Незабываемый солнечный Вьетнам! Unforgettable sunny Vietnam!

We rested together with my husband in the hotel "SWISS VILLAGE RESORT 3 *" from 06.02. 09 to 20.02. 09. The travel agency of Tomsk "Kontur", the tour operator "Olympia Raizen Siberia" (it must be given credit that this is probably the only tour operator that did not raise prices for the tour at the time of the wild rise in the dollar), the meeting party is "AT TRAVEL". There are no claims against the tour operator , the only guide of the meeting side got confused with the time of departure, but this is a trifle. In short, we had a great rest, now in more detail.
Air flight and road: S7 airline flew from Novosibirsk to Saigon 7 hours 15 minutes, back 7 hours 30 minutes. The flight is tiring, considering that we traveled from Tomsk to Novosibirsk by car for 5 hours, then the flight, then 6 hours by bus to the hotel. But this is not even the point, the airline itself has deteriorated, the food is disgusting, back, when they flew, they landed in Novosibirsk not quite softly. The people who flew before us flew away only the third time. What can not be said about Vietnamese airlines (the food is excellent, alcoholic drinks throughout the flight - whiskey, cognac and not in disposable glasses, but in glass ones, even disposable toothbrushes were found in the toilet). In general, who has a choice of where to fly, think about it. Regarding the long road, I read in many reviews that people ordered an individual transfer from the airport to the hotel, and the trip took no more than 4 hours by car - this is certainly better than shaking for 6 hours on the bus - the road is very tiring. In addition, in Vietnam, the speed of movement is not more than 40 km per hour, rarely where 50. We left the airport at 13:30, arrived at the hotel at 19:30, quickly got a room, examined, checked everything - everything was fine, in welcome fruit basket in the room, unpacked the suitcase, took out cognac, and drank for the arrival.
Hotel: About the stardom of hotels in Vietnam is a separate issue, because of the high taxes they reduce the stardom, although in fact the Vietnamese three-ruble note outdoes the Turkish and Egyptian five. The hotel itself is small (main building - 43 rooms, bungalows - 10 rooms, villa - 20 rooms), but so cozy, everything is in greenery, flowers, the design of the territory is well thought out, two ponds with fish, two pools (one with a bar), jacuzzi , there is a tennis court. Everything is fragrant and blooming.

Room: We lived in a bungalow, the room has a large double bed, two bedside tables, a lamp, a TV, 2 small tables, plus a glass coffee table, 3 chairs, air conditioning, a wardrobe in the hallway for clothes with a lot of coat hangers, a minibar (though paid) , safe, hair dryer, umbrella, bathrobes, flip flops, 4 towels, 2 beach towels, daily replenished disposable toothbrushes with paste, razors, combs, soaps, shampoos, gels, balms, ear sticks, etc. ). In the reviews, they wrote a lot about the curtain in the toilet in the rooms, I don’t know how in other rooms, we had a toilet and a shower combined, there was a wall between them, and the shower itself was behind the curtain, it didn’t bother us. In addition, the bungalow has its own terrace, where there are two rocking chairs, but which are laid out as sunbeds, two wicker chairs and a wicker table with a coconut ashtray. We walked around the territory of other hotels, liked the territory of the Cham Villas Resort 4 *.
Entertainment: There is no animation in Vietnam hotels, but we personally don’t need it, the hotel is for a relaxing holiday and complete relaxation, there is a small casino in the resort area near the hotel, there is a nightclub in Phan Thiet.
Service: service is a separate topic in general, here we must pay tribute, the staff knows and performs its task for 5! They are not heard and almost invisible, but everything is cleaned perfectly and everything always shines. Here's 3 stars for you. We left a tip of 1 dollar every day, once we forgot to leave, we come from the beach - they decorated the whole bed with flowers, scented the room (probably thought they were wrong), they even polish the window every day. Towels and sheets are changed every day, bathrobes are changed every 3 days, two bottles of water are free every day.
Meals: All hotels in Vietnam are based on breakfast, and ours, respectively, too. The choice of dishes for breakfast is not as huge as in Turkey and Egypt, but everything is very satisfying and tasty homemade, you will never leave hungry, everyone will find something to their taste: soup - different every day, omelettes, scrambled eggs, porridge milk, tomatoes or potatoes or other stuffed vegetables, bacon, sausages, several types of sausages, rolls, pates, pancakes, just fresh vegetables, as well as yogurts, fresh fruits (watermelon, bananas, pineapples, dragon), freshly squeezed juices (slightly diluted) - watermelon pineapple, tangerine, sweet pastries, Vietnamese tea and coffee, everything is very tasty and satisfying!

You leave the hotel, cross the road and there are cafes and restaurants one after another, each of them has a menu in Russian (although when you read you laugh, but it’s still understandable), in some cafes the Vietnamese understand Russian tolerably well, in others everything is possible explain in gestures, as they also have problems with English. Personally, we chose slightly different priorities than the people in the reviews suggested, we really liked the Cat tuong cafe (just opposite the SWISS VILLAGE RESORT hotel, a little to the right), Thuong thao (from the hotel to the left and the very first establishment on the same side) , "Smile" (also to the left, on the opposite side) and very tasty food in the cafe "ABC" and "Dragonfly" (located on the opposite side, from the hotel to the right). In general, my advice to you is to go and try to eat in different establishments, as everyone has different tastes, and besides, one dish can be cooked disgustingly in one establishment, and in another you just lick your fingers, and another dish will be spoiled. Personally, the cafe “Madame Fong”, praised in all reviews, left an unpleasant impression on us, however, like the cafe “Madame Anya”, and the worst cafe is “Blue Moon”. So choose for yourself. On average, a dinner for two with beer or wine costs $15-20, the most expensive lobster is $25 per 1 kg. Good beer "Saigon", "Tiger" is better, and they also have good beer "Zorok", but the latter is not sold in cafes and shops, but only in the city of Phan Thiet.
Shopping: In general, some people have already advised in the reviews and I join this opinion that you should definitely go to their local COOP supermarket - there alcoholic drinks, fruits are cheaper than near hotels, also Zorok beer - 0.5 l costs 10 thousand dongs, and you can also buy pastries, dairy products and more, be sure to take a melon - just awesome! By the way, about exotic fruits, it’s certainly worth a try, but just take everything one by one, and local merchants even give you a try for free, because some are essentially just disgusting. For color, you need to go at least once to the local market in Phan Thiet (this is the next stop after the supermarket) - plunge into the daily life of the Vietnamese, of course, smells for endurance, I will not describe everything, because I would have to write a lot, you can buy very cheap ones on the market clothes (t-shirts, caps, etc. ), prices are breaking, so feel free to bargain, for example, we bargained for 2 knitted blouses for teenagers from 405.000 to 80.000 dong. You can get to the market and the supermarket by bus, which we did (a ticket costs 10.000 dong one way) or by taxi (about 120.000 dong on the counter). As for souvenirs, here everyone has different priorities, but basically women buy pearls as already described in other reviews, you need to bargain more persistently, a third of the price, or even half, they knock down, if you don’t like some kind of bead, they will change it in front of you, well, in the souvenir shops that are located opposite the hotels - choose what you like, a lot of wooden lacquer products - a great souvenir. In general, something, where it is translated into our rubles, we derived such a simple formula: for example, something costs 20.000 dongs, multiply by 2 and discard zeros, it turns out 40 rubles (with an error of 1-2 rubles). Yes, and don’t get too annoyed when they touch you lightly with their hands, they just have such a belief that “if you touch a white man, you will certainly be rich and happy. ”
Beach, sea, sun: It seems that one strip of the beach runs along all the hotels, but in front of our hotel the beach is private and, accordingly, the best, the sand is smoothed every hour, garbage is removed with a net, there is a net on the beach, you can play volleyball. Of course, there is a problem with the lack of sunbeds, it’s just that people occupy from the early morning and then leave, but this only applies to the beach, you can always find a free sunbed near the pool, and since it takes only 5 minutes to walk, it’s not at all annoying, however, we got up early and we always had enough sunbeds on the beach.
The sea - we liked it, each sea is good in its own way and you can’t compare it with another, in Vietnam it’s not calm, with waves, you have to adapt, the first day I couldn’t go into it, I was thrown by a wave onto a broken shell rock, tore my knee to blood, but then I got used to it, it’s very fun to ride the waves, though for 4 days it was completely calm, not a single wave (it was almost a tragedy for kitesurfing). But such a sea is certainly not for children. The sun in Vietnam is thermonuclear, a lot has been written about it, even the soles of the feet burn, I want to repeat that you need to take not only sunscreen with you (preferably with a different protection factor of at least 30 in the first days, but in the last it’s already somewhere around 8.10), but also after-sun products - soothing the skin, we took 3 bottles of sunscreen with us - ended in a week, panthenol against burns ended after 3 days. And of course, in order to tan beautifully and not get burned, be sure to go to the solarium 4 times before leaving, it has been tested on yourself for the umpteenth time, it helps.

Excursions: by and large, there is nothing special to see there, but you must definitely go to Dalat, the only thing to tune in is that the road is hard, continuous “gut shake”, you will be taken to the temple complex - beautiful and awesome air, there you will ride the funicular, to the factory silk - beautiful, but very expensive, visit two waterfalls, ride (if you want) on elephants or ostriches, we didn’t ride, it became a pity for the “little animal”, go to the flower garden, visit Crazy House, about which a lot has already been written - beautiful photos are provided. Be sure to buy local coffee, but I personally didn’t like their famous Dalat wine for an amateur. We also went to the sand dunes - so about nothing, just for the sake of cool pictures. Excursions are sold on every corner, the travel agencies “1000 and One Nights” and “The Little Mermaid” are not bad at their job. We met one couple, they took an excursion to Cambodia for 3 days, paid $ 1.500 for two - they said there was nothing to do there.
Communications: I won't repeat myself much, but calls to Russia from a local SIM-card of local mobile operators will be much cheaper. The operator they have there is one Mobifon. , SIM-cards are sold on every corner.
Currency exchange: In Vietnam it is better to pay in dong, the exchange rate in the bank (during our stay) was 1 dollar = 17.460 dong. The bank is located right next to the SWISS VILLAGE RESORT hotel on the left side, it’s best to change there, be sure to recalculate the amount and don’t change a lot at once, for the first time $ 300 is enough, you can change it at the reception and at every corner, but there the rate will already be 17.400 per dollar.
I can’t say anything about Saigon, since we had a tour without staying in Saigon, immediately to Phan Thiet. According to people, some liked it, some didn't.
Conclusion: We concluded for ourselves that Vietnam is a country where we want to return. Very friendly people, all like children, not a single sidelong glance, not a single rude word, Russians are not only respected there, but even loved, the attitude towards Russians is wonderful. Despite the fact that there are a lot of Russians in the hotel, there is no this “bull Russian cattle”, sorry for the expression of which there are a dime a dozen in Egypt. I support the opinion that going to Vietnam is definitely worth it and as soon as possible.
The country is developing, and it seems that this tourist paradise with cheap prices, a warm attitude will soon end.

PS: The owner of the SWISS VILLAGE RESORT hotel is Russian, it was nice to talk with the hotel administrator, who is also Russian, told us about some plans: from May to September the hotel will be closed, 2 more new buildings will be built, an open restaurant and most likely they will assign more one star (however, I would still give all 5 stars), so prices are likely to increase, hurry up. Well, we threw coins into the sea as parting, in order to return there again! On this note, I’ll probably end my review, although there is still a lot to write, so if you have questions, ask, I will definitely answer. Have a good rest and positive emotions!