A few days in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)

[alexexal]

Will suggested this place for our sauna visit, and we arrived at about 5pm on Sunday afternoon. Coming by Grab car (which seemed to work well and cheaply all over HCMC), we stopped at the end of the little side street and walked down. A very unlikely location - quiet residential street - and then some energetic music and a name plaque on the wall to show we had arrived.

I found the “system” a bit confusing on arrival, but only because it was different to what I have experienced anywhere else. Immediately handed a small bottle of water with a key on a rubber band, then invited inside without needing to pay, the key then immediately taken from me by a helpful assistant who showed me to my locker and unwrapped some fresh, fluffy towels for me.

Will continued his excellent guiding job, showing me round the main areas and pointing out where everything was, before leaving me to my own devices, having arranged our meeting point.

The place was every bit as lovely as the pics on Google - very stylish and clean, and with a night club kind of vibe to it. And (not in the pics on Google) jammed full of about 100 of the most beautiful young Vietnamese men (and a couple of other foreigners) that I could have dreamed of. I had heard a lot about how shy the locals can be, but that certainly wasn’t the case here - especially in the darker areas further back. Fortunately, many of them seemed keen on an older, white top like me.

If it wasn’t for the fact that Will had more on the schedule for the evening, I would probably still be there. I imagine that Sunday afternoon was a good time of the week to visit, and this was the real highlight of my time in HCMC.