100,000vnd =$7.
700,000vnd=$45
1,100,000vnd=$70
1,600,000vnd=$100

GETTING THERE:
i flew pbair (pbair.com) nonstop, bkk-dad, for 6500thb (call it $200) one way. plane was a relatively new regional jet (50 seater i believe), single seat on one side, two seats on the other. flight time about 1.5 hrs. if you are in sgn, vietnam air o/w fares are btwn 700,000vnd and 1,100,000vnd . you can check vietnam airlines fares on the net but you can't book on the net. do not book via expedia or you will pay double. best to buy domestic tickets once you are on the ground. as an example, i bought a ticket from dad to sgn on 8/8 for travel on 8/12. morning flight was sold out, afternoon was 1,100,000vnd and evening flight was 700,000vnd. so you should be able to get flights on short notice if you are flexible on the time. jetstar also services dad from sgn. air asia is probably the cheapest way to get from bkk to sgn.

dad airport is tiny. passport control was pretty slow although i was lucky, second in line coming off the terminal bus. luggage was on the belt before i got to baggage claim. i paid some tout guy 100,000vnd ($7) to take me to my hotel. the airport is basically in the city so the drive took less than 10 minutes. there were meter taxis available but i was too lazy to walk over to them. i took a meter taxi when i left and it was 45,000vnd.

HOTEL:
i booked 3 nts at the bamboo green central hotel. deluxe room for $50/nt (incl internet and brkfst). room was good size (over 400 SF) and was a corner unit so i had windows on two sides (one side was floor to ceiling window, the whole wall). on the 4th of 9 floors so i was above the roof tops around me. tv was good, had cnn, bbc, hbo, star movie, star world, discovery, nat geo, espn and star sports. breakfast buffet had cook to order eggs, fruit, bread, soups, and a bunch of other stuff that most people like. i liked danang enough that i booked another 4 nights at the same hotel and i was able to move up to the 9th floor. the view from the room was incredible. almost 270 degree view, you can pan from the harbor in the northwest all the way to marble mountain in the southeast. $55/nt for this room. i booked direct for this (through agoda.com before). if you want to stay in grand style at $55/nt, email the hotel directly bamboogreen@dng.vnn.vn. make sure you say bamboo green CENTRAL as there are several bamboo green hotels. 901 is the real nice view room, before i had 401 (which was really nice until i saw 901).

if $55/nt in grand style is too much $$ for you, you can get smaller rooms (maybe 200 SF) for $20 or so. i think the bamboo green hotel chain may get down as low as $30. one hotel near mine was the golden gate hotel. had a "copy" of the golden gate bridge on the roof. i looked right at it from my room. this place has a website, do a google to find
it (i don't have net access as i write this on word), and the rooms there are cheap. but my guess is not lady friendly. there are a bunch of small hotels near the beach, probably $10/nt. but my guess is food is a bit tough and you are a bit outside the city. if you ride a moto, then not so bad, as the ride back and forth will be fun for you (10-15 minutes at the most).

a lady friendly hotel is Phu An at 29 nguyen van linh. i did s/t here several times and the hotel is fine. best s/t room i've seen in sgn or dad and equivalent to many rooms i've stayed at in asia (cheap rooms). has internet, same TV channels as my hotel. not sure about breakfast. nguyen van linh is a major street in the city and you should be okay with food opportunities (walking distance). that said, i found that having a moto taxi on call was really the way to go. i got room 104 everytime for s/t so i think they have that "reserved" for s/t. likely that many other rooms are not used as s/t. there is no email address that i saw, but the phone number is 0511-825708. i found danang a pretty good place to hang for awhile so my suggestion is book one of the bamboo green hotels or the golden gate and then take a look at Phu An when you arrive. if you like it, book the rest of your time here (if you want l/t).

FOOD:
pho 24, vietnamese noodle soup place located at 90 tran quoc toan, vietnamese noodle soup with good quality beef is quite tasty. you can also add chicken or pork. 40,000vnd with a water.

pizza plus plus/bread of life (in most guide books), located at 12 le hong phong, a couple blocks west of the river. it has more than pizza. i had pizza a couple times. menu claimed the burgers were good so i tried. i hadn't had a burger in several months and it was really good. another guy was in there and he ordered a double burger, it was massive. the place is some kind of charity deal for the deaf and most of the workers are deaf, lots of sign language. they don't serve alcohol, which was kind of a nice change. for me, lunch and dinner usually include a beer. basic meal and water was about 60,000vnd.

christys, 112 tran phu. this one is in all the guide books. i ate here a few times. small bar on the first floor (very small). i ate on the second floor but you can get food on the first also. prices were a bit higher here and were quoted in USD on the menu, but payable in VND. the quality of the food was really good and not a big deal to pay an extra couple bucks.

room service - i did room service a couple times. basic sauteed beef, chicken or pork with rice runs 35,000vnd. quality of the food was inferior to the places noted above.

MOTO GIRLS:
i had not dealt with the "moto girl" thing before. this is how it went for me. my moto man and i would hang at a sidewalk cafe. mamasan would come by with a girl on the back of her moto. the girl would sit for a bit. none of the girls spoke english. if i liked what i saw, i'd pay a "deposit" of 50,000vnd and meet her at the s/t hotel a couple hours later. if i didn't like the girl, she was on her way with a "no" nod of my head. i set up "viewings" everyday btwn 2 and 4pm. then s/t hotel by 5 or 6pm. i paid 700,000vnd to the girl for s/t and 120,000vnd to the s/t hotel for one hour. that was okay for me.

my first viewing was a classic. i'm not sure what business uses the strategy most but it sure is effective with selling ladies. my moto guy told me the price would be 700,000vnd before i saw the girl. i liked the girl but said i'd only pay 400,000vnd. well, then they presented me with a 400,000vnd girl. and of course, i was back to the 700,000vnd girl. some of you might be okay with the lower grade. the higher grade ladies were very attractive, age range of 19-21. i'd rate them as 8's possible 9's. pretty face, good size tits (for asian ladies), tight ass, smooth white skin, great puffy lips on the face, no smelly pussy, not fat, etc..... they all asked for another 100,000 vnd as a tip (not in english but by showing me 100,000vnd along with "the look" on their face). i did tip one gal.

back to the "negotiation" piece. i could have just walked on my moto guy and his mamasan after the viewing. in five minutes i would have made contact with another moto guy and probably 20 minutes later had another viewing at 400,000vnd. but who knows, maybe you end up with the same syndicate and then you've got to start all over again. to save $20, i wasn't willing to spend that much time on the process. over five sessions, that is $100 so a meaningful amount in total. some people might actually enjoy working through a few different syndicates and, if that sounds like you, then you can probably get the price down a bit.

for me, i was at about 800,000vnd (say $55) for s/t (girl, room). and this is s/t like TJ or amsterdam. you chuck a load and you are done. i had three s/t's and two were quite nice. the bad girl, naturally the best looking, would not give bj or fuck in any position other than missionary. the two others did bj (no condom) and multiple positions with a good attitude. so 2 for 3 and then i repeated with both the girls i liked, so five sessions total in seven days. i felt 2 out of 3 was not too bad on the odds, i'd had worse odds back in my tj and amsterdam days (i'll never forget the dreaded position change charge in amsterdam. and you had to pay right then. the rubber would fall off my limp cock by the time i got to my money to pay and then she'd say, we're done !!).

the girls don't speak english so it is hard to discuss what services you will require with them. you can try and work through your moto guy but even that is a bit of a crap shoot. he may just say "oh yeah, you are all set, no worry". then, you get to the room and what you asked for (say, time to chuck two loads) is not going to happen. you can get these girls for l/t (i was quoted 1,400,000 vnd) but not sure i want l/t with a gal that speaks zero english.

on a previous report that i filed on sgn, i recall one member saying he'd prefer to fuck the viets for $10 or $20 in cambo. if your goal is to fuck viets, you should probably go there. if your goal is to travel and see vietnam, then i think you'll be okay with this s/t service. the girls look really nice, all had the same basic "uniform" - designer jeans, heels, t shirt, zip up sweat jacket, and assorted jewelry. i know this sounds a bit strange, but all had a good set of teeth also. a gal that smiles at me with a bad set of teeth (maybe too many teeth or fucked up teeth, etc) is a real turn off. and i've had this in thailand quite a few times (and passed on the girl). if you are thinking of a scene with some shitty shack, where girls are in pajamas, you fuck on a bed of cement, and shower with a bucket - that is not the case in danang.

TYPICAL DAY:

7:00 to 10:00 - eat brkfst, check internet, make sure my investment accts are holding up. catch some news on the TV.

10:00 to 2:00 - roll out with my moto man and check some of the local scenery (which i'll cover separately).

2:00 to 4:00 - quick clean up in the room, have a moto girl viewing at cafe, eat lunch.

4:00 to 6:00 - relax my room. then go s/t hotel and meet girl.

7:00 to 9:00 - sit at bamboo 2 bar on bach dang (street along the river) and enjoy a few beers.

9:00 to 11:00 - check US stock market action, watch some tv, go to bed. didn't usually eat dinner. the brkfst, late lunch and beers was enough.

total cost for the day is about 1,200,000vnd (girl 700,000vnd, s/t room 100,000vnd, moto man 150,000vnd, food 100,000vnd, beers 100,000vnd, 50,000 misc). call it $80usd. then you add your room. mine was $50 and then $55. so $135/day to see the sights, have a quick session, and enjoy some good food and beer. as someone who is interested in seeing vietnam, i found this to be a very enjoyable schedule at a reasonable price.

if you get a $20 room, then you are at $100/day on my schedule. if the $20 room is lady friendly and you want l/t for $100 and no s/t, you are at $140/day all-in. not too bad.

BARS/CLUBS:

bamboo 2 on bach dang st near the intersection with le hong phong. i just happened to see it as i was looking for a bar along the river. there are not that many. i liked this place, the girls working there were really nice. one excellent english, one limited, one not so good. they like to talk and learn english. usually a couple other western and/or expat customers when i was there. if the tables outside on the sidewalk are full (usually two or three of them), just ask for them to bring out another table. they have folding tables and chairs right inside the front door. i saw some people eating food but i never tried it. i think the beers were 20,000vnd. i'd have my moto guy drop me here after every s/t session.

red hot bar. this one was noted somewhere on the net as being like a "thai girlie bar". i was sure that was a big lie, like AN or Qbar being hot pick up spots in sgn. located at 179 nguyen van linh (same street as the s/t hotel i noted previously, but a pretty long walk even though addresses are 29 and 179). all viets inside, i was only westerner. not a big place, and a couple viet guys had their girls with them. surprisingly, there were actually hookers in there (8-10 of em). they were in somewhat sexy outfits, not quite as revealing like the hai ba trung girls in sgn. had a pool table also. i rated the girls a 7 maybe 7.5 so on the edge of acceptable. they wanted $100usd for l/t. so if you book at the phu an down the street, you are set with l/t for $100 plus room. the girls had limited english but far better than the moto girls. most were a little heavy, but cute faces. if they dropped some weight, they'd get an extra .5 on the scale. none were ugly/hideous. i'd fuck most any of them if the l/t price were $50. beers at red hot were 35,000vnd. price for you and for the lady were the same. so i bought a couple ladies a couple drinks each, only after confirming i wasn't going to get the shaft on the drink prices.

DANANG
if you look at a map of danang, you'll see the harbor in the northwest, then move east and you'll come to monkey mountain (sontra peninsula), and then south along the beach. first you have my khe beach, then marble mountain, then china beach, and finally the old fishing village of hoi an. danang city is immediately west of my khe beach. it takes about 10 minutes to get from "the city" to my khe. once you've crossed the han river (about 2 minutes or so from the city center) it is wide open spaces. so if you like to ride a motorbike, you can probably rent one and have a blast on your own. the moto traffic in the city is nothing like saigon. not too rough to negotiate your way to the han river bridge and then you are fine. bach dang is a one way street going north and tran phu is a one way street going south. staying on these streets will help as you won't have motos making turns every which way since traffic only goes one direction.

the city itself is generally a grid set up but i did get confused a few times on exactly where the hell i was. i stuck with a general "box" like i did in sgn but danang's box was a bit bigger. le duan is the border on the north (also the street that takes you to the bridge). le dinh duong is the border on the south. phan chau trinh is the border on the west and the river is the border on the east (again, the border of my box). my hotel was near the southwest corner of this box. so leaving the hotel i was typically headed north (to the commerce area) or east (the river). there is some real activity going on tran phu about two blocks south of le duan. i'd call this the city center, but not sure.

TOURIST ACTIVITIES
in order to enjoy these, you might want to ask your moto taxi for "an attitude adjustment" (think happy pizza in cambo). $10 will do the trick and you'll be set for a few days. also, if you search the net, you'll come across alot of pictures that guys took during the war. helps you realize the troops were here, in a big way. google "monkey mountain danang" and you'll find a site with 366 in the name (i think the 366th was an ammo supply unit). another good google was "hill 55 danang". that is where the real heavy shit went down.

my khe beach. i believe this is the real china beach (where the US troops were stationed). i was told that the name china beach was assigned to a stretch of beach further south to help attract tourism further down the beach. i hung out at my khe a couple times during the day. sipped some beers and water in the shade and dipped in the water. seemed clean, could see the bottom. imagine they get good surf from time to time, it was small when i was there but the shape was real nice. better beach than what i saw in nha trang or vung tao. claims of "one of the world's best beaches" might be stretching it a bit. it is nice but not a top 10 or 20 in the world.

monkey mountain or sontra peninsula. i guess the US troops occupied the top of the hills on this peninsula. you can tell the tops were shaved down for small bases, maybe helipads, etc... not much to see on the mountain but a great cruise on a moto. you cruise along the beach. then head up in the hills and you can see back to danang from the hillside. very, very nice view looking back at danang. if you are on a moto taxi, then he'll know the drill on where to turn around. if you are on your own, don't be worried about cruising through a couple of dirt/construction site sections. the road is open. once you hit a couple houses out near the point, it is time to turn around. i never saw a monkey and my moto guy told me there are no monkeys. read on the net that there were monkeys during the war. i guess they actually threw rocks at night and freaked the shit out of the boys (thought is was VC).

china beach (the new one). i took a look at this place. about twice the distance of my khe so didn't go back. nothing that my khe didn't have. checked the sandy beach resort on china beach. can't check in with a viet girl, have to get two rooms. nice looking place but too far from the city plus can't check in with a viet.

hoi an. i stayed away from here on purpose. i think it is a tourist mecca. not my kind of scene. i'm going back to danang with a buddy real soon and he wants to go here so i'll likely add an update after that visit.



SUMMARY
i'll be visiting danang again. this could be a pretty good place to set up shop for a couple months if you have time. you can rent a nice place for $200-$300/mo. then you arrange for s/t girls to come by your place. guessing you'd get the good girls at 400,000vnd as a frequent customer discount (who knows, maybe you'll become a sponsor for a couple so they can break from mamasan, although mama might come after you, and i'm not kidding). at that point, your room is $10/day and the girl is $30. i haven't seen any supermarkets but i'm sure they are here somewhere. say you spend another $15 on food/beer/moto rental. that brings you to $55/day. well below $2,000/mo and you have a pretty good quality of life (very scenic area, beach, easy to get around, friendly people, good TV, internet, airport with nonstop flight to bkk, etc...).

A PERSONAL NOTE
while i was in danang, i did alot of google searches related to the war. there are ALOT of photos on the net taken by the guys that were stationed in and around danang. i was born in 1966 so i got some exposure to the war as a kid and i lived in southern california when all the viets came to live there in the early-mid 70's. i loved looking and reading about all the shit that went down and then thinking about it while i hung on the beach with a couple beers. i don't want to get too deep here but for me, it got kind of emotional. when you think about life versus death, that can happen. maybe it was the beers, i don't know. but i can say this for sure, i won't forgot the days i spent on the beach saluting those that died on both sides. while i thoroughly enjoyed my time with the ladies, this additional mental exercise was the highlight of my trip. i don't think you can get the feel unless you are on the ground, where it happened. i didn't get this feeling from photos i saw of saigon during the war.

as i mentioned before, two googles that produced alot were "monkey mountain danang" and "hill 55 danang". not only do you get photos and such but you also find some travel blogs from the vets who came back to visit. that is really deep stuff and one can't imagine what emotions get triggered for those guys. the VC were dug in real deep about 10 miles south of danang. and from what i could tell from reading on the net, the US troops were in a constant fight with them to protect the airfield in danang. artillery, naval salvos, etc.. didn't do shit, the VC were dug in deep. the only way to clear the area was hand to hand combat (or firing at a guy two feet away). from what i gathered from the reading, it went on from 1966 to 1972 (not the war but the fight south of danang). i believe i read that the last official "search and destroy" mission was in the area of hill 55 (the padi's below were known as dodge city, a reference to the dodge of the old west. because going in there was a face to face gunfight. and they went in regularly for six years to clear the area).

one very detailed article was on historynet.com, operation meade river. this is where i got many of the facts that i've set forth here. i apologize if i made any errors in attempting to provide a brief summary.

i know this is a long report and i hope it was worth the read. if you need my moto man's name and phone number, send me a PM on this site and i'll forward it to you.

Fantastic Report. Thanx much.

Absolutely outstanding. One of those reports that doesnt really need photos because its so informative and so well written.

I would love to find a hotel that is nice but allows hookers but it sounds like its a cat and mouse game. Any ideas?

Great blueprint of how a SOLID trip report SHOULD be written. Many Thanks.

I especially appreciate this report as well.
Great information, and presented clearly.
Thanks

here are responses plus additions:

lady hotels:
i'll be back in danang in a couple days (in sgn now). i had a tour of lady friendly hotels all set up on my last morning in danang but my moto guy got a flat tire (nail in tire). so we delayed the tour until my return. the lady hotels probably won't have internet sites but should have email for booking.

freelancer disco (disco name: phuong dong):
there is a disco that i didn't go to but will check it out when i return with my buddy. i met a local viet guy (22yrs old) and he agreed to go with us. supposedly, this is where the real hot freelancers are. the viet guy claims the girls in red hot bar are nothing compared to the disco girls.

pictures:
i'm pathetic when it comes to pictures. just not a picture guy. i think that is why i'm single, my girlfriends really hated that about me.

moto guys:
once you've found your moto guy, there is little reason to talk to another one. yet you'll be hounded constantly. people park their motos on the sidewalk so you often walk in the street. walk such that traffic is coming towards you. you won't get clipped from behind, which is nice, but more important, a moto guy can't trail you for a couple blocks as you try to stroll.

s/t girls:
at the time i didn't realize it but now that i've had a couple days to reflect, i realize how cheap the s/t girls really are. there is zero cost incurred other than the girl and the room. you don't buy a beer, she doesn't have a drink, nor does her friend or her mamasan.

I was in Danang in 2004. I would have to agree with everything you have said about the place. I loved it there and the people were some of the friendliest I have met anywhere but I didn't have overly great results mongering there. I stayed at "Modern Hotel" by the river. It is not a modern hotel but it was cheap and girl friendly to an extent. You had to bring ladies in the side entrance where the massage parlor was but then they would look the other way for few hours. I believe LT would be a problem. The massage parlor ladies at Modern Hotel also did ST but I had Vietnamese friends set up everything in extremely heated and angry sounding negotiations and service was on a creaky massage table and in rooms open around the ceiling where everyone could hear everything. The first lady was pissed that my Vietnamese friends made her service me at local prices and she felt genuinely cheated she was not receiving foreigner rate. The session reflected her contempt for me. I think the lady only received 100k though plus 50k for the massage. Another time I paid 150k+50k and got a better session from another lady there. Still nothing fantastic. The best sessions I had though were karaoke girls. This was the full blown Asian style group of guys go out drinking and do the whole karaoke room thing. I do not know what the room and drinks all cost. My Vietnamese American friend paid that bill. IIRC the ladies were ~300k ST back at the hotel and I received excellent service.

All prices were negotiated for me by Vietnamese friends, not touts or anyone who had a financial interest. They were very candid that I was often being overcharged despite their best efforts on my behalf and when Vietnamese negotiate it often seems like they are about to kill each other.

My Vietnamese American friend was scoring right and left with college girls at the university there as they were away from their villages and parents and and enjoying new found freedom.

one thing i was trying to get a handle on was how my 700,000 was being split btwn the moto, the mama, and the girl. with no english being spoken, it wasn't that easy. it was a hold up money, gesture a bit, and say moto and mama, etc.... i think it was 200,000 to moto, 200,000 to mama and 300,000 to girl.

the karaoke scene is still alive, no big surprise. when i was quizing various moto guys, they all said the karaoke was "too expensive". maybe that means they don't get a cut so they don't like talking about it in a positive way.

when i hit the disco with the local viet guy, i'll remember to ask him what he pays for s/t. my moto guy said he paid 400,000 but i didn't believe that data point given his "job".

My local Vietnamese friends mentioned some disco and said that's where both the foreigners and the best of the best girls could be found. They agreed that was THE place to find the hottest chicks in town but IIRC they reckoned pricing would be like 1.2 million?? For them too, not just me. They considered that far to rich for their taste so I never made it there. OTOH, I'm thinking karaokes may run the gamut from low/mid range to very expensive. The places we went could not be described as high end by any means. Kind of dumpy two story buildings with an open store front downstairs and 3-4 karaoke rooms up stairs. Ladies were brought in and you couldn't really chose from a line up or anything. I'm thinking the entirety of the room, ladies sitting time, booze and all misc. non-sex karaoke expenses for 4 guys for the evening had to be under US$80 or I'm sure my Vietnamese American friend is too cheap to have volunteered to picked up that tap on his own. I was invited and only paid ladies for ST as negotiated by my friends. Everything was 100% in Vietnamese so I am real foggy on all the negotiations that went on.

i went to the disco last night. preparing an update with disco info and other stuff now. just a teaser, four guys (me, friend, two viets) go in and sit at a table. one other western guy in there so 99.99% viets. after about 10 minutes, a viet launched his ice bucket (full of water and ice cubes, big ice cubes) at our table. we were all soaking wet and all the stuff on our table went to the floor. not exactly the reception i had hoped for.......

back to the topic discussed a bit here, pricing for s/t. i talked with the young viet guy (22 yrs old) about the s/t "moto girl" pricing. no big surprise, a quality scale. you can get 200,000vnd service (say $12) but he said the girl would rate a 4 on a scale of 1-10. 400,000 vnd and you move to the 6 range. 700,000 for a 7-8 (no 9's or 10s). he claims the rates are the same for viets and foreigners. hard for me to believe but he has no reason to lie to me.

good customer discounts can be had, i think that is how the locals ultimately get a better girl at a lower price. but, supposedly, an infrequent customer (viet or foreign) will start at the levels noted above.

here is an update following another visit to danang:

here is an update to my recent report on danang. i spent a week in danang (posted report) and then stayed in saigon for a week. i met a buddy of mine, "john", at the sgn airport on my last day in sgn. we had booked the 8pm sgn-dad on jetstar for $45usd/one way and planned to stay 4 nights. danang is pretty dead after 10pm so we didn't have much time to enjoy on the first night. i took him to bamboo 2, the bar where you sit at tables on the sidewalk across the road from the river. we had a couple beers and called it a night.

as far as hotel, i had reserved room 901 at bamboo green central hotel (same room i had a week previous, incredible view from this room). huge room, had them bring in an extra bed (two real mattresses on top of each other). cost was $65/usd, $5 extra for breakfast and $5 extra for the bed. i had paid $55/nt for a single. here is the schedule of events:

tues: rent motos and cruise all day. relax at night. too worn out for anything.

wed: moto taxis to hill 55 (lots of fighting took place here during the war). then a s/t lady viewing followed by s/t followed by visit to the local disco.

thurs: john rented a moto and hit hoi an (i had no interest in the tourist mecca of hoi an). later john did s/t with the first moto girl i had on my previous visit.

fri: john rented a moto and cruised the harbor area. again i relaxed. i had lined up a disco gal to visit me from 1pm to 3am (this being l/t for $150usd). so i was saving energy to make the most of my $150.

sat: took the 8:30am jetstar flight to sgn.

RENTING MOTOS:
on our first day, we rented two motos (80,000vnd/day, about $5) and cruised. fuel for about 5 hrs of cruising was 20,000vnd. since i'd been around town already, i knew the layout and how to get from here to there. it isn't tough to figure out but it helps to have a moto taxi take you to a few spots first. so maybe see some stuff via moto taxi on day one and then you can rent your own moto. we hit the sontra peninsula, then back to the city for lunch, then headed south and checked out my khe beach, marble mountain, and china beach.

rented the bikes from pizza plus/bread of life restaurant, which i note in my first report. family run place (americans but in vietnam 10+ yrs), charity, staffed mainly by deaf viets. i guess the deaf viets have it pretty tough so this family has really helped them out. you leave your passport as a deposit for the rental. it takes about an hour to rent the moto. a real pain but we just dealt with it. the woman/mom can't help but give you safety after safety lesson. and then she wants to help structure your tour, etc.... i think they are good people to know if you get in trouble plus the restaurant has great food. so we bit the bullet and hung in there during the 1 hour rental ordeal. john rented a moto twice after that and it was much easier those two times.

MOTO GIRLS:
described in detail in my previous report. too worn out from the moto cruise to deal with ladies that night so john had his first viewing the next day. we hit a nice cafe on le loi st. it had a nice back patio area and we entered with our moto taxi guys from the back, call it stealth mode. the first moto girl that came in was rejected by my moto man w/o us even seeing her. we thought that was kind of odd. then we waited some more. the next girl to show was the girl i had selected from my previous trip. however, john was the one looking for a girl so having mine show up didn't help. i had thought i was just meeting mine at the s/t hotel later. it took forever to finally get a third viewing. john was okay with her and we said we'd meet at 7pm (around 4:30 at that point). at 7pm our moto guys picked us up and we headed to the s/t hotel. paid 120,000vnd for the room and 700,000vnd to the girl (820,000vnd is roughly $50/usd). john was happy with his gal although he didn't repeat with her again.

the next night john did s/t w/o me. he took my moto guy and they met mama and the moto girl on a street corner. john gave approval on the girl and they went straight to an s/t hotel (different one from night before and sounded like i had been there on my previous trip either). this was the gal i had previously that didn't move from missionary position. she is a real looker and had a nice rack. john and i both felt the $50 was worth it despite lack of position change (and bj).

NEW PHUONG DONG DISCO (20 DONG DA STREET):
john and i went to hill 55 in the am via moto taxis. hit the ho chi minh war museum in the afternoon. more on both of these later. then we had our first moto girl viewing detailed above. did s/t with the girls at 7pm. met two young viet guys (22 yrs old) at bamboo 2 bar at 8:30. i had met these guys on my previous trip and we discussed going to the disco. they said fri/sat is not the best night. too crowded. this was a wed night. we'd had a full schedule already and this visit was really more recon than anything.

i think the cover charge is 20,000vnd but we didn't pay it. the viet guys had a bottle of XO left over from another night. maybe that means you get in free next time. if you have to pay the fee, it won't set you back much. we got there about 9:30 and left a bit before midnight. places closes at 1am. our bill was about 800,000vnd ($50) and that covered beer, waters, and a large fruit plate (XO paid for already). the waiters and ladies keep your beer glass filled at all times and i can't recall how many beers john and i had. a couple ladies may have had a few beers. in any case, it isn't the cheapest place to drink as beers go for 35,000vnd at red hot bar (the other semi girlie bar). now on to the more important topic, the ladies.

upon entrance, you are shown to a table. it is staffed with a couple male waiters and 3 or 4 ladies. there are two types of ladies, which i'll call blue and red. the gals dressed in blue (tiny skirts, small tops) did go go type dancing on the bar top on a timed schedule. i believe it was three at a time. they leave your table when it is their time to dance. the red girls (red cocktail dress) also dance but not quite with the energy of the blue girls. the red girls "dance" against the back wall (behind you) while the blue are on the bar top (in front of you). if you don't really like any of the ladies that are assigned to your table, you can just grab another one as she is strolling by. not a big deal. if a girl hangs at your table for most of the time you are there, you should tip her 100,000vnd ($7usd). if you fondle her body the tip goes up to 300,000vnd ($20). the girls were definitely better looking than the red hot girls and there may have been 75+ girls in there (versus 7 or 8 in red hot). the price for l/t is $100 to $200usd, supposedly that is the price for everyone - locals and foreigners. my viet friends claim that is the case.

so that is the general overview. here is what john and i experienced. the first thing i should say is the music is REALLY LOUD. i mean really, really loud. you can't hear a thing. so communication, even with an english speaker is hard. i'd guess there were 300 people in there and only three white guys (me, john, and some other guy). we were in there maybe 10 minutes or so and all of a sudden our table was showered with water. i thought a toilet blew up on the second floor as water was dripping from the ceiling. turns out another patron tossed the contents of his ice bucket at us. all four of us were wet and our table was a mess (drinks spilled, etc...). next thing i knew, all the girls were gone from the table and we had double the amount of male waiters. plus, a full security detail of about 10 guys between our table and this other guy's table. that is when i realized that it wasn't a blown toilet. some dude had fucked with us. i didn't like that much and when i looked back at the guy he was basically shadow boxing at his table. i'm not kidding.

so at this point, i'm thinking time to exit - not worth it. this guy was worked up big time and security didn't look all that tough. i didn't want to have to keep my eye on the guy because it might get him even more worked up. but i had to because there was going to be a scuffle for sure. just a question of whether security could handle the guy. he was a thick fucker and not real tall, he wasn't going to go down easy. he kept tossing shit at us and when nothing was left to toss, he spit on us. that is when the scuffle opened for business. john and i were able to keep clear as 10+ guys cleared the patron out.

in the aftermath of the incident, i was told the guy was from korea and totally fucked up on booze and drugs. that news combined with the successful efforts of security and the return of ladies to the table made me more comfortable. i was able to relax and enjoy although i continued to struggle with communicating with the girls due to the incredibly loud music (no words, just pumping house/trance type stuff). around 11pm or so i finally decided to cut a deal with one of the ladies. she wanted $200. i said $150. she said okay. i couldn't go that night so i suggested we meet friday at 1pm (not 1am) and go until 3am. i had a flight out at 8am on sat morning. this was wed night so meeting set for two days later.

i secured a lady friendly hotel for friday and sent hotel name, address, and room number to the gal via phone text. at 1pm no lady. at 2pm, no lady. i called her at 2:30. no answer. sent a text after that. she phoned back. she thought we had agreed 1am to 3pm. i'm guessing the loud music played a part in the miscommunication. not to mention she spoke almost zero english and i can't speak vietnamese. we agreed she would show up at 6pm until 6am. at 6pm i found out she had to go to work at 8pm but could be back at 1am. i guess there is no bar fine type deal. the girl has to work every night and can't leave the bar until 1am (i'll confirm this on my return trip in oct). i was still okay with all this. got in a quick session before she went to work. then she came back at about 2am with a friend for john (he had her number from our disco visit and had my girl call her before she went to work to confirm she could come over).

now comes another good part. so the session btwn 6 and 7 is good. i try to give her half the $150 in advance but she wants $100. so i shell out 1,600,000vnd. i now owe her 800,000vnd. session at about 3am was also nice. slept about an hour and woke up to see my chick already dressed smoking a cig on my balcony. not a great sign. and let's keep in mind i'm only doing this whole thing just to say i pulled a girl from the place. i really didn't need or want to do it at $150. so i figure it is time to boot the girl. i give her the money owed and she says "no". wants $75 instead of $50. i say no chance and there is some back and forth. she gives me the $50 back. i put it in my bag and take both bags (all my stuff) into the bathroom. lock the door, shit, shower, shave.

when i emerge, her friend has arrived from john's room. now the money owed figure is up to $150. so to go back a step, john and i were discussing his misfortune of paying $150 for 1am to 6 am while i paid the same amount but got a pre work session in. now it seems my girl feels she is entitled to $150 for 1am to 6am. plus the $100 for the s/t session. this was not going to happen. so i picked up my bags and moved towards the door. then, i was carrying two bags plus a hooker on my back. she couldn't get much traction so she kicked off her heals. i still drug her sorry ass to the elevator and told her very loud, get the fuck away from me now. her friend now realized the big lie for the extra money was a loser. now there was a feeble attempt for the $50 that i did owe (the friend spoke better english but still poor).

before this money was to be forked over, i demanded that my chick go back in my empty room and not show her face to me again. not in the hallway, not in the elevator, not in the lobby, not in the street. she agreed and slunk back into my room. i paid the friend the 800,000vnd and she apologized for her friend. i said, not accepted, good bye. well all this caused quite a stir down in the lobby. there was a central stairwell so they could hear everything. it was early in the morning and they were a bit pissed off. the guy could barely prepare the bill. the girls passed silently behind me and exited while we were still checking out. i guess the friend apologized again to john about my girl's behavior.

now, this isn't the first time i've experienced a rip off/attempted rip off the morning that i'm leaving town. some girls just can't help themselves and seize this opportunity. they know you can't go to mamasan that night to complain, etc... i've had my mini bar cleaned out a few times, i've had some money stolen, and also a few cases where i had to debate the amount of money owed. i'm supposed to be back in danang in october. haven't decided if i'll go back to the disco to talk with the manager/mamasan or not. we'll see.

so to conclude on my disco experience. communication is really hard inside, i even had my viet buddy assisting. phone conversations with most girls are impossible. has to be face to face. i don't like the no barfine thing, have to wait until 1am. if i go back again, i think i'll arrive around 11pm as that is when it started to clear out a bit and then you get a better scope on the girls. i don't think many go every night so you don't lose out if you wait. plus, i'll go with the standard 1am to 3pm l/t to avoid "miscommunications".
HILL 55
we took two moto taxis to hill 55. took about 30-40 minutes to get there. while the roads were not the best, traffic was not heavy so it was an enjoyable cruise for most of the time. got to see some of the local hamlets/villages that are off the main roads. there is a statue on the hill that commemorates the viets defeat of the french in 1954. i'm guessing the hill was a strategic position in that war also. there was also a circle of concrete which is where the US had mounted a 150mm gun. not much else to see but worth the trip as you get some local color as you cruise.

HO CHI MINH MUSEUM
we were the only patrons the day we visited. no air con/no fan inside. pretty hot in there. most of the exhibits focus on the viet fight against the french for independence. which is of course how ho chi minh rose to fame so that makes sense. it was worth the visit but i'd say the war museum in saigon is a better bet for info on the war with the US.

HOI AN
i didn't go to hoi an. my buddy went on his own during the day. there are no hookers in hoi an, mostly tourists. reportedly, there are some fun bars/restaurants in the evening. but you are hanging with tourists in these venues. not viets. when i was planning my trip, i thought it might be nice to stay here as danang would likely be an "undesirable" industrial port city. but once i arrived in danang i realized danang was just fine. and the more i heard about hoi an, the happier i was that i didn't make plans to go there.