Lucy

I will be finishing up my 3 week trip through Vietnam with 5 days staying with a friend in HCM - I'm less interested in sightseeing at this point & am thinking instead of perhaps doing a cooking class, going to a day spa & doing some shopping (not souvenirs but stuff I can get more cheaply there than at home eg clothes/electronics/kitchenware etc) Any suggestions on where to go? Many thanks...

vt

There's Khai Hoan spa on 3thang2 street,open 24\7,it covers everything from head to toe,cover is about $3US plus tips at your disposal after each category.Highly reccommended.

Jeanelle

There's a store at 85 Le Thanh Ton Street, District 1 where there are many smaller shops selling the stuff that you are looking for. Have fun!

0ver 50

Ok, so I'm all about the spa and the little shops referred to. and when we get there, my husband will want a day or 2 to visit extra places that I'll be bored with. so.how do I get to vietnam with a decent airfare and book reasonable inter coountry airfares??<BR>give me a little help here.....

Ideas

Take a trip to Mekong Delta.

Lucy

Thanks for the suggestions vt & Jeanelle - much appreciated!<BR>Does anyone else have any idea about where I could doa cooking class?

Gary

If you go to the downtown shops, you're going to pay round-eye prices and you're going to see things that the shop owner thinks Westerner's like.<BR><BR>If you want the best prices and authentic VN items to choose, go to (1) the Ben Thanh market near the New World hotel and (2) Cho Lon, District 5 - Cho Lon is Vietnamese for "Big Market" and it's predominantly Chinese.<BR><BR>Don't EVER offer the marked price or accept the first price offered to you.<BR><BR>For the best seafood anyplace, go to the 94 restaurant on Dinh Tien Hoang; try the cua rang muoi for an absolutely delightful taste! Also, be sure to go to Pho Hoa on Pasteur around noon for the best pho in VN. My favorite is pho bo chin.

mari

lucy--<BR><BR>nobody's mentioned anything abt cooking classes so far; i suspect that's bc they're not widely offered in english, altho they're very popular among vnese women.<BR><BR>when i lived in hcmc 1996-2000, i knew of 3 routes: 1) a class at the women's cultural center (nha van hoa phu nu) in district 3, vnese-language only, so u'd need to bring an interpreter; 2) lessons at one of the foreigners-only apartment complexes catering to wives of expat businessmen; variety of cuisines, english-language only; 3) private lessons arranged independently. i sent people to a friend's mom, a professional cooking teacher who taught southern-style dishes in vnese only. foreigners needed an interpreter.<BR><BR>ur best bet may be the women's cultural center. ask a vnese-spkg friend to call and inquire abt the schedule, and then go w/ u to interpret. since they offer classes in a variety of cuisines, u'd need to specify that this is for vnese cooking.