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T&C Fulham
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We were here on another cruise two years ago.

 

We are here for two days this time.

 

My thoughts are to book a trip to the Mekon Delta on the first day as we have no deadline to get back to the boat.

 

For the second day I have Ben Than Market and Quan An Ngon listed. We need to be back for a 4.00 pm sailing.

 

Any comments or suggestions fellow travellors?

 

Tony

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A few years ago, before Saigon (I refuse to say Ho Chi Minh) was a big tourist attraction, DW and I were in town on one of the first Western cruise ships (The Marco Polo) to cruise into downtown Tokyo. I took her over to the Rex Hotel for a quick lunch (at their rooftop restaurant) and then decided to go Cholon (China Town) via Trishaws. This is a pretty long ride through congested streets and it turned out to be a true adventure (I thought we would be killed by traffic). I hired two Trishaws and off we went as our two drivers raced each other as well as the crazy traffic. Somehow we survived (and go to our destination) where our drivers waited for us to finish some shopping...and then took us back to the Rex. Each driver only wanted $1 (this would not happen today) and we gave them $3 each.....although DW said they should have paid us for the years they took off our lives.

 

So before you hop into a Trishaw,,,,consider you are going to be moving through the streets surrounded by cars, buses, trucks, screaming motorbikes, etc. It is an adventure that is thrilling, but you do age very fast!

 

Hank

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Do not, under any circumstances, get into a cyclo on the street ad hoc. If you want to have a ride, organise it through your hotel, tour agency etc and have it prepaid.

 

The drivers (particularly in Saigon) are very agressive and most people who ignore this advice end up with a very sorry experience and a big hole in their wallet.

 

Just have a look at Trip Advisor, Vietnam Forum and search cyclo to be forwarned about the dangers of using them in Vietnam.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Do not, under any circumstances, get into a cyclo on the street ad hoc. If you want to have a ride, organise it through your hotel, tour agency etc and have it prepaid.

 

The drivers (particularly in Saigon) are very agressive and most people who ignore this advice end up with a very sorry experience and a big hole in their wallet.

 

Just have a look at Trip Advisor, Vietnam Forum and search cyclo to be forwarned about the dangers of using them in Vietnam.

 

That was very much our experience with the cyclos (is that the same as the "trishaws"???) in Saigon.

There were 6 of us on 3 cyclos. Before we boarded they insisted that they didn't have any set rates, it was entirely up to us.

One of our stops was the French colonial-style Post Office (superb building) - there's a tourist information desk in there and we asked them how much was reasonable.

The ride was great fun, but when we offered a pretty-generous sum compared to that TI recommendation they produced charge tables with inflated figures!

Yes, they were aggressive, but we stuck by our guns - we gave them what we'd decided and walked away. We were six - had we been a two-some it might not have been so easy. Cost us no extra, but did leave a sour taste.

 

JB :)

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We were here on another cruise two years ago.

 

We are here for two days this time.

 

My thoughts are to book a trip to the Mekon Delta on the first day as we have no deadline to get back to the boat.

 

For the second day I have Ben Than Market and Quan An Ngon listed. We need to be back for a 4.00 pm sailing.

 

Any comments or suggestions fellow travellors?

 

Tony

The Mekong Delta is a great tour. We did it a couple of years ago with Vietland Discoveries (Madama Ha). They took us by bus to the Mekong, then we went on a boat across the river, where we transferred to a smaller boat which took us to an island. There we had a tour where we had honey tea and a talk about their bee hives, then tried different fruits, heard some folk music & singing, then went in a very small boat with a local paddling us through very narrow waterways. On the way back we stopped at the Marble Mountain where we went up in a lift (or by a lot of steps if you felt fit) and to a lovely view, and went in a Marble carving workshop. I would thoroughly recommend Madame Ha. The website is at http://www.vietland-discovery.com/

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We did a homestay in the Mekong. Enjoyed it very much. One night, one and a half days. It included some touring.

 

We were in Saigon for several days (not on a cruise). We did a half day tour to the tunnels. It was a very interesting tour. Lots of travel agencies sell these tour. Cost two years ago was $20. each. There were about eight of us in the van with the guide. We also stopped at a workshop for victims of agent Orange. No hard sell, we just looked around.

 

Locals all call it Saigon and we were told quite often that the Gov't is planning to change the name back to Saigon in the near future.

Edited by iancal
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If you are looking for a fabulous guide for Mekong Delta for your cruise port in Ho Chi Minh I would recommend you contact Xuan.

 

In our 30 years of travelling with private guides he was one of the BEST!

 

Xuan is knowledgeable, passionate, enthusiastic, charming, attentive, loving, engaging, fun and a true pleasure to be with. We were fascinated by his kindness! Xuan's English is excellent!

 

He is also very accommodating and flexible in helping you plan your itinerary.

 

https://www.tourwithxuan.com/cai-be.html

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