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I’ve been reading a bit about Hanoi and Saigon.
It seems that there are few ,if any, gay bars and no mention at all of gogo bars.
Th gay saunas seem to be just for massages and nothing like Babylon or Sansuk.
Am I correct in thinking I would be wasting my time taking a trip, there during my winter hibernation in Pattaya?
Would appreciate advice from anyone who’s actually been, thank you.
The apps are lively and I've had some good times with enthusiastic men I've met through them in Vietnam. It's maybe three years since I was in Saigon but I found the bars disappointing then.
I hesitate to comment, as it's almost 9 years since I last went to Vietnam. I'm toying with the idea of going during my winter hibernation, but so far have just booked Thailand & Burma.Quote:
Originally Posted by gerefan2
Hanoi had rather a dull gay bar which didn't get going until late & had no obvious "trade". I went to 1 or 2 saunas, which were not memorable. The best part was a massage place, which did a short sauna, a body scrub and a massage by some very fit young masseurs in their underpants (which eventually came off, if I remember correctly).
Halong Bay, Danang, Hue and Hoi An were nice to visit, but no sign of any gay life.
Saigon had a very dull gay bar. I went to one sauna, had a massage & paid up for a HJ, which was done so fast I wish I hadn't. Had a completely professional massage at another place.
Zero boys to my hotel. I imagine that's picked up a bit since, as phones & phone apps are more widespread.
One of my Chinese friends tells me there are some quite interesting male massage services at the coastal resorts.
So I wouldn't suggest going to Vietnam for the sex. However, if you are in SE Asia for several months, of course it should be possible to indulge in Pattaya, then go sightseeing to somewhere with slightly less action.
For boys, I've had more success in Cambodia, Laos (Vientiane), Singapore, Malaysia, Burma and The Philippines than in Vietnam.
However, I guess there are other members who have been to Vietnam more recently.
Thank you for your very informative reply Goji.
February 2019. 2 weeks in Saigon and Vung Tau.
Blued app - about 70-100 offers daily, about 60% moneyboys, rest - willing to study English students
Saigon: visited 3 gay bars, mostly for to drink and socialization. Highly recommend to visit Thi bar - singers with great attitude and good voices, Western songs.
Sauna: NaDam Spa, few buildings, 3 floors each. Gay. Clean with good Asian wooden interior with stones, bamboo and water. A lot of willing students and young mens. Masseurs are pro in massage, I didn't asked for "more".
General impressions: it was amazing travel :)
1 Vietnam seems to have a "marmite" gay scene, ie visitors either like it or hate it.
2How did these work out ? Were they all offering a good service at a fair price ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Moses
Did you encounter any pretending to not be money boys and then demanding money ? Or any other dubious behaviour ? I like money boys who declare they are money boys at the start of any phone app dialogue, then do exactly what they agree to do for the agreed price.
[I'm not suggesting any of this is a problem in Vietnam. However I'm asking as boys are more trouble in some countries than others]
3 There is also a 2019 visit report from another contributor here: https://www.gayguides.com/forums/forum/24-gay-vietnam/
I'm below 60 and with average, but seems still "acceptable shape". So I still use "free service". In bars in Thailand when I'm alone, I pay tips for sitting with me, but I don't off boys. That why I can't discuss prices or service of MB in VN, nor can recommend any of them.Quote:
Originally Posted by goji
These, who was with me in VN at time of past visit, were students, they didn't ask for any money and even paid drinks in bars themself at evening, but accepted invitation to breakfasts what I paid.
1 My guess is it's dead easy to invite a guy for a meal, feed him and part company. [I have no interest in this, but respect different choices]Quote:
Originally Posted by Moses
2 To find a guy to act as the top, without any kissing might be slightly more difficult. [Again, not my interest]
3 Finally, if looking for a lad to kiss, suck and bend over so he can be f***ed, I suspect it's much more difficult in Vietnam than Thailand.
I might be wrong on these points, but clarifying expectations can be important. People like me wanting a bottom lad (#3) might find it more difficult.
For example, I recall reading glowing praise of Moroccan lads by one member on another forum (now closed). Apparently, there were loads of them, all willing & available. When I started asking questions, he eventually admitted he was paying for the privilege of him sucking them off. Now, if that's what HE wants to do, it's fine. However, knowing this is quite an important detail, since I have zero interest in ever meeting lads for that purpose & it may be the same for some other members here.
As a further example, when visiting Romania, there were no end of lads willing to act as tops. If I'm the top, requiring a lad to kiss, suck and bottom, the field of willing bottoms narrows down to almost nothing.
I'm "top only", no kisses on one-night-stand, so I have no idea if they like to kiss or not...Quote:
Originally Posted by goji
I don't think VN has much of a "scene" exactly. In the cities, I think gay people just blend into the general Nightlife. So there's no real need for specific gay bars, as such.
Plenty of action on the apps. I'm a plump, pastey, white dude in my late forties, but I get plenty of offers on blued and Grindr, mostly from young guys. Usually, they want money, but not always.
I like Vietnam, generally.
been twice, l;ast time was this June, No problems finding lads,
plenty everywhere,, just open up your apps and eyes
I am just back from a trip to Bangkok and Hanoi and have visited both cities regularly for the last 5 years. Although i always enjoy a few days at babylon, the odd massage and visit to a boy bar in BKK, i really prefer Hanoi and i get a lot more sex there.
Although it has no gay scene beyond one very respectable bar, grindr is full of cute boys into older white guys (i am early 60's)and most are not money boys. Those that are ,tend to be upfront about it, which is not always the case in Bkk.
In Hanoi i always stay in a cheap self contained airbnb so there is no issue about guys coming round at all hours of the day and night and i usually end up hosting several group sessions, a few threeseomes as well as as much one to one as i can handle.
There are several small but busy saunas, this last trip i had several enjoyable afternoons and evening at spa Adam, which costs only 60,000 dong, not much more than 2 quid.
Puts a whole new perspective on Hanoi. How do you go about organising the group sessions and threesomes? Do you find one guy and he finds the others?Quote:
Originally Posted by Caled
Certainly does, I thought Hanoi was a Gay Ghost TownQuote:
Originally Posted by Andaman!
How do make sure the place is self contained? I once got an air bnb in Saigon, which advertised "Private Entrance". Turned out the door to the apartment was technically private, but you still had to wake up the landlord to get into the apartment building after 12.Quote:
Originally Posted by Caled
That's Vietnam for you. Luckily, I only booked one night.
I use AirBNB extensively but I never book a place that doesn't have reviews, and I never book without reading those reviews carefully first. They're usually informative, often mentioning points the owner hasn't (or decided not to) mentioned such as street noise, lack of an elevator, or the neighboursQuote:
Originally Posted by extronaut
the same here, curfew - is main point I check for booking in VN after private WC and shower...Quote:
Originally Posted by frequent
In this case there were a fair number of reviews on the property. All of them were glowing, and not one of them mentioned the little catch with the so-called "Private Entrance". I can only surmise that those other people didn't care. Some people actually aren't looking for a shagpad.Quote:
Originally Posted by frequent
For me the ideal situation is a semi decent, full service 3+ star hotel, where the staff are nice and don't mind me bringing back a little friend for the night. And where little, invisible elves replace the cum stained sheets in the morning.
Got to admit, many of those AirBNBs look seductively good value though. But you never know what you're getting.
READING the reviews is essential anywhere outside the branded chains, not just Vietnam.
By reading the reviews it's possible to detect such things as:
A high average review score, polarised with highly improbable 5 star scores against every item and real customers giving it a score of 2 out of 5.
Hotels that rent rooms out by the hour, which may cause unreasonable noise at silly hours.
Somewhere that attracts younger customers partying all night.
Also, be aware that review scores may be inflated. On Booking.com, considering the way they frame the questions and do the score calculation, a score of 6.5 is fairly poor and you should probably avoid it. I look for 7.0 and up.
Any hotel that manages to score below 5 is probably one step removed from a pig farm.
Hotel reviews on TripAdvisor are entertaining. I always pick the "Terrible" category first. It's often full of posters complaining that the hotel is somehow responsible for the outcome of an act of idiocy on their part, such as "I left my handbag on the dining room table when I went to the lavatory and when I came back 10 minutes later it had gone, together with the 500 dollars inside. Why didn't the hotel staff do a better job of keeping an eye on it?"Quote:
Originally Posted by goji