I met my friend Jeremy in Phuket, Thailand for a 6-day liveaboard scuba diving trip around the Similan Islands, one of the world’s best dive sites. My daily expenses were about ten times what they were in Vietnam, but it was well worth it.
In spite of spending over three weeks in Vietnam I can’t say I saw much of it, because most of my time was spent in a couple very touristy areas: Hoi An and the backpacker area of Saigon. So it wasn’t until I did a couple day trips outside of Saigon that I caught a glimpse of the real Vietnam, which I loved.
Since most of my time in Saigon was spent working (or trying to) I don’t have much to write about, but did have a bit of fun here and there.
After taking a couple weeks off from work in December, I planned to spend the first week or two in January getting caught up on work in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). I found a hotel in the backpacker district for only $12 USD/night including TV, a/c, wireless internet and breakfast. That’s less than half my rent at home.