Originally Posted by
goodeats21
Thanks Daawgon for your thoughts.
This absolutely wasn't my first choice for exposure to Vietnam and I am really limited by the brief Sunday night. (All due to finding upgrade space, of course LOL). It just doesn't feel right to be in a new country for a night and not venture out and see something, as brief as it will be. Some cheap goodeats (
) and beer sounds like a decent start.
I am a frequently in Thailand and sure I can handle the various scams and such (thank you for the warning about those). Is there any worry about just walking by myself from the Renaissance (by the river) over to Bui Vien?
Id rather be in coach and have a 1/2 day-full day to walk around and see something from the insides eg The Presidential Palace then to 1st hit the pavement late at night and not really see anything. Keep in mind although its apx a 15-20 min ride to the airport you're gonna have to be up real early which will probably knock you out at your next destination if you dont hit the sack when you 1st get in.
When you walk out of The Ren if you walk along the water in the direction your facing there are a few bars with loud music that I saw was full weekend nights, dont know about Sun, looked like a local upscale crowd
For a nice walk just head to the PO and then over to the Palace gates, you'll end up passing many French Colonial buildings, what you can see at night I dont recall but the PO and church across as well as the Palace should be lit up still
The area near The Ren is fats becoming like HKG new buildings with premium brand name stores, dont need to go to SGN to see that
Again if you can swing it go coach get in earlier and experience the city even by simply walking around, thats what I did my 1st time for my 1st day and it was great
btw I never had any problems @ 4am finding a cab parked on the left side of The Ren and its 1 of the 2 very trust worthy companys. The 1st time there was someone else leaving and we shared the cab.
Nothing to see along the River but its alot better then having a building right outside your window
Just reread a different post if you get in @ 7:45pm I would think 10pm youd be walking into the Ren, (maybe 9:30pm w/o bags). With a 5:30am next day flight youd want a 3:45am latest cab if not before that. If you are gonna keep to those flights why not simply ask your driver to give you a short quick tour of the major sites.I know its not walking but man if I had those flights I wouldnt be doing anything but hitting the sack
I was walking back to The Ren from a place close to the zoo (1/2 hr) when a motorbike pulled up and the guy started asking me all sorts of questions that his girl friend had who was on the bike but didnt speak English. We chatted for close to an hour, it was a Fri night the streets were packed apx 11pm and he told me to keep my eyes looking all around.That said every time Ive been to SGN Ive walked around late at night and never felt threatened in any way,shape or form.Except from the guys on the motor bikes wanting to show me around, theyre worse by day LoL.