vietnam 10-update

Guidebook Update: Vietnam 10Unverified Traveller Submitted Updates 24-Nov-2011

Page Traveller Corrections and Updates

35 Apr 10, Harry Newton, Ho Chi Minh did marry, in 1927. See Duiker's biography or the Wikipedia article on Ho Chi Minh.

70 Sep 09, ERIN SHARAF, The phonetic pronunciation of "I am a vegetarian" is incorrect. It should be "Doy un Jai" not "Doy un Jay".

86 Oct 10Hanoi; SOS International Clinic; Has moved to another location, at West Lake.

90 Oct 09Hanoi taxi scam: I fell into a taxi scam trap as well. When I arrived at the Long Bien train station in the early evening, I wanted to take a taxi to the hotel. I discarded several offers and searched for one of the four taxi companies recommended by LP as "reliable". I found a Taxi CP. However the meter was seriously rigged. I payed 220.000 D for a short trip that should have cost no more than a third of this. So much for the "reliable" Taxi CP.

90 Oct 09Dangers & annoyances section for Hanoi: you talk a lot about taxi and hotel scams. However theft/pickpockets are hardly mentioned. I had my photo camera

stolen by a group of three young guys at the Ngoc Son Temple entrance. One of them pretended to try to sell me something (postcards CDs - like so many other street vendors in Hanoi) while the other two must have taken advantage of my being distracted to snatch my camera which was attached in a pocket to my belt. As is the case with these guys I didn't notice until later when I reached for my camera and it was gone. To make matters worse the lady at the ticket booth and the guy taking the tickets at the door who must have seen it acted like they hadn't seen anything and didn't even speak English (when before the lady did) - so they must be some sort of accomplices to the gang. I am writing this to warn other travellers of it as I am sure this was not the last time the use this trick. To be honest because LP warns mostly of taxi/hotel scams I have not been very alert to pickpockets in Hanoi.

Vietnam 10 / August 2009 / ISBN: 9781741791594

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90 Jun 09I would like to warn other travellers of a serious scam operating daily in Han oi Vietnam.2 days ago I lost all my money as well my camera. If you are approached by a local they will ask you where you are from it doesnt matter what you say they will then say that they have a sister going ther next month and that she is very nervous and would you like to meet with her and tell her all about the place where she is going. The will take you home to meet the sister make an elaborate lunch and have small taslk for a while. The sister is well prepared with maps etc and after lunch you will be given some vietnamese tea obviously spiked with i dont know what but it knocks you out after one short sip (as it doesnt taste too hot) when you come to you will realize that you still have your bum bag on but the contents will be gone. Going to the police serves no purpose at all as they will just laugh. ( i spent 7 hours in 3 different police stations). The police will not speak a word of english or any other language for that matter so do not treat it as a serious problem. They know it is going on on a daily basis but are doing nothing to stop it. I

90 Oct 09, LEONHARD ORGLER, The Taximeter Scam: Today I arrived in Hanoi by train. A young man offered me a taxi ride to my hotel, and he immediately offered “Taxi Meter”. So I agreed. He put my big bag on the front seat and I sat down in the back. My big bag was leaning against the taximeter so I could not see it. But I could see it’s reflexion in the window. And it went up very very fast. We started at 9 000 Dong as usual but within two minutes we were up to more than 100 000 Dong. The driver must have had a secret button somewhere to speed up the taximeter. Because when I put away my big bag and started to argue the taximeter went at the same speed as I was used to it from other Vietnamese cities. At my destination the taximeter showed 140.000 Dong, but I was only willing to pay 30.000 Dong. And the driver shut off his taximeter and started to bargain! And yes I reported it to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism.

91 Jan 10On pp 91-92 you list Especen Hotel (Hanoi) in the map legend as "see 141." 141 is Offroad Vietnam and is located in the C2 section of the map grid. You accurately describe the Especen Hotel (one of your "picks") on p. 104 as being close to the Cathedral which is in the B4 section. So the map designation for this hotel is wrong (and really threw me off).

92 Aug 09Restaurant Bobby Chinn has changed address, is now at: 77 Xuan Dieu Street, Tay Ho District, Hanoi. The telephone number and website remains the same






92 Sep 09The map of the Old Quarter of Hanoi has Hotel Especen situated in the incorrect place. Your key has it cited in C2 (number 141) in the old quarter where as in actual fact it is B2/B3. As a recommended hotel many people may repeat the wild goose chase! I discovered this while pointing a taxi driver in entirely the wrong direction having got off the night train at 4AM and circling the city for quite some time!!

92 Jan 11, Wendy Barker, Number 71 on map is incorrectly placed. it should be nearer the lake, across the

road and towards 110. number 129 no longer exists. It is now a large modern shopping mall complex

number 77 has changed hands. it is no longer called Cyclo and the small lane it is shown to be on doesn't exist.

92 Oct 10, Yvonne Bierings, Hanoi Garden restaurant; is on the map on page 92 in the wrong street.

93 Nov 09Bobby Chin Restaurant in Hanoi is closed. The location is a building site with no indication that the business has moved elsewhere.

96 Oct 10, Magnus Olsson & Catharina Treber, Entrance fee in Ngoc Son Temple changed from 3.000 to 10.000 d. Not much for us but ...

96 Aug 10, Ronny Vorbeck, Ngoc son temple: price is 10000 d

104 Jun 10Hanoi: Bamboo Hotel: The location of the hotel on the 'Old Quarter' map (page 98) is wrong. The hotel is located at block C2, about 2 shops south of 'Tandoor' restaurant ('Tandoor' restaurant is number 99 on that map). Additional phone number: 04 3926 1383

104 Dec 10, Megan Dredge, Hanoi: Bamboo Hotel; Street address is correct, but the location reference on the map is wrong.

105 Nov 10, Claudia Aebi, Khanh Sinh Hotel has been renamed to Royal Orchid Hotel (http://hanoiroyalorchidhotel.com). Tourist trap: The website (http://www.khanhsinhhotel.com/) leads you to a hotel, that doesn't exist anymore and has "lonely planet" as a reference on their website.

105 Jan 10Hanoi: Artist Hotel: Some of our customers can't contact us. Our new email address is [email protected]






105 Oct 11Hanoi: Khanh Sinh Hotel; The hotel is now called: Orchid Hotel. Email doesn't work (as specified).

108 Sep 10, jeffrey eng, Hanoi: I tried to go to the Quan Malay restaurant, which you listed as 65P Hai Ba Trung. I could not find the restaurant. I asked a business with a similar address (65B or something), and she said the restaurant has since closed. I did not try calling.

108 Nov 10, Rubén García-Benito, Hanoi; Club 51 Ly Thai To; Now called "Ly Club", has moved to a new place two minutes walking from the old location. Address: 4 Le Phung Hieu sreet, Hoan Kien District;

109 Dec 10, Megan Dredge, Hanoi; Havana Club; No longer there!

109 Dec 10, Megan Dredge, Hanoi; KOTO is not on map 92 as it says in the book. It is only shown on map 88 and 89 #51, B4.

109 Aug 11, Valerie & Mario Schnee, Hanoi: Koto: You are stating that the spot can be found on the map on page 92 but it is actually on the map on page 88/89

110 Jun 10, Helen Scott, Hanoi: Luna d'autunno has moved. From 1 May 2010 they are located at 78 Tho Nhuom, Hanoi.

110 Oct 11In Hanoi caught taxi to Maison Vanille to find it is now a clothing shop. Definitely

had right address so please update next edition. You owe me $0.60 for taxi!

112 Nov 10, Alex Long, Hanoi; The address has changed. Puku is no longer located at 60 P Hang Trong-- it is now located at 16 Dong Duy Tan

112 Jan 11, Andrew Tzembelicos, Fivimart grocery store in Hanoi is not on the street listed on p. 112, but one street over, at 27A Ly Thai To Street. (This would probably best be confimed.)

112 Nov 09I would like to inform you that Culi Cafe has been closed down and Wide Eyed Tours office has been moved from 40 Luong Ngoc Quyen St, Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi, to 48/75 Yen Phu St, Tay Ho district, Hanoi.






115 Feb 11, Kirsti Hirvonen, Jazz Club By Quyen Van Minh has moved to a new address and changed name:

Binh Minh Jazz Club, 65 Quan Su St , 3rd floor (next to Quan Su Pagoda)

118 Jan 11, Ralpha, GETTING THERE & AWAY: Vietnam Airlines has a new Tel # : 3832 0320.

119 Nov 10, Dermot Byrne, Recommend that people travelling to Lao Cai buy their tickets at the railway station in Hanoi if they know the day they want to travel. Agents on Cat Ba island charge 50 to 150% commission to give you a voucher for a ticket which you then have to collect at a travel agent in Hanoi. This invariably costs you more money to get a taxi to collect it.

120 Jan 10Hanoi: the recommended taxis from airport (Airport Taxi) need to be checked! We took the one your guide recommended (Airport Taxi) and the driver brought us to the wrong hotel and the scam was on..."hotel full why not use this one".

120 Jul 09, JOHN GOTHARD, Regarding Vietnam my wife and I spent over a year in Hanoi. Warn visitors NOT to trust taxi meters - especially the small taxis. Agree a price for a destination first. Tip. Whenever possible we went to a large reputable hotel when we needed a car and took one of the taxis waiting outside - these are usually associated with a taxi firm.

121 Jan 10, FRANTS STAUGAARD, The Ho Chi Minh Trail Museum presents visitors with very important and thought provoking material. It should be on the top priority list for all travellers visiting Hanoi. But you have got the opening hours wrong: this museum is open Mon-Sat 07.30-11.00 and 13.30-16.30, closed Sundays (costing us US$30 for one trip in vain). Never mind, we went back and highly appreciated the collections on the following day.






142 Jan 11At least in December (out of season), the tourist boat to Cat Ba, does not reach Cat Ba town, but rather drops you off at the remote Cang Gia Luan pier in the north of the Island (40 km from cat ba town). On its way you see very little of

Halong bay. At Cang Gia Luan, there is absolute nothing, and also no public transportation to any other place. So there are only a few cab or xe-om drivers, who try to blackmail

you to pay 50 or 20 USD to get you to the town.The same afternoon we arrived there, many other tourists were dropped at the same pier from a tour they had booked in Hanoi, and faced similar problems. The situation was very aggresive, and travellers should absolutely avoid to be dropped at this pier.

142 Jan 11, Reinier Bakels, Some sources quote three classes of Halon Bay tours: budget ($30), regular ($70) and luxury ($140)(all numbers just as an indication of course). It seems that the first two categories are virtually the same. I was given the option to spend two nights on a boat rather than just one (+one in a hotel) on a three day tour. This is a nonsense-offering, definitely to be recommended, but it allowed me to compare two boats: the first was reasonable, the second of much lower quality. It seems to me that there is just one pool of non-luxury boats, and they schedule whatever

boat is available.Perhaps flashpackers should consider the luxury category. Until someone finds out that there is effectively just one class, with more expensive tours offered to people willing to spend more *believing* that they get more - but actually get the

same.

143 Nov 10, Cheryl Wood, Please warn travellers about the numerous interconnected scams involving travel to Cat Ba Island from Halong City. In fact, it’s so well organised, please advise anyone trying to get to Cat Ba to travel from Haiphong only.Ticket touts approach all independent arrivals and usually add a dollar or so to the price. Even if you get the ticket from the office, there is no Government Boat, you are put on (or sold to?) a tour boat. The boat has several delaying sightseeing stops and drops you at the remote North of the Island, about 20kms from town. This is not the 5 hour leisurely trip through Halong dropping you off at Ben Beo or Cat Ba Town as it states in the book.A friendly guy tells you the 15,000VND public bus is “not your bus, your bus to cat Ba town in 15 mins” as you watch it go you realise that he is a moto driver, that was the last bus, it’s getting dark and you are stranded. He offers a trip to town for 700,000VND. Your only hope is a ride on the official tour bus come to collect those on the






145 Nov 10, Dermot Byrne, Please note that in Halong Bay most tourist boats to Cat Ba Island do not go to CatBa Town as promised by the boat operators in Bai Chay harbour. They take you to Gia Luan Harbour on the north of Cat Ba Island ! Once you arrive there, they try to charge you 100,000+ dong to take a bus the 45km to Cat Ba town. The local price for this bus is only 10,000 dong !! People who try to do a better deal with a motorbike driver or mini-van driver invariably have the price increased to 200,000 once the "bus official" gets involved. We eventually only got the price reduced to 50,000 dong by standing in front of the bus so it couldn't depart. Anyone who arrives earlier in the day should walk down the road to the police station which is just out of view and they may be able to get the local bus for the real price.

171 Dec 09, COLIN PAYNE, The border crossing near Dien Bien Phu The Laos and Vietnamese have both moved their immigration/customs buildings back 3 km from the border. This means that any of your readers who expect to arrive at one and walk through to the other face a 6km walk. I did spot one motorcycle taxi operating from the Vietnamese side. The move was so recent that my tour guide (who had handed several groups over to his Vietnamese counterpart in the previous few months) was unsure whether he was allowed to drive our jeep past the centre point where the frontier buildings used to be. Also I didn't see any moneychangers on either side of the border. though there was someone in the market in the last town on the Lau side (forget the name) who changed left over kip for dong.

174 Dec 09, COLIN PAYNE, The roads between Dien Bien Phu and Sapa are almost totally under construction. It made for a very unpleasant ride that I cannot recommend. In places the road was closed for several hours so that construction work could proceed. An awful journey. (also to a lesser extent on the Lao side)

174 Jul 11, Sheema Dolan, Muong Lay: Lan Anh Hotel; The roads to this hotel are impassable, even by motorbike. We risked our lives trying to cross a building site for 30 mins to get to it and could not find the hotel despite some signs pointing us in it's general direction. The phone number also does not work. After fighting through the building site back again to the main road we stayed in a decent, easily accessible hotel for £15 calledHoang Long which is 2 months old.






177 Nov 10, Alex Long, Under sights and activities in Sapa, the book mentions that the easiest trek in town is to the Sapa radio tower, and admission is 15,000d. Now the area has been turned into a park, called the Ham Ron Resort. Admission is 60,000d, hours are 7h30 to 11h in the morning and 13h30 t0 17h in the afternoon. The park includes great lookouts, one at the radio tower that overlooks the valley, one in a cloud garden that overlooks Sapa, and one that looks out onto Fanispan. Also in the park are beautiful orchid gardens, a European garden, a restaurant, a stage for performances, and nice forests. All the walking trail are either paved or cobbled, and while the climbs to the top are steep, a guide is unnecessary and maps are available upon entrance. The park is located a block behind the church, number is 020.2216.802, http://www.harutour.com.vn:8080/

184 Nov 10, Dermot Byrne, Passengers on the train to Lao Cai should keep their tickets. My Danish friend was scammed for 200,000 dong becuase he couldn't find his ticket when he arrive at 05.00am in Lao Cai Station despite the fact that his ticket would have been checked 3 times on the train on the way from Hanoi.

184 Apr 10, Igor Polakovic, The buses from Lao Cai to Bac Ha costs 40.000d and they leave from the bus station marked on the map as "Long Distance Bus Station". We paid that amount both ways (not 50.000 as mentioned on the page #184) and we double checked it directly in the bus station.

185 Apr 10, Igor Polakovic, Border crossing:- metered taxi from the train station to the borders is 15-20,000d, xe om is 10,000d- there is no pedestrians crossing fee (so no 3,000d)- sleeper bus costs 137RMB - departures 8.00, 8.10 and 8,20 PM - arrival in Kunming Eastern bus station at 6AM. Get ready for a smelly experience, the bus is quite stinky and people smoke there non-stop :)- the Chinese staff on the borders is extremely friendly.- There are quite few ATMs in the Hekou centre.

187 Nov 10, Adrian Ho, Sao Mai Hotel; Initially turned off by the price range indicated in the guide, we ended up checking into the hotel for a $10 room (hot water) facing the sun and the lobby area, fair stay. There were similar $15 rooms in the inner courtyard. This price was around Oct 28, 29.






197 Jul 09, MARK BAKKERS, The latest version of the LP guidebook for Vietnam has an excellent textbox in it regarding the Endangered Primate Rescue Center in Cuc Phong National Park. At this moment I work as a volunteer at the Turtle Conservation Center which is right across from the EPRC. It happens that we have just opened our gates for (free) guided tours. I believe it is important that attention is given to this excellent center which might be the only place in Vietnam that can save the country's 25 species of turtles from extinction. We care for approximately 1100 animals of 19 species native to Vietnam including the endemic and critically endangered Mauremys annamensis. There are excellent information signs at all enclosures and many interesting things to see not least the hatchery where we care for our 100+ baby

turtles.I hope that in the next edition of the LP you mention this center the turtles can certainly use the attention! For more information see: http://www.asianturtlenetwork.org/project%20profiles/vietnam/cuc_phuong.htm

198 Sep 09Phat Diem.....THE Cathedral only opens Saturday Arvo & Sunday according to the local kids that live near the place and take refuge in it from a six day school week, when the rain gives them an excuse to not be at school. These are year 11 kids, all Buddhists and I got there for the 5pm service every day. That seemingly does not happen. There doesn't appear to be a 5am & 5pm service.

215 Jun 09, DANIELA BISCHOF BOESCH, We arrived in Vietnam crossing the Laos/Vietnam border in Dansavanh/Lao Bao. From there we took a minibus to Dong Ha and in Dong Ha we went to the train station and asked for a ticket for the night train to Hanoi. We received the information that there was a train at 4 pm and one at 5 pm. We decided to take the first one (4pm) and bought a ticket for a VIP cabin 2 people per cabin for 430000 Dong per person (as we did not have enough money in Dong we had to pay the rest in Dollars and they asked us to pay 30 US $ per ticket a horrible change). We only received a handwritten ticket which was already strange. However a train arrived around 4 pm but we were told by three different person, two behind the counter and one surveying guard that it was the wrong train even though a independent Vietnamese person told us that it was the right one. So we still tried to catch the train but they (the people responsible for the train) would not let us go in. So we had to wait until another train arrived an hour later (the one at 5pm). We boarded this one and had a place in the back of the train the cabin at the

217 Feb 10, CHERI CROSS, Hue: We have just arrived home from Vietnam and have been requested by Mr Cu, the owner of the Mandarin Cafe, to ask you to please update his new email address in the next edition of the Vietnam book. His new address is: Email: [email protected]. Web: www.micumandarin.com






230 Dec 09, HARALD LUCKERBAUER, In the "tomb of minh mang" there is a large scam ongoing. The tour-guides collect the correct entrance fee of 55.000 VND from the tourists on the boat, but then hand out old tickets. This means that the entrance fee never reaches it's destination for the "World Cultural Heritage, Hue Monuments Conservation Center" but is divided among the guide and ticket & ticket control personel on the entrance. Today, 1st of December, we had a group of about 20 people completely handled in that way. If you sum it up and assume it happens only once a day it is 20.000 US$ a year or enough to pay 30 Vietnamese full-time employees which could be used for conservation functions as intended. The proof: We got two tickets with the numbers 216127 & 217354 which actually should have been consecutive. Additionally I checked the actual ticket-number at the ticket-counter which was higher than 223000. So they collected old tickets and sold them to the tourists. Please use this information as it indeed would help the conservation centers purpose.

236 Oct 10, Konrad Mohrmann, Danang: Dana Tours is closed on Satday also Cafe Truc Lam Vien, Nep Cafe and Christies Cool Spot vanished.

238 Sep 09, PHILIPPE LESAGE, Danang Waterpark has been closed since the beginning 2009

239 Sep 09, PHILIPPE LESAGE, Danang: We noticed that the Bread of Life restaurant has closed

248 Sep 09The link to Hoi An World Heritage site which reads as: http://www.hoianworldheritage.org/...is INCORRECT as it misses the country extension (meaning .vn) The correct link to English pages is as follows: http://www.hoianworldheritage.org.vn/eg_index.htm

248 Nov 09Hoi An: On the way to Cua Dai Beach from Hoi An town there is a scam being run where there is an official looking guard booth with a sign instructing that no bicycles/motorcycles are allowed to proceed further towards the beach area, and that people must turn left and park in a paid lot. After watching for a while and noticing that the locals kept riding through, we figured it out. It's a public road and they are nothing but touts, just keep riding through.

248 Jan 11 OLD TOWN TICKET' You got it completely wrong.

Yes the ticket has a clasification of the sites, but you can visit with 1 ticket any 5 sites of the 18 options.

For example you can see 3 old houses + 2 assembly halls, and skip the museums or other categories.






248 Jan 10, Sue Wise, Hoi An - Japanese Bridge: they require a ticket to cross the bridge Friday night to Sunday afternoon.

256 Sep 09, ERIN SHARAF, The Mango Rooms restaurant in Hoi An's prices are much more expensive than stated in your book. I believe the cheapest entree was 150 000 Dong.

258 Apr 11, Nguyễn Thị Mẫn & Phil Mellifont, We are the proprietors of Lotus Jewellery Hoi An. We have changed address and phone number. Please find details of our new address below:

Lotus Jewellery (beside the Museum of Trade Ceramics) 82 Tran Phu St Hoi An, Vietnam

P: +84 (0) 510 3917 889www.lotusjewellery-hoian.com

283 Jan 10Nha Trang scams: Unfortunatelly the Thai type scams have hit Vietnam too. One of our friends met a man and a woman in a cafe. They took him to their house. They gave him tea which he believes was drugged as the rest of the day was as if he was in a dream. The card scam occured. It involved a Japanese business man and people from Saigon who were trying to get money off the Japanese man. The woman escorted him to the money machine. After cleaning out $3,000 from his credit card they took him back to the hotel. They told him they were going to fly himout to the Phillipines and he had to leave that night.. ( What that part is about we are unsure). Our receptionist helped us by not letting any calls through to this man, and we sneaked him to another hotel and got him out of town. He was scared stiff and because of the drugs not thinking rationally. I have tried to contact the embassies with my story but had no reply of acknowledgement. Please warn as Vietnam people are generally concerned about this sort of stuff and there are not a lot of bad apples!

284 Sep 09Nha Trang: As stated in the guide visitors to the Long Son pagoda have to be weary of people posing as students working for the monks, trying to sell things or receive donations. In our case when we declined, a particular student even became verbally abusive. However the monks were very friendly and the site is well worth the visit.

284 Jan 10, Yves Tychon, Tthe opening times for the long son pagoda (1.30 - 8 pm) are extremely optimistic as they closed behind us at about 5:30 pm!






294 Jan 10, MONICA O'BRIEN, The microphone that Ho Chi Minh used in his Independence speech (1945) is not in the museum in Nha Trang - we went there 2 days ago and were disappointed. We discovered yesterday that the microphone is in the Ho Chi Minh Museum in Ho Chi Minh City, on the second floor. My daughter (Emily 8 years) was thrilled to discover it yesterday and we are all satisified at having seen it. We thought other travellers may also like to view such an historical item.

295 Jan 10may want to add a warning to travelers to Nha Trang not to take any valuables on dive boats as I was ripped off to the tune of $200. I know it was foolish to have that money with me, but I was in a bind. It occurred during a dive while most of the staff was also in the water. The boat was tied up in a group of many other boats from other dive groups, so it could have been anyone from any of the boats.

299 Aug 11Nha Trang: Two years ago, I traveled to Nha Trang and went to CAFÉ DES AMIS -Add: 2D Biet Thu St. I found there the food is delicious and the service is quite okay as well. However, in august this year, when I went back to Nha Trang, the local told me that this restaurant had moved to a new address: 132A Nguyen Thien Thuat St.

302 Dec 09I wanted to go to Hon Mieu island near Nah Trang in Vietnam to stay in one of the bungalows - in your book it says that the local ferry is 5000 Dong and the bungalows are 90.000 Dong each.At the place where the ferry leaves the "tourist information" told me I am not allowed to go on the local ferry (because it is forbidden by the police) and have to take a tourist boat for 200.000 Dong instead. They also said that I have to return on the same day and that it is forbidden to stay overnight.I was very angry cause nobody seemed to be able to explain me why I have to pay 40 times more than the locals. Maybe you can update that information in your book.

302 Jan 11, Reinier Bakels, Note that the airport shuttle bus only runs a few times a day, shortly after the arrival of an airplane, so beware not to miss it!

303 Jan 10Nha Trang: visited Ba Ho waterfall. The turn off the main highway is at a restaurant named Quynh. Your Vietnam guide has it listed as Quyen. No big deal, not hard to figure out.

318 Jan 11, Andrea Fuernkranz, Entrance Fee to Hang Nga Crazy House has been increased and is now 20.000 dong.






323 Jan 11, Richard T. Howard, Change the name of Novotel Dalat to Hotel Du Parc. Taxi drivers in Dalat still know it by the old name, but it appears to have changed hands.

325 Jan 10, JEFF VIZE, DALAT: A metered taxi to the airport from Thien An hotel cost us about $17. Your book estimates $12.

328 Feb 10, AVI ELAZAT, The area code of Buon Ma Thuot is not 050 as it says in the book but 0500

342 Feb 10Re tel numbers in HCMC - they all have an extra digit now - varies according to district - so every number has to be updated.

347 Jun 10, Long Nguyen, Ho Chi Minh City: The Fahasa Bookshop at 185 Dong Khoi street was closed end of May/2010.

348 May 10Ho Chi Minh City: Diamond Plaza (19) is on the other site of D Le Duan.

350 Jan 10, CRAIG MAYO, Ho Chi Minh City: The main post office closes at 8pm, not 9.30pm.

351 Aug 09, Samantha Christie, Budget travel agencies- Sinh Cafe is now called "the Sinh Tourist" this is mentioned numerous times throughout the book.

354 Apr 09, ROBERT CRIBB, Ho Chi Minh City: there was no sign of a water puppet performance at the War Remnants Museum

361 Aug 11, Ray VarnBuhler, LP STAFF: Traveller suggests that the map of temple locations in ChoLon district has mistakes. Please review.

365 Oct 09Saigon seems to be changing quickly; I took an hour taxi ride today to get to x rock climbing which isnt there anymore. I did get my guesthouse to call ahead but obviously they called the wrong place, as they said it was open when they called. Its now in district 3, you can find the info on their website.

366 Dec 09, VICKI BYRNE, I wanted to attend Saigon Yoga in Ho Chi Minh City and followed the address in the Lonely Planet. After finding the place it was actually someone's house. He didn't speak English however he was able to communicate to me that the yoga place had moved and it was at the Somerset Ho Chi Minh City hotel. (new address: Somerset HCMC Apartments. 8A Nguyen Binh Khiem District 1, HCMC)






367 May 10I like your walking tours in Hanoi, Hoi An and in HCMC, but the route in HCMC indicates that the entrance to Reunification Palace is on the southwestern side of the fence, but actually it is on the nothern side. A little shame when we replanned the route a little, equal a longer walking distance.

369 Sep 10, Alex Long, HCMC: It might be worth mentioning that the Botanical Gardens/Zoo does not close at 10pm (at least not on weeknights). When we went on a weeknight the park closed at 6.

370 Jan 10I am the owner of Guest House California in Ho Chi Minh City. I would like to have you correct my email address in your information about us. You have [email protected] right now; however our email address is [email protected]

373 Jan 10, JEFF VIZE, HO CHI MINH CITY: Quan An Ngon: Great place and great recommendation. They have moved to a new location just around the corner on Rue Pasteur.

373 Nov 09Saigon: Unfortunately the highly recommended Quan An Ngan restaurant has moved (it was an LP 'our pick') - and I don't no where to - sorry!!

373 Dec 09Restaurants in HCMC: Quan An Ngon has moved from 138 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia St to 160 Pasteur St in Dist. 1. Concept is the same. Location is in a new French colonial style building with a nice outdoor terrace.

373 May 10, Vera Tang, Quan An Ngon; Note change of address. 160 Pasteur St, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam;Telephone: 08 829 9449

375 Nov 10, Alex Long, Tiem An Nam Long; Prices have gone up, most entrees are now between 40,000-80,000, no entree is cheaper than 40,000 dong

375 Nov 10, Alex Long, HCMC; Tandoor; price range is off by quite a bit-- most entrees start around 90,000 to 100,000d and go up from there

375 Jan 10, DENISE GROHS, HCMC: Seoul House restaurant in HCMC has moved. It still exists but we could not find it.






375 Jan 10, JEFF VIZE, HO CHI MINH CITY: Giang Nam: This Cholon restaurant is listed as being “the place for noodle soup … in Cholon. There’s no menu, just a dish or two of the day.” Imagine our surprise when we arrived and were presented with menus – with not a single noodle soup in sight! Either they’ve radically changed their business model, or someone screwed up. Nonetheless, it was good Chinese food at reasonable prices.

376 Sep 09HCMC: La Camargue has changed name to Vasco's (now both the very trendy bar and the restaurant have the same name) but the food is good

379 Sep 10, Alex Long, HCMC: Apparently the night club "Underground" is out of business, or at least has moved from their address on 69 Dong Khoi (there is now a restaurant at that address and the staff told us Underground is closed)

379 Oct 09I walked for a long time to get to Acoustic bar which is not there, so then opted for Yoko which is also not there.

379 Aug 09, Samantha Christie, Ho Chi Minh City- there were quite a few mentions of the ex pat Bar "the underground" mentioned on page 379 (also mentioned in page 356 the tim page article) this was closed down months ago- no longer exists, owner argued over rent

379 Nov 09The Underground has been closed for 6 months. The chef that made it famous (Chef Thierry Faburel) is opening a new place above the old Underground site (address still the same - 69 Dong Khoi street - but need to go up 2 flights of stairs). Name is to be "Rockit" and I am told that it will be "Underground on steroids". I hear that the Underground owners are still looking to re-open but haven't found a suitable place yet ....

382 Aug 11, Valerie & Mario Schnee, Ho Chi Minh City: Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theatre; The programme brochure we picked up when we watched the show said that the shows start at 5.00pm and 6.30pm and not at 6.30pm and 8pm as stated in the guidebook.Also, the entry costs 120.000 VND and not 50.000 VND as stated in the guidebook.

385 Sep 09Chinese market (Binh Tay market): the display of enormous amounts of dried shark fins, seahorses and other protected and threatened sea life has shocked us. Maybe the guide could inform travellers on the issues surrounding these products and that these products should not be purchased.






386 Apr 10, Harry Newton, The bus I got from HCMC to Phnom Penh has a small pointless scam of taking more money for the Cambodian visa than is required - $25 rather than $20. Not a great amount but on the bus I got they did it for 5 people.

386 Mar 11, Tobias Schwarzmueller, HCMC: The airport bus is 4000d per person and 4000d for a large backpack. It

runs only til 6pm. It is easier to get a taxi with taximeter from the domestic terminal. 5 minute walking distance to the right side when you leave the international terminal. App. price 100.000 - 140.000d (taxi driver tend to take some detours to make more money)

388 Sep 10, Henry Domzalski, Don't use "independent" taxis in Ho Chi Minh City. We got here this morning and in addition to paying double the proper fare (a cheater meter was the culprit) the driver ran off with my briefcase containing my laptop computer (I wasn't closely monitoring the unloading of bags). It's been a long long day. Had to spend $1,300 USD to replace the computer.

400 Jan 10Found a little mistake under Vung Tau information. www.baobariavungtau.com should have ".vn" at the end.

414 Aug 11, Valerie & Mario Schnee, The little dot for the Cai Be Floating Market is in a slightly wrong spot.

It should actually be further north east, above the islands between the two river arms, north of Vinh Long and east of My Thuan.

419 Jan 10, JO-ANNE CHADWICK, lonely planet suggests catching the local bus form district 1 in HCMC to Cholon bus station and then to catch another for 460000dong to My Tho-Mekong Delta. We, a family of 4, paid 3000dong to catch a bus to the outskirts of HCMC in view of catching another to My Tho. No one spoke english and we handed just 3000dong each to reach the outskirts of HCMC where once we arrived we were told to change buses. We knew we would then have to pay another fare. Feeling very vulnerable and no other english speaking people with us on the second bus two men entered the bus speaking in Vietnamese whereby one man looked like he was giving the other 300000dong for his fare. The man asking for the fare then spoke rapidly to us asking or rather illustrating that we needed to pay 300000dong each to get to MY Tho. I gave as was in shock. I then asked for a ticket "where's my ticket " I cried. He walked off the bus with 1200000 dong of our money. Subsequently I found 'thief' in Vietnamese in the Lonely planet book and alerted the other occupants of the bus. I began to cry in frustration. Later a man stated in M






424 Aug 11The map shows a bus station in the centre of Vinh Long; however, that bus station is not there anymore. The only one is a few kilometres out of the town.

426 Jan 11The Vihn Long bus station in the center of town is served only by very local busses. The express buses from HCMC drop you of at a different point about 4 km

from the center. From there you need a XE-OM or taxi to take you "down-town". To go from Vinh Long to Can Tho we recommend to return to that far out bus station, and continue with the cheaper and faster express service all the way to CAN THO. We took a bus to CAN THO from the small station in town. Surprisingly these buses don't go all the way to Can Tho, but drop you off at a small station north of the Mekong, from were you have to take a 2nd bus. Alltogether, this trip took us almost 3 hours for as little as 35 km. We paid 40,000 VND in the first bus (to CAN THO) , but nevertheless the 2nd bus tried to collect some additional payment from us. We refused.

434 Jan 11, Richard T. Howard, We did not find the tourist office at 20 D Hai Ba Trung, which is a place that sells food or whatever. I was told that it is a few streets back from the waterfront by a

Danish couple, but I couldn't find it.

435 Jul 10, Paul O'Neill, Can Tho: Green Hotel is now called Hello Hotel II

435 Jul 10, Paul O'Neill, Mai Linh Bus copmany actually drops customers off at a bus station 6 kilometres south-west of the city. This is not indicated in the guidebook or the map. it's very important because another bus station is on the map 1km north. Major confusion caused regarding this.

436 Mar 11, Tobias Schwarzmueller, Can Tho: Blind massage moved to a different location and is called "Nhat

tan".Price remain the same.56/58 Tran Quang Khai; Ninh Kieu District, Can Tho; 07103733857;Operating hours: 9am - 22pm

438 Jun 10, Duncan Gardner, Can Tho: Nam Bo; Building demolished - no restaurant!






455 May 09, LINDA EBDON, Border Crossing Cambodia to Vietnam: I just want to warn against this border crossing. We took a driver from Sihanoukville and while the driver didnt know the way he stopped continually and asked directions this was not great but was not the issue when we finally arrived at the crossing we made the crossing into Vietnam all ok the issue started when we entered Vietnam there are no taxis waiting to take you to Chau Doc there is only moto drivers whom think it is their god given right to take you Chau Doc this was not practicle as we had large suitcases they wanted $8US each per person + same for luggage after refusing contially we walked the 1.5-2kms to the small town of Tinh Bien, so small it didn't rate a mention in the lonely planet. We saw some buses in the distance, so made our way there on arrival I asked if the buses were for Chau Doc someone said yes but when we tried to board one of the moto drivers was blocking our way and said this is not the right bus (going wrong way) then I asked someone else who just waved us away. We left that bus area to gather our thoughts then we saw mini

459 Jan 11, Reinier Bakels, Perhaps it did not yet exsist at the time this edition was published, but there is nowadays a perfect bus connection between Ha Tien and Cambodia via the nearby Xa Xia/Prek Chak border. Visa on arrival for USD 25/550.000 VND (yes, an unfavourable rate). The morning ferry from Phu Qoc arrives at 11.00, the bus to Kep, Kampot and Sihanoukville leaves after lunch. Bus tickets are sold in a cafe where you can have lunch, but imho it pays to cross the road.

467 Jan 11, Wendy Barker, Unfortunately, I think you need to include a warning about theft. Our daughter had a lot of money and a watch stolen while on a remote beach in the north of the island. We had hired motor scooters the day before and had been told there was no need to lock them because the island was safe but sadly not. Our daughter was on a small beach just east of Vung Bau (which is south of Bai Dai) and someone snatched her bag while she was standing within view, emptied the contents, took the money and watch and then took off on a motor bike. We reported it to the police but all very tricky as they don't speak english. We had to go trhough the hotel manager. our daughter heard from other travellers two days later that they had had things stolen too in similar circumstances. A shame for such a lovely island but would have been good to know about.

469 Feb 11, Ralpha Jacobson, MAP: Street name Correction. In "C"1", Nyugen Trung True should read Nyugen Trung Trac.

470 Feb 11, kim johanson, Tropicana resort; this resort was closed and looked like it had been for quite awhile






481 Sep 09Beware the Black Jack (21) card playing scam. Where someone is playing with you to scam someone else when in fact it can only be you being scamed. And it may start as simply as a man & a woman talking to you in the street, they have a relation, a nurse going to (Australia) to Woolongong Hospital to work. Would you like to visit her and talk about Australia? It's then that the other bloke there starts talking about a card playing scam he's got going. etc etc.

481 Oct 09This is to report that we have been scammed on the local bus from Van Minh to Ninh Binh. We were heading to the Cuc Phuong National Park and apparently one way to get there is to take a local bus to Vanh Minh which is about half way, and then take a motorbike taxi. First we got on the bus 27 September. The ticket seller asked for 50.000 dong each. It seemed a lot but we didn't know the price then. Later we learned that the normal price was 15.000. On 29 September we took the same local bus back to Ninh Binh (exactly the same bus) and we were asked for 50.000 dong each again. We were aware of the prices that time and didn't want to pay more but we didn't have change. We handed over a 100.000 dong note to the ticket seller and he refused to give back any money. After a very long negotiation (and after I wrote down the number of the bus) he returned 20.000 dong but we were still overcharged by 50.000. There was nothing we could do as no one spoke English.

481 Aug 09Hue: after checking in a hotel on Pham Ngu Lao Str, Hue City, I went for a walk around the city. I bumped into a bike rider, he said his name was Cubah (nick name) or Loong (at school), who insisted to give me a service riding around the town for a one off cheap fare. He said he was originally from HCMC and was abondoned by his parents when he was five years old. He was now studying at an international polytechnic school in Hue. However I refused all the times but he kept following me while I was walking. I was looking for Vietnam Airlines office so he then again for one last time offered me for a ride to the office for a cup of coffee in return. So I accepted the offer. after visiting the office he rode me around the city and end up in a coffee shop that he called "Cafe". it was weird - the "Cafe" turned out to be a brothel. There were about ten private rooms with slide doors. He explained it was a place for friends to meet up and talk when I asked why he took me there I knew he lied. Then he ordered "Cafe" but not coffee. It was a tray with full of snacks, two cans of beer and a bottle of water. Then a lady came and talked






486 Jan 11, Ralpha, If you need some US Dollars, and you will for travel in Cambodia, ALL the Banks I went to including, HSBC, CitiBank, SaccoBank, VietcomBank, would NOT exchange Vietnam Dong for US Dollars. However, several Travel Agencies in Pham Ngu Lao will exchange Vietnam Dong for US Dollars. BUT.. from a 6% - 9% charge. For only a 3% charge, the United Overseas Bank at 17 Le Duan Blvd, Dist 1, in the Central Plaza Office Building, Tel : 3825 1424, WILL give you Dollars IF you use a Visa / MasterCard. Map, p.346, located in "C2", to the RIGHT of listing #2, British Consulate, on the same side of the street.

487 Nov 09On a recent trip to Vietnam I left my camera in my hand luggage which went through the very old and out dated x-ray machine in Hanoi.I lost all of my photos up to Hanoi.I had taken quite a few in Ho Chi Minh City - they were ok. Back in Australia, it cost $450 to retrieve 300 photos (ouch). Would you please warn travellers who visit Vietnam to remove the memory card from their cameras and put it in one of their pockets or purchase one of those x-ray proof packets (I can't find one anywhere). After this I wouldn't trust suitcase x-rays either. The machine you walk through is not as invasive as the luggage x-ray. Please let others know

487 Jan 10There was another point I forgot to mention: slide film, yes, the oldfashioned analogue film for transparencies. Although the LP guidebook states that they are widely available, it was absolutely hopeless. Most sales persons did not even knowwhat it was. So if you still have a few non-digitally minded photographers among your readers, they should come with huge supplies to Vietnam!

490 Nov 09, EVELYN BIENEFELT, Vietnam Visa in Kunming: Same day: 550 RMB. Next day 17:00 o'clock: 450 RMB. Place is on the fifth floor (not second floor) in the building next to Dragon XXX hotel

490 Oct 10, Magnus Olsson & Catharina Treber, Just a little remark: Swedish people do not need a visa - they can stay in Vietnam up to 15 days for free (check with the Vietnamese embassy in your country before leaving)

490 Aug 09, Samantha Christie, I think the visa thing should be highlighted further- basically all countries need a visa- and I somehow got in with out one- by looking smart, very sad and begging, then they confiscated my passport let me in and had someone deliver to my hotel the next day for $100






496 Jan 11, Ralpha, GETTING THERE & AWAY: LAND: Visa price when you obtain a Visa at the Cambodian Border is now $25US payable in US DOLLARS only !! BOTH Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh City have Cambodian Consulates where you can obtain a Visa for the SAME price, in ONE Day and no "overcharging" hassles.

499 Nov 09, EVELYN BIENEFELT, Nightbus Kunming – Hekou (border Vietnam): This bus was a most unpleasant ride. After 1 hour the robbing began. There is no light in the bus and the walking space is very narrow which makes it extra claustrophobic. We had the feeling the bus drivers were in this scam as well. We advice to take a day bus as there's no train yet.

502 Nov 09, JANE METLIKOVEC, The sleeper buses drop you off wherever they are getting commission. In Nha Trang, the driver would not let us off at the bus station- where the hostel was picking me up from. They just drove us into town and dumped us where the hawkers were.

502 Jan 10Overnight sleeper bus: If you are thinking about travelling from Hanoi to Hoi An by overnight sleeper bus-beware. Check what sort of bus it is, what the facilities are and how many travelling. We didn’t and suffered, how we suffered. Surly drivers, appalling stop overs, ancient bus with no facilities, packed to the gunnels, awful ‘beds’ which hadn’t been cleaned and the journey took 17 hours. You have been warned.

505 Nov 09, JANE METLIKOVEC, I got done by a taxi in Hanoi trying to get from the airport. 2hrs in the middle of the night driving around the city before he dropped me off. I was pre-warned by you guys about this, so keep those warnings going!

512 Nov 09, JANE METLIKOVEC, Pack loads of gastro-stop and other gastro-beating medicines. 9 out of 10 Western travellers I met spent some time laid up with the dodgy stomach from hell. And these stints can run into 3 or 4 days. Not fun.


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