Ho Chi Min City

We've booked a 'sleeper bus' for tomorrow night.  I made sure to clarify that if there were no beds for us that I would be getting my money back.  The guy laughed..and then when I didn't, he nodded his head seriously. "There are beds."

A few notes for travelers:

Never book anything online for a trip to Vietnam.  The price online for everything..hotel rooms, train tickets, bus tickets, shows..everything..is three times what you will pay if you walk in to one of these establishments. 

Never book through your hotel.  We have learned on a number of occassions that hotel receptionists lie about prices, time tables for transport, and the cost of just about anything.

Try to avoid random Vietnamese holidays.  The price of everything triples.  Restaraunts pull out 'holiday menus', which are the same as the regular menus except the prices are all higher.  This system is one truly based on supply and demand..more people want it..the price goes up.

Today we had a fun adventure on bicycles trying to by-pass the system.  Our hotel receptionist informed us this morning that she had already booked a ticket for us on a train for tomorrow, for 18 dollars apeice. (We  did not ask for this..or want it.)  We told her to un-book it.  We then made a point of telling her that we were going to ride bikes to the train station to check prices.  She didn't like that.  We checked train and bus stations, maybe 20 minutes of biking around town in the heat, and another 10 minutes waiting in semi-organized lines to get information.  We discovered a list of set prices, (well hidden from outsider eyes) ones that the Vietnamese people pay from Nha Trang to Ho Chi Min.  Then, we found a private bus company close to our hotel to book with.  We walked in and instead of asking the price of the sleeper bus, we stated the price.  The man selling tickets groaned and asked if we'd been to the bus station.  Yes.  We have finally mastered the system..made it impossible for a bus company to rob us blind.  It was totally worth braving the 100 degree heat to watch the smug smile on bus-ticket-man's face dissolve.  Victory.