Hanoi Vietnam

[aussie_]

I visited Hanoi three times in 2015. No problem meeting guys from the apps, some free or hotter looking guys for about 400-600k dong. Many of the money boys were quoting in $US.

Golden Cock gay bar closes at midnight and the police were outside to make sure it closed on time on the Saturday night that I went there. The locals at GC told me there are other clubs that stay open later so I will investigate further next time I go to Hanoi to find their location.

I prefer Ho Chi Minh City for more night life and met some great guys there from the apps. The nightclubs stay open to around 3am or later with the Republic gay disco and the mixed Apocalypse club very popular. Never had any problems taking a guy to the Apocalypse club. Most nights I would go to the walking street for amazing eye candy and later Bui Vien street for food and drinks.

[Bert]

Hi,

I visit Hanoi in a month.
Can someone send information about hotel(s) where a joiner/visitor is no problem?

Thanks

[a447]

When I was in Saigon I stayed at the Caravelle Hotel, not the type of hotel you'd think you could bring a guy back to. But a guy I contacted on gayromeo told me it wouldn't be a problem as long as he left the room before 9pm. He been there before.

He told me that was the law in Vietnam. So no overnight visitors allowed in any hotel.

[dinagam]

He told me that was the law in Vietnam. So no overnight visitors allowed in any hotel.[/QUOTE]

I've never encountered this problem with guests staying overnight, although some reception staff needed firm assurance from me on the status of my guests. It was always smooth sailing when I checked in together with a friend.

[Bert]

Thanks a lot, I did not know about that 9 pm rule.
So it's best to invite a guy in my room in afternoon or early evening.
I guess Vietnamese guys (or money boys) know about that rule too?

Maybe if I take a double room a friend can stay overnight if he shows ID.

[1moRussian]

Some details form May 2016, Hanoi:
- went to Zspa (map below),
- very simple,
- 250k dong for spa for 1 hour in simple room (they have superior and VIP), 250k to the boy (written in receipt and paid to the manager) and 100k in his hands,
- nothing serious during or after,
- and generally - "nothing to write home about".
Next day I was in Hero in BKK and Hero was 10 times better

image.jpeg

The second (gray) building from the left:
image.jpg

[1moRussian]

There is some activity in Jack'D and Hornet (I don't like Grindr with just only 1 photo) - but it's hard to tell who is MB and who is not. If I stayed longer, I would try these apps.

[scottish-guy]

.. some reception staff needed firm assurance from me on the status of my guests...

So...if you pick up a bit of rent (which is what we are talking about), exactly what "status" would you be firmly assuring the reception staff of?

[lonelywombat]

Vietnam's Reunification Express train: Rolling with the locals

Penny Watson




Riding the Reunification Express from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh. Photo: Getty Images

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It's dark outside, the Vietnamese city of Nha Trang is quiet for a Sunday, but the train station is a picture of chaos. Plastic tartan bags, cheap suitcases and boxes reinforced with masking tape have been dumped unceremoniously on the platform. Waiting room television screens rival each other for volume. Makeshift stalls selling travel essentials –Coke, beer, bananas and over-packaged biscuits and noodles – do a peak-time trade.
The train is late and instead of pulling in on platform one it has headed to platform four. From what I can make out, we have to cross three rubbish-laden tracks in the dark to reach the train, then climb on board and find our cabin before it takes off again. My husband, Pip, and I, all wide-eyed from strong, condensed milk-loaded coffee, have three bags, a pram and two somewhat bewildered kids to contend with. But there's no time to dwell on it; up the track a blinding light is cutting through the darkness and a big old retro engine from a long-ago era is grinding down the tracks. Within minutes we're joining the throng in a mad scramble to board.
SEE ALSO

• Vietnam travel guide

The Reunification Express has been cutting a path along the East Coast of Vietnam since 1936. The 1726-kilometre, 33-ish hour journey from Hanoi in the north to Ho Chi Minh in the south averages 50km/h, only marginally quicker than it was in the 1930s. It might be ageing, but it's still a reliable mode of transport for travelling between some of Vietnam's most popular tourist destinations. An overnight leg is also something of an adventure. The pace, excitement, local insight and occasional chaos are all part of the experience.
Passengers on the Reunification Express which travels between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh. Photo: Getty ImagesOur train ride begins in Hanoi and ends two weeks later in Ho Chi Minh. In between we'll have a few nights each in the ancient cities of Hue and Hoi An, and a beachside stint in Nha Trang. It will mean three overnight train legs and one shorter trip between Hue and Hanoi.
The 'SE' express trains are more comfortable for tourists, with hard sleeper (six beds in two tiers), soft sleeper (four beds), hard seat and soft seat cabins. Both sleeper cabin options are comfortable with air-conditioning, and clean cotton sheets and bedding. The soft sleeper is the natural choice for our party of four, but it's not a disaster when, on one leg, we find ourselves in a six-sleeper. We wake to see two smiling 20-somethings looking down on us from the cheaper top-tier beds. They speak a little English and tell us they're students returning home. They're as friendly as family, sharing coconut juice and dried biscuits with the kids in return for photos, no doubt captioned: 'CUUUUUUUTE'.
Meanwhile, Pip and I get a chance to look out the window. We did this train trip together 10 years ago, pre-marriage. It's harder work this time, with an 18-month-old and four-year-old, but we're chuffed anyway. Outside, green rice paddies and banana palms rush past. There are farmers in conical hats, kids freewheeling in backyards and yoked water buffalo, yawning knee-deep in mud. When the train slows through hamlets clustered along the railway line, we see dozens of locals on overloaded motorbikes waiting for the boom gate to open. In other parts, hazy blue mountains separate the track from the sea before it reappears again with glimpses of beach, blue water, fish farms, nets and boats. It's like a tourism advertisement for rural Vietnam and nothing seems to have changed in the decade since we last saw it.
The Minh Mang Tomb is on the west bank of the Perfume River. Photo: Getty ImagesWhat has changed is the hotel scene. Vietnam is now flush with luxury hotels, both lovely old heritage places and flash new resorts. We spent our first night in Hanoi at the decadent French colonial Metropole, where we were greeted with a "bonjour" and ushered into a room with high ceilings, teak furniture and French doors. On departing, such is its clientele, the concierge declared us the first guests to ever need a transfer to the train station rather than the airport.
Thirteen hours down the track, La Residence, in the serene town of Hue, is similarly historic. It was built in the 1930s as the French governor's residence and the art deco era is reflected in the building's porthole windows and nautical lines. Our room overlooks the Perfume River. On the opposite bank, we can see the entry to the UNESCO-listed former Imperial Citadel. It's the perfect cultural immersion for kids with no queues and cycle rickshaws to get around on.
The train connection between Hue and our next stop Danang, near Hoi An, is late at night so we decide on a daytime car transfer. It's a good comparative exercise. At just under three hours, the train is quicker, but more pertinently, Vietnam's roads, especially Highway 1, the main north-south artery, are notoriously accident-prone. We drive past an accident, the motorbike driver being attended to on the side of the road. It's a sobering vision and we're glad the rest of the trip will be on rails.
Ana Mandara near Nha Trang. Photo: AlamyHoi An is a French colonial town known for its enchanting lantern-lit streets and cheap tailor-made clothes. We stay in a family suite overlooking another river, the Thu Bon, at Anantara Hotel. With ornate balustrades and colonnaded balconies, it is in keeping with the architecture in the UNESCO-listed old town, an easy stroll away. Happily, Anantara is family-friendly with a shallow pool and sweet treats delivered at bedtime. The hotel bikes are equipped with kid's seats, so when we're not eating street food in the old town we're riding through the little villages.
Kudos goes to Vietnam for being able to offer cultural experiences as well as perfect beach holidays. Ten hours by train from Danang, Nha Trang is a coastal resort city with great scuba diving and a party vibe. We head out of town to Six Senses Ninh Van Bay resort, courtesy of a flash speedboat. It's a castaway island paradise. Our wooden beachfront villa has a thatched roof and there are no cars – once again we're getting around on bikes with the kids on the back. Children under-five sleep and eat for free here, and there's a kids club, giving Pip and I the chance for a cooking class.
After four sun-soaked days, our four-year-old is back talking trains. We are transferred to Nha Trang train station for our final leg, the one that starts with that night-time sprint across the tracks. Soon after, we'll be lulled to sleep by the soft rhythmic side-to-side motion of the train on our way to Ho Chi Minh.
TRIP NOTES

vietnamtourism.com.
MORE INFORMATION

TOURING THERE

See Vietnamese Railways' own website (vr.com.vn) butseat61.com/Vietnam.htm is more helpful. It's best to book train tickets in advance through hotels on the ground in Vietnam or a travel agency before you leave.

[FarangRuMak]

I went to Ho Chi Minh City last year for a week.
I enjoyed the sights and the little that's left of the old city and I even warmed to the robosta coffee.
I searched in vain for any gay fun while I ploughed my way through mobs of straight-sex pimps and female prestitutes.
If it's gay friendly they do a f--king good job of hiding the fact in Saigon.
No where, anywhere, comes anyway near Thailand for gay people and that's it- end of story.