Vietnam?

[Ploughmans Lunch]

Ok, why would you go to Vietnam as a tourist? All I know about is there was a war there in the 60s that I played through in Battlefield Vietnam.

A friend lives there and I've only heard good things?

[Bladestorm]

Ok, why would you go to Vietnam as a tourist? All I know about is there was a war there in the 60s that I played through in Battlefield Vietnam.

It is a less commercial/crowded version of Thailand/Bali. The people are friendlier, the on the ground costs cheaper and (in comparison to Thailand) far far cleaner.

Also you don't get perverts everywhere (at least where we've been) unlike Phuket where I almost killed a man for salivating while imagining undressing my daughter with his eyes right in front of me on a main street.

Visa aside, the cost of the resorts in Vietnam (eg Hyatt/Shangrila) are cheaper than other places, the sand is nice, water is clean/safe and the drinks are stupidly cheap even in the resorts. Only place we've found in-resort drinks cheaper is Cebu (AU$3 cocktails baby!).

I was skeptical going because I wasn't sure how the locals would react given their families went through the hardship of war but I would struggle to find a more friendly group of people in Asia... from in the hotels to the divey hole in the wall restaurants we hunted down on the streets (we like to eat where locals eat) they were always happy and accomodating. They appreciated us visiting and spending our money with them and I'm fine with that.

In the areas we went you did see signs on the previous war... the odd bunker/rubble, awesome awesome old motorbikes reconditioned and the big US army trucks being driven around by locals... in Danang they even have a playground with a US chopper in the middle of it you can sit in!
There are also beautiful local, historical and cultural aspects of Vietnam to see - the Marble Mountains (catacombs of caves atop a small mountain with hidden temples, etc) was stunning for example.
I've not been to HCM but we really want to go back and explore more at some point.

The only down side is the lack of toys and from all accounts the Hasbro factories are hard to get to.

Apologies for taking the thread off topic but I wanted to answer DeltaPrime's curiosity.