Ho Chi Minh City - Bars and Clubs

[Jsxyz]

I just returned from a week-ish in HCMC, and as on my previous trip a year ago I had a fantastic time. I spent just about every night at Apocalypse and I have to say it's one of my favorite pickup bars anywhere. The vibe is just right for me. Not 100% bar girls but instead a mix of FL and regular folks. The staff is friendly, beer isn't TOO expensive, and they serve food. The quality of ladies is also wonderful. But on weeknights you start to see the same girls over and over again. Weekends though is where you can get lucky and find some non-regulars and some gems. I think I met a total of three companions during the several nights I was there, all of whom were full on GFE, one a bit too much so as I think she became a little smitten with me. She actually kind of ruined my game the next couple of nights I saw her there because she wouldn't leave me alone. She was actually a FANTASTIC lay, a young MILFy type (maybe 38 or so?) from Hanoi, who I took out one night, and then called to my hotel for an afternoon session a couple days later. Again FANTASTIC in the sack, but I was on holiday and wanted to some variety.

Also went to Go2Bar a couple nights after not finding anything to my liking a Apocalypse. One night I got lucky and one of the 3 or 4 FL in the bar was cute and willing (also turned into a night out and a call back to my hotel the next afternoon!) , but the other night it was dead. I actually hate that bar and wouldn't recommend it. Too many scummy drunk white college kids and not enough girls. Plus the music is ridiculously loud and there's no place to escape it (unlike Apocalypse, which is big enough that you can get away from the loud music quite easily).

Prices seem to be creeping up from last year. I believe last year I paid $100 USD *including* hotel for every outing, this year most of the girls asked for $100 plus hotel fee (although the girl from Go2Bar and one girl I met at Apocalypse agreed to $100 all-in). There were a couple girls who even quoted $150 plus hotel, which I don't recall at all last year.

Anyway, wonderful trip, and don't believe there is no fun to be had in HCMC.

Oh, also of note: the demise of the billiard bars seems to either be overstated or they've bounced back; there were plenty open for business in District 1. They're not really my cup of tea, although I did stop into a couple for a beer. I found the quality much lower than Apocalypse, the girls a bit more hard-edged, and the asking prices the same.

[Mackin]

Just a quick report. Left today for better lands. What I can say is some nice pub type food places. Of course the bigger places also. Stopped at Sheraton and Rex. Eight (8) dollars for a coke. I passed. Bar activities I was quoted 120. 00, be back tomorrow. Never made it. Did find one for 60. Absolutely terrible. BJ not even one. Layed there like a rock and didn't like cowgirl. Threw her out.

HCM nice city but terrible unless you have time to develop. Even massage places were no action. Even after I was told I am very handsome, LOL.

[Jsxyz]

Can anyone tell me current prices for in-house fun at the Billiard Bars? I know how much I paid. Just wondering sheepishly how badly I got ripped off! .

There are still plenty of bars open in District 1, BTW, but I am not sure how the quantity and quality of girls compares to previous times. The two bars I dropped into were both very small to begin with, and each had maybe 4-5 ladies (and 0-2 customers). At the first bar no girls above a 6 on my scale, but the second bar there was a voluptuous MILFy-type who seemed shocked when I pointed her out when the mamasan asked me if I wanted any of the girls to sit with me. Shocked though she may have been, she wasn't appreciative enough to give me a good price, but I still had fun. That was on Nguyen Sieu Street, one block up from the Caravan Hotel; I can't remember the name but it's right next-door to El Gaucho restaurant.

[KkStar88]

Actually most of the bars are still open. 4 of them closed, but no others. There's another 9 or 10 still open. Those ones that are open are not their usual selves, though, for now at least.

It's too early to know what this means for the future. There have been clampdowns before and things reverted back to usual again a while later. This was the most extreme clampdown so far, but the tendency for things like this in this country is for it to be an issue for awhile before it fades away. Not always. Helmet law for motorbikes stuck good. They came out with a new law prohibiting 3 wheeled vehicles (motorbikes that carry loads on the back, or the ones for disabled drivers) , and that one seems to have been completely ignored by police, just not being enforced at all. So we'll see. Too early to know.

About Ba Vi, have you been up there recently? From what I saw, it was less than half as many places as before, I would guess 2/3 have been shut down. I didn't mean that there were fewer than a few years ago, but way fewer than when I was up there just about 3 months ago. On the 2 main side streets that had those massage places, I only saw one place still open on each.

Hi Wendell,

Will be coming to ho Chinminh on the 22 Sept till 25. 2013. Was wondering. Is there any action for threesome available over there?

[CrackAddict]

Does anyone know the name or address of a new bar apparently recently opened on Thi Sach Steet Dist' 1

Can't remember the name or the exact address but it is near the Ho Sen Hotel which is on Thi Sach at the intersection of Dong Du. This bar is about 30-40 steps down from the hotel toward Nguyen Sieu on the same side of the street as The Ho Sen. It has a bright neon sign and there was a couple older ladies in the open doorway dressed in nice tight short dresses calling us over. From the brief look through the open door, the bar looked upscale, new and modern but empty when we walked by. The night was young and we intended to check it out later after we got beer goggles but never did. Good luck. Post if you check it out.

[Jvdairlie]

Does anyone know the name or address of a new bar apparently recently opened on Thi Sach Steet Dist' 1

[AdHome01]

A few days ago I spoke with the owner of one of the HBT bars that is still opened. I was told the government is planning on shutting down all the bars on HBT. I didn't hear how or when this was going to happen but the owner said it as a fact. With all the other crackdowns (three raids in the last week) it looks like it will happen sooner than later. I guessing, at some point, these bars will reopen in an area just outside the city center.

Obviously, there is still action to be found, though newbie's and short-timers will have a harder/riskier time of it.

[Wendella]

As Wendella said pretty much all of the bars in HBT are now shut. I don't know how crak downs work here but they are SHUT at the moment. The appearance indicates they are shut for good.

There are 2 bars still open but all see grade girls and when you go inside they barely acknowledge you at all.

It would genuinely seem like the end of that strip of bars.

Ba Vi still seemed to be going relatively strong (although to be fair there are far fewer places than there were 3 or 4 years ago). I think Ba Vi represents the best chance for fun at the moment. Beautiful girls there for sure.

Actually most of the bars are still open. 4 of them closed, but no others. There's another 9 or 10 still open. Those ones that are open are not their usual selves, though, for now at least.

It's too early to know what this means for the future. There have been clampdowns before and things reverted back to usual again a while later. This was the most extreme clampdown so far, but the tendency for things like this in this country is for it to be an issue for awhile before it fades away. Not always. Helmet law for motorbikes stuck good. They came out with a new law prohibiting 3 wheeled vehicles (motorbikes that carry loads on the back, or the ones for disabled drivers) , and that one seems to have been completely ignored by police, just not being enforced at all. So we'll see. Too early to know.

About Ba Vi, have you been up there recently? From what I saw, it was less than half as many places as before, I would guess 2/3 have been shut down. I didn't mean that there were fewer than a few years ago, but way fewer than when I was up there just about 3 months ago. On the 2 main side streets that had those massage places, I only saw one place still open on each.

[D Cups]

Thanks, Bowerboy. Where is Ba Vi please?

As Wendella said pretty much all of the bars in HBT are now shut. I don't know how crak downs work here but they are SHUT at the moment. The appearance indicates they are shut for good.

There are 2 bars still open but all see grade girls and when you go inside they barely acknowledge you at all.

It would genuinely seem like the end of that strip of bars.

Ba Vi still seemed to be going relatively strong (although to be fair there are far fewer places than there were 3 or 4 years ago). I think Ba Vi represents the best chance for fun at the moment. Beautiful girls there for sure.

[Bowerboy]

As Wendella said pretty much all of the bars in HBT are now shut. I don't know how crak downs work here but they are SHUT at the moment. The appearance indicates they are shut for good.

There are 2 bars still open but all see grade girls and when you go inside they barely acknowledge you at all.

It would genuinely seem like the end of that strip of bars.

Ba Vi still seemed to be going relatively strong (although to be fair there are far fewer places than there were 3 or 4 years ago). I think Ba Vi represents the best chance for fun at the moment. Beautiful girls there for sure.

[Wendella]

Hi Wendella.

What about Smiley and the others on Thai Van lung and Thi Sach? Coming back to SGN in a week or so and don't wish to look up possessive old flames.

That one looked open but like I said, most of the girls are not showing up, it's only the most hard-core ones who are still coming to work. You'll see. These places are not worth the visit right now, at least not if female company is your purpose. If a quiet beer alone is your aim, they're perfect. ;-)

I had time to drive up around the airport massage places and most of those are gone now-permanently, by the way it looked, just a few of them left (I did not take a look inside).

This rash of raids and closings in these 2 scenes could possibly be connected (no knowledge, just speculating). Facebook also is not working yet again. Over the years they shut it down every once in awhile. Real pain in the derriere cuz these days lots of websites have some kind of Facebook button or link window on the page, and so all those webpages just crash now, you can't read them, it goes to a Page Won't Load message. Really annoying.

[OzzieSuds]

Actually that list is pretty out of date now. There was a major clampdown on these places last week, and 4 of the main bars were shut down (35, 37, 49, 51) and the rest are in rough shape. I went around to check out a few bars tonight. If a bar usually had 15 girls, now it has 3. And it's not the pretty young ones. They seem to have been ordered to take away the darkened glass they usually have on the front, and also to keep the lights up bright, and the girls to dress in much less sexy outfits. Some bars went with ao dais, others with dresses. It was so bad, even at 91 there wasn't a single one I was interested in sitting with. If it stays like this long term, could be the end of this scene. Seriously, for anyone coming to town, unless things change, my earlier post about these bars no longer applies. These places are not worth visiting right now, you're sure to be disappointed. Hope they bounce back.

Hi Wendella.

What about Smiley and the others on Thai Van lung and Thi Sach? Coming back to SGN in a week or so and don't wish to look up possessive old flames.

[AdHome01]

In addition to being an embarrassment for the tourist trade, these places are occupying prime shop spots which could easily be transformed into restaurants or yet another upscale art gallery. Will be interesting to see how it goes. Good luck, AsianRain

I was thinking the same thing.

No one is getting out of jail and they're looking at a few years in prison. The families of the bar owners are going to start selling off anything inside of value, so they won't be reopening. One other thing, the bars not busted all closed right before the raid so they new it was coming. I guess we'll see soon enough.

[Asian Rain]

Actually that list is pretty out of date now. There was a major clampdown on these places last week, and 4 of the main bars were shut down (35, 37, 49, 51) and the rest are in rough shape. I went around to check out a few bars tonight. If a bar usually had 15 girls, now it has 3. And it's not the pretty young ones. They seem to have been ordered to take away the darkened glass they usually have on the front, and also to keep the lights up bright, and the girls to dress in much less sexy outfits. Some bars went with ao dais, others with dresses. It was so bad, even at 91 there wasn't a single one I was interested in sitting with. If it stays like this long term, could be the end of this scene. Seriously, for anyone coming to town, unless things change, my earlier post about these bars no longer applies. These places are not worth visiting right now, you're sure to be disappointed. Hope they bounce back.

Yuck. Too bad for the long-noses who are too timid to walk more than 100m from the Sheraton. Not too long ago I used to shop a few times a week at Annam Gourmet Market across from 49/51 HBT. Enjoyed watching the guys open the door as potential customers walked by.

If they cracked down on Two Sisters as well, but not the places on LTT in the Japanese area, my suspicion would be that there is a move to get these places on / near HBT to move out. In addition to being an embarrassment for the tourist trade, these places are occupying prime shop spots which could easily be transformed into restaurants or yet another upscale art gallery. Will be interesting to see how it goes. Good luck, AsianRain

[AcesMcGee]

Thanks for the advice Wendella.

Have you ever known a similar clampdown on the scene?

Martin

Actually that list is pretty out of date now. There was a major clampdown on these places last week, and 4 of the main bars were shut down (35, 37, 49, 51) and the rest are in rough shape. I went around to check out a few bars tonight. If a bar usually had 15 girls, now it has 3. And it's not the pretty young ones. They seem to have been ordered to take away the darkened glass they usually have on the front, and also to keep the lights up bright, and the girls to dress in much less sexy outfits. Some bars went with ao dais, others with dresses. It was so bad, even at 91 there wasn't a single one I was interested in sitting with. If it stays like this long term, could be the end of this scene. Seriously, for anyone coming to town, unless things change, my earlier post about these bars no longer applies. These places are not worth visiting right now, you're sure to be disappointed. Hope they bounce back.