Thanks for your report, extronaut. I'm also thinking about a trip to Vietnam in January. the hotels in Saigon are seriously pretty expensive, the most I have seen. Quite acceptable in Da Nang though. I'm still undecided between Vietnam or Taiwan after I'll spend two weeks in Thailand.
Still surprised you didn't get much action in Saigon on the first leg of your trip. feels like it's mostly a combination of bad luck and maybe of a bit of bad strategy from your part. I usually set a GPS spoofer two days before I arrive and check out Grindr and Hornet and try to schedule an appointment with as many guys as possible during the days I'm there. I also usually go ahead and say Hi directly instead of tapping. Have found the response rate is higher like that.
Happy to hear you had much more luck at the end of your trip and you got to indulge on some nice twinks, so I would still keep Saigon o my travel itineraries if I were you.
Have you had any problems with hotels and getting boys? Since it seems you did most of your fucking during the day, it should be. much easier than when you want a guy to come at your place late at night. Airbnb are still the best way to go in Vietnam (you probably would have had that shy guy if you were in one) but their number and price have really gone down in Saigon.