lekatai
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Posts posted by lekatai
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Listen "Oldthaihand" I have asked you several times if you have been to Vietnam,and if so-for how long,how many times etc etc.You haven't responded at all,so I assume you have never been here.I really don't understand why you keep on posting the same old re-hashed inaccurate information.What is the point you are trying to make.All you are doing is posting "information" on sites such as tripadvisor and wikitravel,which are all sites where the content is provided by contributors from the internet.All of this content is completely unchecked by independent people.I am not going to respond to any more of your asinine postings,unless you can tell everyone the truth-have you ever been here-or are you just posting bizarre and inaccurate information from a basement somewhere in your village?? Tell the truth Please
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Well,I think in most countries,essentially the government tells you what to do!! But,certainly in Vietnam,the government restrictions have been greatly relaxed over the past few years.Tonight,when I was talking to the Vietnamese guys,the main thread of their conversation was that:-Yes-some years ago,there were many restrictions in force,i,e, where you could travel ,what you could do,and where you could stay.But-when I asked them directly-can a non-Vietnamese person live with a Vietnamese citizen? their answer was completely unanimous-"Why not"And when I pressed the point,they were all in agreement,if you(as a foreigner) are with a Vietnamese person who is your girlfriend,there is absolutely no problem at all.BUT If the hotel suspects that the person you are with is a bar girl (or-as they said-a" taxi girl") then,yes,there may be a problem,because they don't want to fall foul of the police,and be accused of facilitating prostitution.When I asked them"is it against the law for a non-Vietnamese person to live with a Vietnamese citizen?"they were all in agreement,and said that-no of course it wasn't.in fact many of them had friends or relatives who were in this situation.Things are changing rapidly in Vietnam,and unless you actually have personal information about living here,and you only rely on Google to supply information which is many years out of date,then it might be better to "" With the greatest of respect of course (Spidermike-this is not aimed at you)
Respect to "Thaivisa" the "deleted" part of my post was automatically deleted by your website-I didn't know that was possible-automatic censorship,so much for criticising the Vietnamese government!!
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Who on earth needs to spend time in a country that had a government that is as pig headed, backwards, obnoxious and ridiculous as the Vietnamese govt? Why? I do not need govt. minders telling me what is moral, and what is not. Reminds me of the morally righteous preachers in the US. Catch up with the times. Why such fear of freedoms? I am thrilled I do not live there.
Spidermike007
Well,I do live here,and I've never found it to be like that.I've lived in Cambodia and Thailand(and of course the UK) and Vietnam is the easiest country to run a business in,and generally live in,out of all those.I've lived here for 4 years and never experienced any problems,so why do you think it's so bad?
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I have actually spent several hours tonight in the bar(My bar in Vietnam-where I have lived for 4 years) talking to Vietnamese guys about this subject-some teachers(Vietnamese teachers who teach English),a tour guide,and a policeman/local government guy-not sure exactly what he does.Tomorrow,I will summarise exactly what they said.BUT what I have said all along is what they confirmed tonight.There is no law in Vietnam that prevents a foreigner co-habiting with a Vietnamese citizen.You can quote as many unnamed sources as you like ,but,as I have said before-you have no idea what you are talking about.I asked you on the forum a simple question-have you ever been to Vietnam? If so,how many times,where to,for how long?? As of now,you have not replied.I sent you a PM,asking the same question-as yet no reply/Why on earth would I want to contact the US government?? What are you talking about??Now=will you actually answer the question-have you ever been to Vietnam,if so when,for how long,how many times,where etc etc NO-I didn't think so.Stop posting abstruse references and come clean.
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Right,it's a simple question.Have you ever been to Vietnam,if so,how many times,where and for how long?Not too difficult to answer,so perhaps instead of posting random,inaccurate and out of date information,you can answer these very simple questions.
BTW the last two links you have posted are from 2007 and 2001-both are well out of date and completely irrelevant
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There's one of which I am a member which is expat-blog.com,this has a Vietnamese section.You are correct,though,there aren't nearly so many expats living here,and because of the system of government,many of the blogs/forums that exist in other S.E.Asian countries would probably not be allowed in similar formats here in Vietnam
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With reference to the last poster,I wasn't going to bother to reply,because,as I said previously,I don't normally respond to pedants,or for that matter people who can't seem to understand simple English.The thread,as started by the OP,is about Vietnamese women,so it appears to have gone a bit off topic.However,I think I can claim to know a bit more about Vietnam than some others who have never been here,,as I actually do live in Vietnam,and have done so for more than 4 years.Most of the links supplied by the last poster are either out of date,or simply rumour or anecdotal,and not hard facts.The fact is that it is NOT illegal for a foreigner to co-habit with a Vietnamese citizen.There is NO legislation to make such behaviour illegal.I have already supplied the exact name of the relevant legislation,a simple Google search will reveal the Vietnamese version,and several brief translations of certain relevant parts into English.However,as I said before,I have not been able to find an online certified complete translation of this legislation.If it were illegal to cohabit,then there would,of course,be legislation which would clearly state this to be so.There isn't any.The only things that are illegal are both engaging in,and facilitating prostitution,(i.e providing a hotel room)and failing to register with the police when staying at an address other than your home.When I first traveled to Vietnam 8 years ago,with my then Vietnamese girlfriend,we were never asked for a marriage certificate,but apparently,(after having spoken to my wife about what was said when we checked into hotels),they only asked her if we were married-not to actually produce a certificate.At that time I spoke no Vietnamese,so had no idea what they were talking about.I can only suppose that after speaking to my wife,and satisfying themselves that she was not a bar girl,they were Ok to let us stay in the hotel,even though we were not married-certainly we were never refused a room.In the 4 years we have lived here they have never even asked if we were married when checking in to a hotel.I have no doubt that in certain areas of Vietnam that police corruption exists,but,apart from the "coffee money" (similar to Thai "tea money") asked for when needing an official document immediately,I've not personally experienced any such demands,although we run a business which needs licences and permits,and there aren't many days when we don't interact in some way with the local government or police.I also drive a motorbike, and although every day we drive past the police checkpoint at least four times,I've never been stopped or asked for any money.Nor when passing through the Vietnamese/Cambodian border,which I do frequently.The current government has introduced an anti-corruption unit,and promised to crack down severely on corruption.Recently several people have been sentenced to death for high level corruption,others have received lengthy prison sentences.Obviously it is going to be difficult to eradicate corruption,which has been endemic for so long,but the government appears to be sincere in it's efforts.I read the online English version daily Vietnamese newspapers on most days,and also talk to local Vietnamese people about such issues.Whereas a few years ago,the Vietnamese were reluctant to be critical of the "system" that reluctance has to a certain extent diminished,and although Vietnam is a Socialist country,with a centralised economy,there have been big changes in the way the country is run,and from what I can see,most of those changes have been for the better.It's certainly much easier to live and work in Vietnam than it is in Thailand,(or for that matter the UK)It can be an arduous task to obtain whatever paperwork you need (although not in all cases) but once you have the required piece of paper,then it's quite straightforward.I'm not a lawyer,although I'm perfectly capable of reading legislation and understanding it,and my knowledge of the Vietnamese language is very limited-it's a very difficult language to speak,although slightly easier to read/write.I would be interested to know exactly how many times the last poster has been to Vietnam,and how long he has stayed here,but I'm not going to engage in a keyboard battle,if any other poster has any sensible questions about living in Vietnam,or to get back to the OP's question,about the ladies here,then I will do my best to reply
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I will reply one more time,as I don't normally respond to pedants,but as I said,I've personally traveled around Vietnam for 8 years with my Vietnamese girlfriend(now wife),and we have lived here for over 4 years.On many occasions we have stayed in hotels in Vietnam and not once have we been asked for a marriage certificate.And what I meant by the phrase "I have no personal knowledge of anything like this happening in Vietnam" was that I have never MET anyone who has been to Vietnam, who has been threatened by the police,had money extorted from them,or been beaten to a pulp.Nor have I ever personally experienced it .Nor have any of my friends who live here I do personally know people who have not been permitted to take a Vietnamese lady back to their hotel room,or,if they were allowed to,had to pay for a second room,so that on paper at least,the hotel was in the clear.However,on all those occasions the lady in question was a bar girl,and this was mostly several years ago.I'm quite sure it still happens,but,as I have said repeatedly,it's not against the law for a foreigner to cohabit with a Vietnamese national.Certainly where I live,there are several foreigners living with Vietnamese ladies,as long as they register with the local police,have all their documents in order,a correct visa,work permit(if required),and report to the police at the requred intervals,then the fact that they are not married is irrelevant.I have friends living in Phu Quoc,Saigon,and Vung Tau,who all cohabit with Vietnamese ladies,and none of them have had the slightest problem with the authorities,as long as their Immigration and work status is correct.Perhaps "oldthaihand99" can explain on what grounds he knows so much about Vietnam,do you live here,or travel here extensively?
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I made a typo when making my post.The legislation I referred to is in fact "The Marriage and Family Law Act 2000" which came into force on 1st Jan 2001.Article II of this act dealt with the situation of cohabitation,and made it clear that this practice was not now considered to be illegal.Article VII deals with the involvement of foreign nationals involved in marriage to a Vietnamese,and makes it clear that in this respect foreign nationals are to be treated in an equal way to Vietnamese citizens as long as all aspects of the marriage follow Vietnamese law..The legislation doesn't say that it is legal for a Vietnamese person to cohabit with a non Vietnamese,but nor does it say that it is illegal.As far as I am aware,there is no other legislation in Vietnam that refers to this type of situation.So-in the absence of any law which specifically prohibits co-habitation,it's legal.What isn't legal,though is the failure to register with the local police.whenever you stay at an address different to your home address.If I go to my wife's home town and stay with the in-laws,then my mother in law has to take my passport to the local police and register me as staying at the address.They have never asked to see our marriage certificate. Whenever we stay in a hotel,we have never been asked for our marriage certificate,although of course we must produce our passports-my wife's is in her maiden name.As far as "oldthaihand99" s posts are concerned,perhaps you could indicate how extensive your personal knowledge of Vietnam is-not stories harvested from the internet.BTW the Yahoo post you quote is 5 years old,and no matter what the "Asian Gigolo" says-it's just a story,you shouldn't believe everything you read on the internet.Of course prostitution is illegal in Vietnam,and I would imagine that this is the main reason some hotels enforce this non-existent law,is that either they fear the consequences of a police raid,or they seek extra income by circumventing the "law" by renting 2 rooms on paper to the guest
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.I should have made it clearer that I have no personal knowledge of anything like this happening in Vietnam-only stories off the internet,and urban legends.I've traveled extensively in Vietnam over the last 8 years,am married to a Vietnamese lady,and I have lived in Vietnam for over 4 years.Whereas 8 years ago,it was sometimes the case that we were asked for a marriage certificate,that hasn't happened for years With regard to your links to other sites=firstly the Stickman story is just that-it's a story,it's not fact and sounds more like fiction/fantasy to me.The story is titled "Crazy B*itch" and the writer is "Asian Gigolo".Say no more. In any case the allegation was one of rape,which eventually got watered down to causing a disturbance.Nothing to do with sharing a room with a Vietnamese citizen
As far as the US government website advice goes-my information is that this piece of advice is outdated,the law having been changed in 2000.
In relation to the Tripadvisor link,firstly it was written in 2007-7 years ago,when the old law was still being enforced by some hotels-for whatever reason,either because they didn't know the law had changed,they didn't understand the law,or they didn't want to encourage prostitution,or have even the smallest chance that they would fall foul of the law.
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It is illegal for unmarried mixed couples to stay in the same room and many hotels (certainly 4 and 5 star) will insist you book separate rooms.
There are reports of VN police doing this to violators they've caught:
a. fines up to hundreds of USD
b. jail time
c. beating guys into a pulp
The law in VN is comparable to Laos where fines have been in the 1000's of USD.
The Philippines, though, may be the worst of all. There are cases where PI LE have colluded with girls falsely accusing guys of rape & holding serious prison time over their heads to extort large sums of cash.
It may therefore be advisable to avoid relations with women in any of these 3 nations.
Well,actually,it isn't really clear whether it is still illegal for a foreigner to cohabit with a Vietnamese citizen,if they are not married.There are reports here that whilst it used to be against the law,the situation was changed in 2000 (9th June),when the "Marriage and Family Law 200" law was enacted.Unfortunately I haven't been able to find a certified translation of this law,but it appears that this legislation recognised that co-habitation was not illegal,but did not afford it an equal legal status to marriage.Some hotels still apply the 1986 statute,possibly because of ignorance of the change in the law,but also possibly they wish to deter prostitution,as their assumption is, that if a young Vietnamese female is in the company of an older non Vietnamese,then she may be engaged in that profession.I have certainly never heard of anyone being fined or sent to jail for this,and "beating guys into a pulp" is absurd.Another urban myth.I understand that the situation in Laos may well be as the last poster says,and as for his last point about the Philippines,I can confirm he is 100% accurate.A good friend of mine was set up by a woman who he had regarded as a friend,in collusion with the local police.He was arrested,spent several weeks in jail,before getting bail,then jumped bail and left the country/He didn't leave it at that,though,he went to his Embassy and made an official complaint against the police who had set him up.He was going to return to the Philippines to take the complaint further,luckily he took our advice to never go back,as his life would have been in danger had he followed such a course of action
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I recently heard a story about a farang aged in his 60's dating a vietnamese girl aged in her 20's. Her father was not so happy about it until such time as a new business had been set up for the youngster. Now all is good and he is accepted. The vietnamese are ALL about money. You will find this out on your first day when everyone is trying to shaft you the moment you step off the plane.
Why do people keep on spouting this utter nonsense.While Vietnam has it's share of opportunist touts at places like airports and borders,it's no worse than any other Asian country.To say that the Vietnamese are all about money is incorrect.They are certainly good business people,and they don't beat around the bush,but they are more straightforward than Thai's and certainly,when you get to know them,more friendly and helpful.They don't have the attitude of the Thai's that their country is the centre of the world-they have been occupied by other countries,and now they are more open minded and willing to accept change than other countries in the region
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Docno, you don't know anything about the matter so please keep it to yourself.
The Vietnamese will overcharge ANYONE that falls prey to them, poor or rich.
Their society simply don't value honesty as a virtue.
Well,in this case it's you that clearly knows nothing about the matter.I've lived in Vietnam for 4 years,run a business here,and travelled extensively in Vietnam.It's a myth,propagated for some reason,by people who have never been to Vietnam that this is the behaviour here.It isn't.Of course,just as in all countries in the world,and not only Asia,there are some,touts,taxi drivers,moto drivers etc,who will try to rip off non-locals.But it isn't widespread common practice in Vietnam.Certainly no more than in Cambodia or Thailand.It's especially easy to be confused in Vietnam over the currency,as there are such large numbers involved,and some of the different banknotes of greatly differing values,actually look quite similar.There are cases where people have been taken advantage of,but I am also personally aware of many times when the mistake has been pointed out,and the wrong (higher value) note has been returned by the vendor.
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Good, Vietnam is one of the most racist countries in the world, now their people are being affected they don't like it.
When they are in their own country they see no problem in charging 5 times the Vietnam price to tourists.
Hypocrisy at its highest !
Absolute nonsense-The former practice of charging one price for Vietnamese and one price for foreigners-such as for train tickets,has been discontinued a long time ago.What about the Thai charges for entering national parks-one price for Thai,and another for foreigners,actually written on the entrance sign,and also tourist attractions-similar dual pricing.No such policy exists in Vietnam.And to claim that Vietnam is more racist than Thailand is laughable.I lived in Thailand for 4 years,and now in Vietnam for the last 4 years,and I have never,and I emphasise never,experienced such behaviour from the Vietnamese,whereas it is an everyday occurrence in Thailand
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I agree with most of what you say but to say the infrastructure is better is just crazy. The infrastructure here (I'm in Saigon right now) is still terrible. For example last weekend I drove from Krabi to Phuket (150 km) in less than 2 hours. Saigon to Mui Ne (230 km) takes 4 hours or more. As bad as things are in Thailand right now Vietnam matches them in corruption and will never achieve it's economic potential as long as the communists are in power.
Well,yes,you do have a point about the roads,I think the problem there is that they weren't designed for the volume of traffic that there is now,and aren't wide enough.However,from what I've seen over the last few months,there seem to be a lot of major roadworks going on,a lot of rivers being bridged,where before there were ferries,and roads being widened,or new roads built.I travelled on the new Dalat to Nha Trang road a few months,ago,that's a really good road,and the roads in the Delta around Long Xuyen and Can Tho are lots better than a few years ago.I also meant things like airports,I think there are now 9 International airports in Vietnam,and basic services like the internet ,water and electricity,all of which are very cheap and easily available.As far as corruption goes,hasn't the Thai Prime minister just been sacked for corruption!? Vietnam has recently introduced a hotline to report corruption,and there have been several recent high profile cases where officials have received long prison sentences for corruption.Three Vietnamese bankers received the death penalty a few months ago,as well as two executives last year in the now defunct Vinalines shipping company.So I think they are cracking down on it.What you might call corruption at a low level exists,in the form of a small amount of "coffee money",should you require official paperwork to be completed swiftly,If you decline to pay,it just takes the normal time to complete it ,but having run a business in Vietnam for 4 years,we have never been approached by any official for any money or gift.I'm not saying the country or the system is perfect,but it does seem to work,maybe we are lucky to live in a small,but fairly prosperous town,the people here are happy,and more friendly than anywhere else I've lived in Asia over the last 10 years
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One of the biggest differences there, is there is a very powerful taboo against western men being with a local woman. Very unlike Thailand. So, you will find the woman will not even be willing to be seen in public with you. If she does, loads of scorn will be heaped on both of you. Vietnamese are largely a very cold, distant, closed minded people. They do not carry the level of fulfillment and happiness that the Thai people manage to manifest on a daily basis. Sometimes, it feels like each soul there is carrying the burden of the last two centuries on their shoulders. Not a happy lot by any stretch of the imagination. And I have been there several times, in both the north and the south, though I will say the south is infinitely more pleasant than the north, where an oppressive pall hangs in the air constantly.
Absolute rubbish.For "They do not carry the level of fulfillment and happiness that the Thai people" read "They do not carry the level of ignorance and self importance that the Thai people" There is no taboo about being seen with a western man,I know plenty of westerners who are with Vietnamese ladies,and there is no such feeling evident.I've visited Vietnam many times over the last 8 years,am married to a Vietnamese lady,and have lived in Vietnam for over 4 years,at no time have I ever experienced any such behaviour.Nor has she.I also lived in Thailand for 4 years,and I've seen plenty of anti western sentiment there.To say that Vietnamese are cold,distant and closed minded is simply ridiculous,and shows you know nothing about the country or its people.They are far more aware of the outside world,many because they have close relatives living in other countries (largely due to the outflow of refugees during and after the American war)The regulations concerning free movement and free enterprise in Vietnam have been hugely reduced after the events of 1993,and although Vietnam (or to give it it's correct name-The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam)is of course a Communist country,this in practice means that although there is a centralised economy,there is also a large amount of small scale free enterprise.The country is generally speaking in far better shape than Thailand,the infrastructure is better,and improving rapidly.The political situation is far more stable than Thailand,and in my opinion in a few years Vietnam will overtake Thailand in terms of both tourism and economic performance
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Best way I have found is to get a minibus from the "35 group" Their office is on 3rd Road,just around the corner from Pattaya Tai.They have minibuses leaving Pattaya at 07.00 09.00 11.00 and 13.00.They will pick you up at your hotel which is included in the price.They actually go to Laem Ngop for Koh Chang,but,if you tell them you want to go to Trat,they drop you off at a town about 18km from Trat,(it's called something like Sankat) This costs 350THB,and takes about 3.5 hours.From there you take a songthaew to Trat bus station(200THB) if it's only you,or 20THB pp if it's full.From there a minibus to the border takes about 90 minutes and costs 120THB.I've done this journey many times,and it's the best way to do it that I've found so far.If you get the 07.00 minibus,you should be in Koh Kong by around 14.00-15.00 for less than 700THB.AFAIK there are no minibuses that take you all the way to Had Lek from Pattaya,the Trat minibus mafia put a stop to that.
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I have gone through the online application for my Thai wife’s next visa to England and hit a snag. She has previously been granted 3 visas all applied for manually, the last one being a 5 year visa.
The problem is the section for her parents who both passed away some time ago. It is asking as a compulsory requirement their dates of birth. She has never had this information and tells me that it would be impossible for her to obtain. What do we do? Surely they can't insist on this information if impossible to get and also why should it be relevant to the application when they have long since passed away.
When I applied for a visit visa for my wife via old website,the instructions were,that if you didn't know this information,then enter the date of birth as 01/01/1900.I've just completed an application on the new website,where this instruction is not given,and entered the dates as before,the application was accepted(on the website at least) so I assume this is still the way to do it
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As the last poster says,get a 30 day Ordinary visa on arrival in Cambodia,if flying in,it will cost 25USD,if crossing a land border,they will invariably demand more-up to 1500THB at the notorious Koh Kong border.Once in Cambodia get a 90 day extension,which is added to the initial 30 days,this however,is only single entry / exit.Only 6 and 12 month extensions are multi entry.The cost for a 90 day extension is about 120 USD,it varies from agent to agent.Usually takes 3 working days to obtain the extension
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Unfortunately,it is not completely clear exactly how this will work-the translations into English that I have seen are fairly broad,and I can foresee teething troubles.Firstly,the directive doesn't include land borders:-there is no land border with Phu Quoc,it's an island.If it is a cruise ship calling at An Thoi port in the south of the island,or a direct flight in to Phu Quoc from outside Vietnam,(The first international flight-from Russia-landed a few weeks ago)then it's pretty clear-cut,travelers of most nationalities get 30 days on arrival,there is no fee for this.But it isn't clear how it will work if people fly in to (for example) Saigon airport from outside Vietnam,and then transfer to the domestic terminal for the flight to Phu Quoc,as the two terminals aren't connected.Unless they alter the layout at Saigon airport to create a transit area and escort passengers straight to the flight,or possibly issue a 30 day entry stamp only valid for Phu Quoc upon arrival at Saigon,it's not clear how it will actually work.And will the airline allow passengers to board the aircraft,who don't have a valid visa for Vietnam,but who say they are going to Phu Quoc?It will be very interesting to see what actually happens on 10th March
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I've done this journey many times,and the easiest way I have found is to get a minibus from Pattaya from a company called "35 Group" Their office is now on 3rd Road,just round the corner from Pattaya Tai,on the way to Pattaya Klang.(Office has moved from Pattaya Tai up by the Sukhumvit Road)Minibuses leave at 07.00,09.00,11.00 and 13.00.They will pick you up from your hotel,this costs 350THB and take you to a town called Santung (spelling?) which is about 16km north of Trat The minibuses then go to Laem Ngop for Koh Chang,although I believe the 13.00 bus actually goes to Trat.From Santung you take a songthaew to Trat bus station(200THB if you take the songthaew by yourself,or 20B per person if you wait for it to fill up.Then a minibus to the border,120THB.The border doesn't close at 17.00,it did many years ago,until recently it closed at 20.00,now,apparently a recent announcement by Immigration says it closes at 22.00.A taxi from the border to Koh Kong town is 10USD-including the bridge toll,a moto about 5USD. It's about 8km.Good point about an e-visa,if you apply for a visa on arrival here,the Immigration guys ask for 1200THB,and might eventually settle for 1000THB-way over the correct price.Get an e-visa and that really annoys them!!
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Well,actually the last poster is incorrect.People that live in HCMC refer to it (at least the central part-District 1) as Saigon.The airport code is SGN and certainly in the South of Vietnam,all buses going there are labelled as such.ie. Ha Tien to Saigon,.Can Tho to Saigon etc.
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You don't say when you are thinking of traveling,but if it's in the near future,bear in mind that it will be "Tet" the Vietnamese New Year (Same as the Chinese New Year) at the end of January,and beginning of February.For at least a week before that,and two weeks after,it can be very difficult to book flights,trains and even bus or ferry tickets,as there are a huge number of people traveling during this time,and most forms of transport are booked solid.If it's after that,then there shouldn't be a problem
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With regards to the last poster but 1.I live in Vietnam and have done so for 3+ years,before that we lived in Thailand 4+ years and Cambodia 1+ year.In my view Vietnam is catching up rapidly with Thailand in respect of infrastructure and amenities,and in a few years will be far ahead.it's hardly surprising that in the 60's,after years of war,the country was in a poor state,but,wherever you go now,there are road improvements,new bridges,ports and airports,as well as golf courses,marina's,hotels and condo developments .I think Vietnam now has 9 International airports.Tourism has started to take off,it's much cheaper in Vietnam for hotels and entertainment,and there are some exceptionally beautiful areas of the country.There are some downsides-English is not widely spoken outside the major tourist sites,and Vietnamese people can sometimes be rather abrupt,but generally speaking it is by far the best of the three countries we have lived in,taking everything into account.Well worth visiting
Edit:- just noticed you said you were thinking of going in January-be aware that Tet (Vietnamese/Chinese New Year) is at the end of Jan 2014.Travel around this time,and for quite some time before and after can be difficult and expensive,as millions of people travel to Vietnam and move internally during this period.If you are going then it's essential to book transport and preferably hotels in advance,as many places are fully booked months in advance.
Hi
Thanks for your useful posts.
I live in Thailand, have never been to Vietnam and looking on line was considering Da Nang for a 5 or 6 day visit next January.
Have you been there?
If it is suitable for some day time sightseeing then out in the evening for a nice meal( preferably international/continental ) followed by a beer or two, I`d likely be more than happy.
Difficult question I know but if you`ve been would appreciate your thoughts.
Yes I have been to Da Nang by train ,but not actually stayed there,we went there in order to go to Hoi An,which is not on the train line.Hoi An is definitely worth visiting,it's full of old buildings,there are some good cheap (c 15-20USD) hotels,and some great bars and restaurants.It's about 40 minutes from Da Nang by taxi (c12-15USD) The only downside of Hoi An is that it is very touristy,and it can occasionally be annoying to be pestered to buy shoes/clothes etc etc,but a polite "NO" usually suffices.But,because there are so many hotels.restaurants etc it's actually quite cheap to go there
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what with executions in Vietnam?
in Vietnam General Chat
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Last year Vietnam started to manufacture the drugs used in executions here,and has resumed executing prisoners