AsianTS has been to Vietnam 4 times now and can tell you that this is a very difficult lace to meet ladyboys. We have never gone to the north but in the south the government ha slocked down the place very well and even having a good time there at all is very difficult. Again, as we recommend in the section for Cambodia, travel to Vietnam for other reasons such as culture, history, the exotic appeal of the place and to meet some beautiful ladies [always pay-for-play] but not to meet ladyboys; do that in Thailand. Below are some places you could MAYBE meet some ladyboys but don't hold your breath; you can meet cute lady hookers in these places but be careful, foreigners can not bring locals back to their rooms here and when you go to a short-time room with one of these people you are on very shaky ground.

            Apocalypse Now, Number 2 Thi Sach street, this is a cool bar in downtown Saigon; It will be very hard to spot ladyboys here, because this is a straight bar/disco, but they are in there some nights. Look for the Adam's apple or broader shoulders, but even that is hard because most vietnamese are very slight. Another suggestion if you are not sure; ask one of the gay local boys who hang out in there. Not hard to find; they will probably approach you! They know the whole scene in that city and can probably introduce you to someone, or even make a call or 2 for a few dollars tip. This is the best bar in Saigon to have fun and will haved at least 100 people in there on any given night; if there are no ladyboys you can take home one of the cute lady prostitutes that hang in there. Starting cost for companionship in this place is 50 dollars.

            The Q-Bar. Near the Saigon Symphony hall, this is a more trendy bar, more upscale bar, and the girls are easier to spot because they dress more classy, so may look like drag queens or at least more dressy than their female counterparts and are probably a few years older. You may get lucky and find 3 or 4 ladyboys in here, especially Thurs- Saturday. Again, these girls are not cheap, and will probably set you back $50 or more for a few hours. [Reports that this place is now closed will be confirmed or denied after January, 2006, when we visit Saigon. There is also a branch of the Q-bar in Bangkok, off Sukhimvit Soi 11; many many ladyboys hang in there as well].

            In Saigon, There are numerous oppurtunities to meet ladyboys right on the street as well, in the touristy area's near the Q-bar or near the little square in front of the Rex Hotel on Dong Khoi street; the street-walking hookers of both sexes hang out near here. This is a city of 5 million people, so you are bound to get lucky if you look hard enough, but most of the street walkers [if indeed you can find any] are ladies. Also remember; the police and military in this country don't take any shit and will bust a prostitute if they can, so be discreet. Our suggestion is to meet a 'girl' in one of the above bars, and hope she is trustworthy. Like many hookers in these countries, they care much more about your wallet than your orgasm.

            CanTho; One other place worthy of note is in the city Can Tho, which is about 5 hours south of Saigon. About 100 meters after you enter the city from the ferry drop-off, there is a soccer stadium on the Bassac river. Directly behind the Soccer stadium is a row of brothel houses, about 10 in all. No ladyboys work in here as far as we know, but this is a great place to spend an afternoon and have sex with some very beautiful ladies for small money. Short time with a girl in here costs 10US dollars, plus tip for the girl, and you can have cold beer for 1 dollar each. The places are air conditioned and you can have a great time in here with little hassles. The management and the girls speak little english, but it's still a great place to hang out and have fun.

            If you are entering this large city of 300,000 people from the other side, where the new bridge was constructed, you will just have to ask someone where the soccer [football] stadium near the Bassac river is located. If you can find that, you will find brothel row, and it is very easy to find.

Here's some information sent in by a member...

Firstly: The ladyboy situation in Vietnam. I am sure they exist, and I am told they are to be found in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) but I've seen exactly two in my travels here, and since I was with the delectable Ming at the time I was not brave enough to quiz them on where they hang out. These two were down near Bui Vien Street, which is Backpacker Central in HCMC. There is a certain amount of persecution of LB's by the government here, so they tend to be far more underground than in other places in Asia, although Malaysia tends tend to purge the streets occassionally, and Singapore does immigration sweeps through Clarke Quay and the 4-floors too.

The GG's here are probably the prettiest in Asia, so unlike LOS and the rest, the ladyboys who do exist here have some pretty tough competition.

Facts about Vietnam:

A return ticket on Jetstar BKK- SGN (who are code sharing with Bangkok Airways) is about 250 USD. Cheap. From Singapore is about the same. Thais, Malaysians, Filipinos, Cambodians, Laos etc do NOT need visas as they are ASEAN members. Aussies, Poms, Seppos, and the rest of us white trash do.

A visa is best arranged a week in advance through an agency, as getting a visa on arrival is a back-water 3rd world nightmare. Slow. everything in triplicate. and NO ONE (except me!) tells you you need to bring passport photos to get one, so you have to pay the local copper to take the photo for you.

You can get a 3-4 week visa no problem, and if you do decide to settle here with Miss LB-Right you can get an extention for 6 months for between 50-150 USD depending on whether you do it yourself of get an agent to do it for you.

Hotels range from 5 star at 5 star prices in HCMC to much better and affordable budget hotels in and around Bui Vien Street for about 22 USD per night. I stay there all the time, save 150$ and honestly they are clean, safe comfortable.

There is a no-fraternising policy in Vietnam, which means you ain't supposed to hump the locals, so the 5-star hotels make you purchase a second room to cover their asses (and of course fleece you) to bring a girl back after 7pm. The budget hotels don't care. I have noticed in my last 14 months here that the rules are mellowing, but they have a way to go. So if you are planning a pick up here, budget is the go. besides which you can get 2 girls for what you save on the room.

Vietnamese are proud, strong, and friendly, although they have a low tolerance of loud drunk falangs. Same rules apply as LOS: Keep smiling, be polite and remember they won the war simply becuase you cut one and they all bleed. Do NOT get in a fight. the police probably will not help you. Remember (and it embarasses me to say this) that not all girls are whores. Some are little sisters.

Vietnam is far more sexually conservative than LOS. You cannot barfine girls here. You can buy them drinks until they puke and they might choose not to go home with you.  Its a free world. If they do want to go home with you and it's for the money they will let you know. If on the other hand they actually like you (and Vietnamese girls are without doubt the all time champs at falling in love by drink no.3) they will go home for free.

They may suck you, but probably not on the first date.
They just about never allow you to go near the first hole from the back of the neck.
Missionary is the norm,. doggy for them is kinky. But they are so FUCKING BEAUTIFUL!

So you are probably wondering why come here?

Its cheap and safe. Its scenic. There is probably a handful of KFC's and Maccas in the whole country. It's fun.

Here's a TRIP REPORT sent in by a member...

Since I had never received an invitation from Uncle Sam to go visit Vietnam in the 60's, I thought it was time for me to stop in and see where "history was made" and my friends killed.

Executive Summary:

Saw no ladyboys, plenty of available real girls for action.  Check with hotel before making a reservation regarding their “visitor” policy.  Be prepared to get hit with every “scam” you can think of for the locals to squeeze money out of your pocket.  Enjoy the history, low prices in the markets (lower than Thailand) and trust no one.  I would definitely return, wiser and better prepared and head south to the sea and the Mekong Delta area……not counting on any ladyboy action and probably avoiding the real girl “crap” I experienced and saw going on with every other western guy.


OK...the long version.........

Left BKK for a few days in Saigon(all the locals seems to use that rather than Ho Chi Minh City) with the plan of being a non-sex driven tourist.  Despite that intention, I left with a list of bars, street corners, parks, etc where previous threads and other websites suggested that there may be ladyboys hanging out in search of a “date” or boyfriend.  My only prior Vietnam experience had been in Hanoi 18 months ago and I had forgotten how talented the Vietnamese are at extracting even cent from you from the time you hit the tarmac.  I had caved in to the numerous reports suggesting using the taxi desk at the airport to book a taxi into town rather than becoming fresh meat for the taxis waiting at the stands. It will cost you $6.00US (they prefer US bucks at this booking counter) and a taxi from the stand would be about $4.00….so I figured it was worth the aggravation to avoid the taxi stands and pay the extra $2.  Well, turns out as we approached the exit gate at the airport, the driver said I owed the exit fee…it was not included. I’m sure that it was included in my taxi desk booking so he and I had a standoff for about 3 min before I caved in and paid the 5,000dong fee…I gave him a 10,000 dong note and asked for change…he laughed.  So “let the games begin” I figured, I was now entering the snake pit, I quickly learned.  Thailand would soon feel like a walk in the park compared to my few days in Vietnam.

Got to the hotel at about 7:30PM, checked into a great room which I had booked on line at what I had thought would be a great rate(more on that later). Big room, king size bed, 7th floor in what looked like a 3-5 yr old building at most.  The place was the AnAn2 Hotel located in what some call the “back packers” section of Saigon, but seemed to me to not be as low cost as BKK’s  Khaosan area.  My room was supposed to be a single at $22/night…..but on checkout they said I owed $28/night as it was a “deluxe” double room.

I showered, use the free internet (they have free wifi but I was never able to get a connection though I think it may have been my computer as other Asian customers where able to connect.)  By this time it was past 9:00PM and the time previous threads said that the LB’s hit the street near was I was staying. I saw no LB’s but numerous girls looking for company.  Decided to eat but wanted to avoid the “falang” crowds and the places catering to them so I walked a few streets away and chose place with only Vietnamese….my food ordering technique consisted of pointing at what others were eating as the menu was only in Vietnamese, washed it down with a couple cold Tiger beers.  Ok…on to the other area where LB’s supposedly hung out..,.the large park between my hotel and the main city market….again…zero LB’s seen.  On to the “famous” Apocolypse Now bar.  Big crowd, 90% westerners with many Vietnamese girls looking for company.  I ask one of the girls that showed a fancy to me and she said that 99% of the girls were working despite the casual appearance of the girls looking like any other Asian women dancing, flirting and acting like your GF on a date.

Got roped into buying a rounds of tequila shooters for a girl and her 3 gay male friends.  Drink prices here not much different from the Nana places….$3.50US…..typical high priced tourist prices in an over crowded bar.  A beer at the local street vender “restaurant” a mere $0.50.   I began feeling like a fish being reeled in by the girl I was talking with as she began suggesting that I order more drinks and food for herself and her friends….fuck that, she wasn’t that good looking and I knew I didn’t want her as a shag….no LB’s at this bar.  Back to the hotel and rechecking the LB locations.  Used a motorbike taxi ($1.00) and he cautioned me about the Vietnamese LB’s and their scams and tag team techniques………thought the warning pretty funny since I had yet to see an LB and never even mentioned to the taxi driver that I wanted to find one.  Was about to call it a night at 2:30 when I spotted a relatively cute girl sitting at a sidewalk table that threw me a big grin and waved me over. ….hmmm…do I see a bit of an adam’s apple there?  Had I finally found an LB?  Well, bought her a drink, chatted(limited English) and still wasn’t sure if she was an LB or not.

Floated a question…”hey I was warned about the local LBs from my taxi driver….I haven’t seen any”..she didn’t bite, so I still didn’t know but I was beginning she was a real girl by the small hands and feet despite what I thought I saw under her chin.  As far as I could tell at this time, she was not a working girl.  Never the standard “can I go with you”….”where do you stay”…As previously reported Vietnam tries to appear upscale regarding the sex tourist so makes it hard to get a girl into your room.  I told the girl at the Apocolypse Now club where I was staying and she said..”oh, you can take a girl with you, but not at the high priced big hotels”.  Ok…took my new friend to my hotel..at the reception I ask for her phone number and said I’d call her tomorrow to tour the city with me.  I didn’t try to actually take her up to my room, but wanted the reception people to see she was with me today and in the future….trying to set the stage for a bedmate later in the week.  So off to bed by myself…..first night since my arriving in SEA(17 days ago) I slept by myself.  

Ok..up at about 9pm…off to find breakfast and ended up sitting by a nice Aussie chap who had been in Saigon for a couple weeks…give me a few good tips and off I went for my history tour to all the notable sites that are part of the Saigon/USA war era.  

Stopped at a local sidewalk restaurant for a cold Tiger…met a nice Polish guy off the cruise ship that hits Saigon a few times a month.  This guy plays in the ships band…a few more tips and just before I was ready to head back to the hotel, a cute Vietnamese girl sits down for a bowl of noodles before her shift starts at the local market.  Limited English but not a working girl, sweet smile, cute figure and said to stop by her booth if I wanted to see her….hmmmmm….time to give up the LB search and go real girl.  Back to the hotel, shower and head back to market before her shift ends at 10pm…Well…just received a call from the girl from the previous night….”why didn’t I call here to tour?”…..OK  OK….let’s have dinner and hit the famous “Q Bar”….said she’d meet me at the hotel at 9:00….was going to give her until 9:30 before I bolted off to the market.  Damn….9:28 she shows up.  Off to the Q-Bar which I find out is one of her favorite bars….very small crowd, over priced like the other “farang” bars so we move on to a late dinner(11:30PM) at the city market area.  Flash back to the Thai LB dining technique in that she ordered food for 5-6 people, however she did wolf down quite a bit…..what the hell, I was paying the bill.

Back to the hotel…grabbed another drink at the bar across the street from my hotel..it was called GO-GO..but was just a large bar with a dance floor upstairs.  Ok..by this time I was convinced she was not a LB or a working girl….she did names at a local shop(supposedly).  Off to my hotel at 3:00AM…a stop at the reception and nasty looks from the girl behind the counter and “She can go up with you if I book her as having a room, do you want to pay $20 for her room?”  Fuck it…sure, I’ll pay it..though they never offered a room key or actually give her a room.  My argument that I booked a double room so why couldn’t I take her up fell on deaf ears…..or better said, Vietnam ears that know no logic aside from “pay more money”

Ok…I agreed to pay the $20 room fee…..how could I refuse with my new “GF” standing right there beside me.  Up to the room, I went off to the shower, came back and she was tucked in under the covers…..WITH her clothes on.  Now I am convinced she was not a working girl.  Ok Ok..kissed her good night, rolled over and fell asleep. Woke up with my new GF beside me began to nuzzle up to her and gently do a little massaging/stroking her breasts…yes yes….over her clothes….shit this feels like high school again….”heavy petting” with clothes on.  Well something must have clicked as she rolled over stuck her tongue down my throat and began moaning like in a porn movie.  Within 30 seconds her clothes where off, my mouth on her beautiful breasts and nipples and her body definitely telling me she wanted to go further.  Tried a little oral stimulation…..no go as she push my head away and forced her nipple in my mouth again….tried a little pussy massage…that was ok as long as my fingers weren’t  probing too much.  Didn’t take her long to get very wet and pulled me on top of her, wrapped her legs around me and pulled me deep inside.

She seemed to get the best stimulation(has happened to me before) by actually pulling her legs together with my legs on the outside of hers…..hey if it works for her, I’m cool with it.  It had been a while since I had been with a real girl so idea of not seeing a cum shot was a bit strange and had to assume that her moaning, thrusts of her hips, then being to sensitive to touch announced her climax and now my turn..  She was up for giving a BJ despite not liking to receive herself….eventually emptied my load on her smooth and flat Asian tummy, and a few minutes of warm embrace before we broke for a shower and on to a tour of the Chu Chi tunnels.  She said she wanted to take the bus tour with me, though when we arrived, she opted out of most of it showing no interest in the history lesson about the Viet Cong and the US war.  She sat back at the reception area, ordered a bowl of noodles and smoked her cheap Vietnamese cigarettes.  Later she would upgrade to Marlborros since I was now footing the bill….a theme that would get worse as the week wore on.  Arrived back at the hotel about 2:30 from the tour…she went off to her house, a change of clothes and return for dinner…..damn, I’m starting to count down the hours I have left before I can escape the situation and get back to BKK and then Manila.  

She has declared that I need a new belt and a new shirt, so off to the night market and off course she needs a few items….. though not an LB…her taste in fashion sure sucked and despite my efforts she bought(with my money) some pretty funking things…..for me, she insisted I buy a shirt I probably won’t wear again and a belt that is not my style at all….oh well, I’m getting a rather warm bed mate, so keep her happy.  Now dinner time and a replay of the prior evening…..too much food I didn’t really like..”but I wanted you to try some unique Vietnamese food, honey”……Barf, I don’t eat fish bones or pig’s intestines.   I had made a comment earlier in the day of liking the bier hoi(local brewed draft beer) I had in Hanoi so she called a few of her friends to meet us at a bier hoi restaurant where I ended up buying her friends dinner….”they make little money, so can you buy them dinner, honey”?   Ok, the cash cow arrived an I’m being taken for a ride I sense….tag teamed by my GF and her friends.

On to a local disco that she likes with her friends and at this time I have zero idea where we are in Saigon, but certainly not close to my hotel and in a place where there are very few taxis for me to make my escape.  Stay at the disco for a couple hours trying to stop the bleeding from my ears from the incredibly loud music.  I have to agree it was a great cultural experience since I was the only westerner at the disco….and probably twice the age of anyone.  More drinks and more packs of cigarettes and of course more strange food that they eat while drinking…..the cash register is still open.  Finally able to escape the disco my GF and I bid her friends a good night and we grabbed a cab for home…..so I thought………off to the Q Bar again and a stop at an ATM for more VN Dong.  Small crowd and my patience tested to its end, I suggested we head for home and some sleep.  She agreed and we hit the hotel(another $20 room for her).  She showered and immerged from the bath wearing pajamas….definitely not a working girl.  I was off to the shower, having forgotten my PJ’s, I wore my boxers so she didn’t feel bad as the only one wearing something to bed.  More breast fondling on my part had her once again rip her PJ’s off within 30 seconds replay the prior days sexual activities though this time she ran to the shower after her climax, came back to bed and put back on her PJ’s.   “Makes me feel uncomfortable not sleeping with clothes on”…..hmmmm, ok, whatever you want my dear.  Fell asleep and got up ready to pack, have lunch and escape back to BKK and then on to Manila. Checked out of the hotel and left bags under their watchful eye as we had lunch.

Found a near by spot for lunch…..seemed like all the meals were “what do you want to eat?”…I would tell her what I wanted, and she would then order what she thought I should have or try….and it was some strange stuff.  Again ordered for 4-5 people, wolfed it down and she decided she wanted to show me Buddha.  Jumped in a taxi and off we went to see the Buddha where she usually went.…..but wait, all of a sudden the taxi stops, we get out and walk to a street side restaurant to meet one of her friends that has a recharged battery for her cell phone.  Yup, sat down, bought the friend and her more drinks, more food, and cigarettes as they jabbered in Vietnamese.  Eventually we did get to the Buddha which was run down and a pathetic example compared to the Thai temples.  I have a feeling the “Buddha” stop was just an excuse to travel half way across the city to meet her friend for the all important cell phone battery.  By this time, I can’t wait to get to the airport but no…she wants to stop for a drink and talk before she takes me to the airport.

Finally get back to the hotel, grab my bags and off we go to the airport.  Jump out, go to get my camera out of my bag and find that it is missing….shit, someone at the hotel must have taken it along with a pair if sunglasses(prescription). I finally get thru to her what has happened so she calls the hotel and of course they plead innocence…and not  a thing I can do but live and learn….my guess is that it was some other guest that unzipped and took the stuff as they were retrieving their bags.  This event, my anger,  and frustration quickly diffused her request in route to the airport for me to buy her a new cell phone so we could stay in touch from the USA since the one she had been using all week was really her fathers. “if you can give me $40 US, I can buy phone and we can talk”.  Having just lost my camera and shades, I was in no mood for her whining and requests so I said see you later, I’ll stay in touch, gave her a few Vietnamese dong to get home and FINALLY escaped Vietnam.