RE: Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) March - July 2014?
I just returned from a two week trip to Vietnam yesterday (10 days in Saigon, 4 in Da Nang) and perhaps could help reinforce some of the observations as previously noted.
First off, although this is my first post, i've been lurking the travel forum for the better part of the year to help figure out how to allocate some of my disposable income, and have found the information to be remarkably helpful with my planning. I just want to thank Elim for providing much of the information that helped inspire my choice in choosing Vietnam and the strategy I ultimately used to make possible what was far and away the best international trip i've ever taken.
Now to get straight to the point (that being the subject of maximizing my experience with the Vietnamese women), the most effective resource for me was definitely the use of online dating to scout my prospects beforehand. As previously mentioned, Vietnam Cupid is a great tool to line up and evaluate your contacts before arriving in the country. I realize this is not for everybody, but I still believe it's relevant and a great starting point for some, including myself. This is aided by my motives which are more driven by my subjective taste in women and ability to be patient enough and willing to invest 2-3 weeks in the program in order to properly vet out those who could speak conversational English without Google Translate and could be a good local source to help me get around the place, negotiate with other locals, and avoid sticky situations.
Now while my own personal experience should not be regarded as the most scientifically sound analysis given the variables and rather modest sample size, it still worked well enough to where demand for my time far exceeded the supply, and thus I did not need to use any other resource to be in the company of my pick of an attractive woman at any single moment during my entire stay. I actually nearly made the fatal mistake of trying to see far more than I could keep up with and nearly blew it with a couple of women I really liked due to greed. I should mention that although I tend to find women universally similar at a fundamental level, Vietnamese women would become jealous and hostile more quickly than average in the event they begin to suspect they are not the one and only female you plan to meet or are interested in seeing; even the slightest mention of a legitimately platonic friendship with the opposite sex did not register as non threatening, so I would advise taking great care and being as selective as possible if you have anything besides 'pump n dump' on your mind.
Since I was having to work a few hours at night given it was the work day in the USA where i'm from, I only did a minimal amount of night life and will not be the best source for good information on this. However, and contrary to the experience of some of the others posters in this thread, I didn't observe a significant step up in quality in the clubs as compared to online. I don't recall all the names as I was mostly following the recommendations of the locals without much forethought, but I do remember Skybar in particular (which was mentioned in this thread) and a couple others I felt were somewhat similar. With that in mind, and the fact I was already in the company of the woman I wanted to be with that particular night, I still believe I would've been near equally underwhelmed with the eye candy even in the absence of my company. Still, I probably only racked less than 5 hours total at the club and late night bar scene during the whole trip, so i'm certainly not claiming that my opinion on that front to be given any more consideration than deserved.
As far as the personality of the women go, I would have to agree with the posters who said they possessed as a whole a mostly pleasant disposition and had a certain charm to them. The women I spent time with were all engaging and fun to talk to. Surprisingly, I never got the vibe that I was being hustled or drawing interest solely out of being American or of Caucasian descent. They seemed to legitimately be enamored by my personality, which is not at all typical of the cows I deal with in the USA, and even the ones in their early 20's had a maturity level of what I wouldn't see on the homefront until a woman has hit her mid 30's, another pleasant surprise. However, i'm not entirely certain I was able to enjoy the success I did solely from my personality, as there seemed to be an equal amount of importance placed upon looks, which was the subject of their initial approach slightly more often than not. Still, I don't believe this played into my favor with Vietnamese girls any more than elsewhere, so it's difficult for me to say if you would suddenly gain interest on that point if you had not before. This also may be an important determining factor in your ability to make the contacts you wish to make via online dating vs out in the field.
As far as lodging is concerned with respects to bedding the local women, I can pretty much confirm that 4 and 5 star hotels are a no go for this. This was probably the biggest pain in the ass I experienced, as I had to have the local girl I was with at the time call up several different hotels to make sure it was okay if she could be with me when I booked the room. Da Nang was a little different, as I didn't meet any resistance in getting her into the 4 star hotel I stayed at on the beach there, A La Carte, which was spectacular and a place I plan to stay at again when I go back there. Saigon however, was a different story. The best spot I ultimately settled on there was the May Hotel in the Japanese area of District 1. When i'm halfway around the world, I really don't like skimping on quality lodging, and even in a place as cheap as Vietnam, I have no qualms about spending $70 USD a night to stay in a place I like with a nice view, pool, and amenities. But if this is of no concern to you, the "no foreigners with a VN citizen" law will likely not cause you near the amount of aggravation as it did for myself.
Another thing I should mention about Vietnamese women is that they are more prone to clingy behavior than the average woman. Personally, this doesn't bother me, and I actually find it kind of endearing. However, I am aware that not everybody feels that way and can find this behavior annoying and unattractive. I still think it's important to note that you shouldn't be all that surprised when a Vietnamese girl professes her love for you in less than one month's time. It happened to me with nearly every contact I ultimately saw (and even a couple I did not get around to actually seeing), and with this passion comes the potential for bizarre reactions and flamboyant displays of emotion, so exercise the usual caution with that in mind by limiting your exposure to additional risk. I think that warning applies mostly to those that plan on an extended stay or residence, as it's harder to avoid someone when they know where you live.
Other than that, the food was excellent, as was the cheap merchandise. Having a local girl with me to help communicate Vietnamese and negotiate prices was a crucial detail that I don't think I could have done without. Since I had already been talking to them for some weeks before, I felt like I could trust them enough as I was able to detect a vibe of an emotional investment in them beforehand. This likely would not have been possible any other way given that I traveled alone and the duration of my stay. I definitely plan to go back in a few months before the rainy season and hopefully travel with one up to Ha Long Bay and Hanoi. I'll be able to do more night life next time as I won't have to do any work at night, and should gather a little bit more information on that when the time comes.
If there's one thing that i'm even concerned about, it's that I still have too many women emotionally invested and expecting me to spend more time with them when I go back. Given the nature of the Vietnamese woman's disdain for sharing, i'm probably going to have to narrow it down to just a couple (or even one) so as to not risk losing them all; i suppose they would be replaceable in the event that happened, but that goes back to my motives, for whatever that's worth. I've definitely come down with an acute case of Yellow Fever, and although i'm going to Colombia for a couple weeks in 2 days, I still have Vietnam on my mind. I highly recommend it, and hopefully my experience could help reinforce or inspire someone else who's considering this destination similar to that of how some of the other posters helped inspired me.
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