Priscilla Kibbee: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) & Cost of Trip

After three days in Hanoi (which I love) it was off to Saigon for two days (a city I still don't like very much). We stayed in a lovely hotel in what I would call an upscale backpacker section with lots of restaurants. We were near this square, a lovely park and the main market.

Oops. I loaded this one by mistake. Oh well. I like it better than Saigon. I have been asked several times how much this trip cost. We spent three weeks (21 days) in Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. The ENTIRE trip including airfare from Rochester to Bangkok and back, airfare from Bangkok to Hanoi, Hanoi to Saigon and Siem Reap to Vientiane, Laos cost $1900. That was for a single room. It would have been less if I shared. That included lovely rooms, often with breakfast (once a computer in the room) usually a refrig in the room too. An overnight first class train from Vientiane, Laos to Bangkok in a private compartment (I had the whole compartment) Transfers from airports to hotels, transportation to sites such as Angkor Wat, temples, markets, etc. It does not include Visa fees or other meals (most tours don't either). You could do the same trip with a major tour company for $2,000 to $4000 more. The difference would be that you would have a tour director who would make sure your bags got on the tour bus (with 15 or so others) and he would expect a tip of $150 or so at the end of the tour, as would the bus driver (say $50) . And tour guides picked up along the way by the tour director would expect tips as well. But you would have had fancier hotels.

Our first foray of course was out to the main market near our hotel. It was huge and we did quite a bit of shopping, mostly for lacquerware.

After we had our shopping "fix" we went to the Army Museum. This one focuses more on the "disaster" of what they call the American War, with a long film on the effects of Agent Orange.