Vietnam Travel Dos and Don’ts by Charlie Last night as I was writing this up, once again, Saigon's power failed. This time for 40 minutes between 17:30 until 18:10. Thank God I wasn't in the elevator. Guess with all the power failures I have experienced across the country, one should add a small flashlight to the list of things you should bring but thankfully, I have a laptop with a 3 hour battery that serves as my portable/emergency power station! haha These are just some loose thoughts pulled together. I hope they help. Charlie - mysticsailor@gmail.com 1. Do travel t [View Full Entry]

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Midnight ramblings from Saigon by Charlie * Jun. 13th, 2007 at 12:13 PM Midnight in Saigon Well, it has been a long day here but I have opted to end the day in bed watching the Discovery Channel’s Travel and Leisure. As I don’t have a TV in Europe, kind of nice to take a break from the road and veg in front of the idiot box and watch who and what I am suppose to be. Today I am suppose to be rich and famous in Monaco and go experience the foods of Beijing. Cool. Let’s go! The trip [View Full Entry]

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Tain Trip from Quang Ngai to Nha Trang, Vietnam * Jun. 11th, 2007 at 9:51 AM 13:00 Pulling out of the station in complete and utter chaos. Man with his family with what appears to be 6 children, consume the seats around me and as he rips off his shirt, is now sitting bare chested in a seat in front of me. His wife has taken the chair directly in front of me and both have lowered the backs to what I call the ‘chaise back lounge’ position. Oh joy as this has barely left me enough room to breath. Seems [View Full Entry]

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Nha Trang - Sex and the City by Charlie * Jun. 10th, 2007 at 11:46 AM Sunday Morning I have no idea what the hell the guide books write about this place but in my opinion, the heading should read, “Nha Trang - Sex and the City”, because that pretty much sums up why white folks come here. Where to begin? I guess at the beginning. Yesterday, was Saturday and today is Sunday (so far so good). I needed to get some work done and the first Café near my hotel a bit off the beaten path was unable to get [View Full Entry]

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...or "How to loose your shirt without even trying!" by Charlie Some days ago I wrote in this blog that I had visited the Sheraton’s Hotel in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) where I tried my ‘luck’ at their Blackjack tables. As reported I lost, and to me, it appeared obviously rigged as the card draws from the dealer weren’t mathematically possible under normal circumstances. It is interesting to note today that I heard from others that several casinos had been raided by local authorities for ‘irregularities’, including ‘signs of fraud’ in gambl [View Full Entry]

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Quang Ngai, Vietnam - A day at the train station by Charlie * Jun. 8th, 2007 at 2:15 PM June 8, 2007 - Friday - Early AM - Quang Ngai Train Station Awoke this AM to the sound of roosters crowing, horns blowing and bells and alarms going off around me; and all this before 4AM! It wasn’t long after that I decided to forget my attempts at sleep and instead got up and showered. Shortly after that I was making my way down the 5 flights of steps onto the bottom floor where I knew the sliding, steel doors [View Full Entry]

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A Flight to Chu Lai and the Bus Ride from Hell!!! by Charlie * Jun. 7th, 2007 at 2:21 PM Saigon to ‘Dodge City’ (Quang Ngai), Vietnam Mother of Mary! I finally made it to what can only be described as the Wild, Wild, West! But yes, you are right I am in the ‘east’, or at least on the east coast of Vietnam, and what a place this place is. Getting here was rather tame if you overlook the Vietnam Air Services (VASCO) ATR-72’s bald tires, high speed taxis and fast landing approaches, with what was most probably a student [View Full Entry]

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by Charlie * Jun. 6th, 2007 at 1:54 PM Well yesterday was a whirlwind to say the least but maybe not as bad as the cyclone hitting Oman and the Arabian Gulf; with some stunned by such a storm due to its extreme rareness. Here on this side of the world, Saigon, I don’t suppose such a storm is possible due to its proximity to the equator at 10 degrees and 46 minutes (10 degrees north or south is SUPPOSE to be typhoon free) but anything can happen I guess. In all the news coming out of the region about Cyclone [View Full Entry]

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Flying to Chu Lai from Saigon by Charlie * Jun. 4th, 2007 at 11:46 AM Bought a ticket from Vietnam Airlines for $52 this morning to head back up the coast to a place called 'Chu Lai', made famous during the Vietnam/American War as a massive Naval and Army base. Chu Lai is a a bit south of Da Nang (another exploding place) and about half way between Saigon and Hanoi. Not sure what to expect but whispers around me from the boys in the know, tell me to 'go north young man'. So north I go. It seems PetroVietnam has [View Full Entry]

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Doing my morning coffee/Internet thing at Highlands Coffee here at the Saigon Centre. It is Sunday morning and it was a loonnnggggg night that topped off a very busy day. Gambling, playing Blackjack with snots and idiots, gold dealing, discussions about Camus, existentialism, American politics and Vietnam’s business climate…just another normal day in Saigon! I guess I have to start and explain I like to play Blackjack and have done so from Costa Rica to the Canary Islands, from Macau to Baden-Baden and now Saigon, but here it was like no other experience ever. I guess I sh [View Full Entry]

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