Saturday, 27Jan07
Highlights: Nha Trang, Sunrise Beach Resort
Contracting transportation through a 4-star hotel isn’t cheap. Louise jumped on that job yesterday, as the rest of us were walking about.
Our next destination is Hoi An (30 min South of Da Nang & Marble Mountain), with a stop-over in Nha Trang along the way. In Indonesia we could contract a travel van for a similar 16 hour drive for around $10 each.
Here… $500.
It took a couple minutes to register that the Duxton Hotel (4 stars) was asking for a 5-star fee… and Louise didn’t know to try other places. Ehhhhhh, well… between the 5 of us, that’s $100 bucks each. So be it. Vietnam is a bit more pricey than Indonesia in many things (I just didn’t expect THAT much more pricey).
Note to self: never contract transportation through 4-star hotels.
Lest I forget to mention… there is quite a bit of commercialization here in HCMC. I’ve been so charmed by the blend of European city planning & architecture with Vietnamese allure, that the huge Sony, Canon & Philips signs didn’t register, except as passing humor that this is still a Communist country. A German tourist just refocused that in my attention.
Also interesting is the narrowness of many buildings here. Our Cu Chi guide commented yesterday that traditional Vietnamese homes are wider, but in the city, homes and shops are built very narrow. (possibly another vestige of French architectural influence).
Highlights: Nha Trang, Sunrise Beach Resort
Contracting transportation through a 4-star hotel isn’t cheap. Louise jumped on that job yesterday, as the rest of us were walking about.
Our next destination is Hoi An (30 min South of Da Nang & Marble Mountain), with a stop-over in Nha Trang along the way. In Indonesia we could contract a travel van for a similar 16 hour drive for around $10 each.
Here… $500.
It took a couple minutes to register that the Duxton Hotel (4 stars) was asking for a 5-star fee… and Louise didn’t know to try other places. Ehhhhhh, well… between the 5 of us, that’s $100 bucks each. So be it. Vietnam is a bit more pricey than Indonesia in many things (I just didn’t expect THAT much more pricey).
Note to self: never contract transportation through 4-star hotels.
Lest I forget to mention… there is quite a bit of commercialization here in HCMC. I’ve been so charmed by the blend of European city planning & architecture with Vietnamese allure, that the huge Sony, Canon & Philips signs didn’t register, except as passing humor that this is still a Communist country. A German tourist just refocused that in my attention.
Also interesting is the narrowness of many buildings here. Our Cu Chi guide commented yesterday that traditional Vietnamese homes are wider, but in the city, homes and shops are built very narrow. (possibly another vestige of French architectural influence).
posted by jonathan adventures at 5:41 AM
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