Vietnam or Bali - is it like PHuket?

[hb :)]

Not much available by the looks, and lots of young buff International surfers taking up the GFE on offer.

 

[Bad Romance]

Lots of girls FLing in the clubs.. But significantly harder for over 40's (age or waistline).

 

[Rug B]

Not cheap ?? Where were you eating ?? Padung food (buffet style restaurants that locals eat at) a rice and dish with some sauce etc easily under a buck usually about 50c USD. Even loading up with like 4 or 5 'dishes' (randung beef, BIG lumps of tuna, chicken and veg, potato cakes, sauces and spices) with your rice the most I ever paid for this was 2 or 3 bucks in 'rich mans playground' Seminyak. Thats a big big plate of food, far far more than a Thai dish and rice.. I love padung food and can eat there daily.

If your out of the tourist strip you can get a nasi campur cone for locals packed lunch, which is a bit lean on the meat I admit.. Like a Nasi campur ikan for 2000 - 4000 Rp depending on its contents.. Thats 20 - 40c USD.. I dont know what kind of meal you get on Phuket for 6 to 12 baht ??



Architecturally the sueforum.xxx stonework adorning everything.. The poles they mount with flags and a lantern roadside, the temples and spirit houses simply everywhere.. The way people wear bali 'costume' in day to day lives out in the villages.. The multi tier thatched things all over etc etc.. Just feels that much more 'normal' to them rather than 'dress up' which is how Thai national dress now is.



Agree dealing is a major hassle.. But the surf wear outlet stores, on the outskirts of the tourist zone, have last seasons T shirts, boardies, sweats, and fashion stuff and give away fixed prices.. Reef sandals 10 - 12 bucks.. Oakley sunnies cheapest I have ever seen for legit, etc etc etc..

Clothes I like to wear, and in western sizes, real brand name items not the threads coming lose as you buy them.. Are REALLY cheap there.



Cant see the ****ing massive cloud draped volcano ??



Not in mine.. Maybe just as walking around looking unplanned.. As I said I stayed in a 500 usd a night villa, discounted to 200 usd a night.. Theres no where on Phuket I could get a suite / villa with own pool, and the service we got, for 6000b a night. Plus it was 200m from Potato Head beach club.. maybe 700m from Ku De Ta.. It was basically the primest real estate location on the island. Like being on millionaires mile or above Surin beach.

Where on Phuket can I get something like this, sub 200 USD a night ?? Aria Exclusive Villa

As for low end.. My brothers house is 1000 USD a year. Any good multi room detached houses (above a world class surf break) on Phuket for 80 USD a month ??



Not sure the water quality (as in bacteria etc) is much worse ?? Looked nice off the beach and rocks at Nusa Dua.. But maybe give you that one and agree the beaches are less postcard tropical type than here.. The black volcanic rock making black sand the the Legian / seminyak side being mixed to a brown kinda look..



Service levels, getting orders right, not being idiots with desert coming with the appetizers.. Just a different league.. Taking the Thai smile out I dont find them any less friendly really, also the guys are more approachable and like to chat more whereas Thai guys dont tend to really socialize. How many actual Thai friends do you hang out with (not work with, or have a rental deal with, I mean meet up for a beer) brother living there has local indo 'mates' and theres quite a bit of cross socializing done in mutual interest scenes (bali guys hanging out with expats in the DEUS bike scene etc).



Drinks seemed about normal.. Cant remember it being especially high in the Kuta orbit.. Women less P4P sure.. But enough strutting around in mini skirts and heels that were clearly out hunting.

Bali isnt without faults.. Its has woeful infrastructure, its corruption is massive and a big drain on the islands development.. The hustle factor in dealing is much different than Thais.. Theres lots and lots of differences..

But I just thought your initial "if you take Patong and stretch it about 10 ks and make the beach browner and the sea blacker and remove the green hills behind and replace the bars with surf shops, you have the Kuta -Seminyak strip" just too negative.. Its got many upsides over phuket, and many downsides.. I can easily see how someone could prefer one over the other.. Both ways.

 

[Yeah09]

Vietnam is definitely worth a look. Fares are usually a bit cheaper than BKK from Oz. There is plenty of fun to be had in HCMC just not as obvious as Thailand. (maybe not a bad thing with the girl in tow). Plenty of bars in Ban Vien and FL's in the nightclubs, thats the backpacker district in District 1. A short taxi ride takes you to NBT with a lot more bars and some real stunners(49 Bar FTW), also not far from Apocalypse for more FL's. The Hot Tocs (hair salons) can also be a bit of fun. Shopping, meals and beer comparable with Thailand if not cheaper in most, same with accommodation. Plenty to see and do and easy to get to Cambodia from there with lots of bus trips on offer or a short air hop. Crossing the road can be a bit interesting till you get used to it though lol. Imagine a lifesize game of Frogger but your the frog. I would definitely go back there again in preference to Bali which I have also been to twice.

 

[Jonny Mick]

Wow, Didnt know vietnam had all that, I went to a couple of bars and clubs but not much. Met a couple of FLs, although we never paid so it was almost like just picking up i suppose. Never heard of these hair salons.

Crossing the road i remember though, that was tough.

Btw what is the HIV status of Phuket? Recently i have heard a couple of stories that freak me out a bit. One was a friend of mine who is coming with me there told me he has a work colleague who knew of 4 guys who got HIV from tatoos when they were over there. I think one of them was her son or something.

And the last time i was there, a BG told me about how her cousin got it and passed away. Before all this i had never met anyone who even knew of anyone who had it or had been affected by it. I only heard about it on the news and media. But in thailand you actually meet people who have seen others go through it...Thats a bit scary. I know in Africa is quite prominent, i didnt think Thailand was like that?

 

[Miistaa Bashmentt]

Ok, I take that back......its like Rat U Thit road spreading for 10 k's , since you never get to see the beach....


Firstly the OPs presenter IS a TOURIST , not a regular with an expat brother with local knowledge , and I was a TOURIST with 8 years or so absence , and since hes been to Patong, I gave him my tourists short perspective of an area they stay - the Kuta to Seminyak area.Tourist tend to stay in the tourist areas....
I had a mate also who'd never been there, and he is a foody, and he constantly sighted the local food as inferior to Thailands....I was disappointed in it also, as i remembered it as way better than we got.
I cant nock the architecture and didnt, it just seems temples , that are truly lovely and more numerous and much neater, are smaller pavillion type affairs than Thais.They are lovely as compared with grandiose. The stonework everywhere is lovely.
In local 'costuming' Bali wins hands down...
The hotel I was sorta obliged to stay in was over 3500 baht a night, and not even C&N level but had extensive gardens and pools , but I could have been unlucky...I found self contained 1b.rm town house ( no pool) in an obscure location at $60 ( 2000 tb) , and that was better.
Again, a tourist would have no interest or access to Sams low end digs.
You reiterate the deal on clothes , that I already agreed with. However the shopping for trinkets situation is farcical and time wasting, even at the big market in Denpasar, where i only saw 3 other foreigners, first price for a sarong was $30 , and later acquired at $6 ( not there) , and that was probably double what a local pays. Balos following you around trying to get a comm. out of 'helping' you was another annoyance that had to be dealt with.
Transport is a great deal, but the traffic far worse...
Scenery, what scenery? You must have experienced a lucky break in the haze ( smog ?) to see the volcanos daily.

But the op is on about mongering....and that isnt a patch on Phuket.

 

[zenob8687]

I went to kuta last year and thought it was the worst place in SE asia. For the following reasons...
-harassed every single second of the day by shopkeepers and taxi drivers. Shopkeepers quite aggressive if you try to haggle.
-money changing scams everywhere along the main tourist road. took a while to find a legit changer
-dirtiest beach ...makes pattaya look appealing
-not a particularly good mix of tourist people for a lone mid 30's traveller ie. either young aussie surfer kids or families
-no tours available around the island!! ...you had to book a private taxi driver to drive you around. Ok if in a group of people.
-standard of accomodation in kuta is dreadful ...and i'm not fussy!

I did buy some nice clothes though. I'm sure the rest of bali is totally different....but i'm pretty jaded by the kuta experience
very little interaction with the locals and you don't really get that smiley factor. The few i spoke with in the nice clothes shops were lovely though.

I found an air-asia shop (didn't even know they existed!) and changed my flight to go to phuket. I was going to spend xmas and NY in bali, but left at the first opportunity!

On that basis, I would do HCMC anyday over bali

 

[mary c]

Brother was in England.. I stayed in Seminyak.. I was a 2 week tommy tourist also..

First time back in 3 or 4 years.



Yeah thats one of its major downsides.. But I simply didnt partake in that at all.. No trinkets needed and all trips and tours self powered.



Traffic insane since I was last there... But being on a scoot kinda helps cut through it..



Well we spent one day going up to ubud.. Stopping in the villages.. Another going out east coast.. Another heading up the rds to the west side of the center up the volcano base and out past Tanah Lot.. Lots of sueforum.xxx scenery.. Loved it..



As a single male traveler with mongering in mind.. No question..

I just have a soft spot for the place..

 

[snowball45830]

Me too....now if your not talking mongering , and talking touring like you did, and other trips to other islands......or surf.....

 

[littleevilzombiegirl]

My personal perspective is, with so much on tap for so many years, mongering ranks very low on my list of appeals.. Plus I was +1 anyway.

Bali is right up there among my favorite places.. I could so much easier live there than say HK or BKK..

 

[Char]

These are my thoughts after spending 12 days in Phuket and 4 days in Bali (first time for either).

As long as you've kept yourself in good shape, things shouldn't be "significantly harder" if you're 40 or above (I'll be 41 soon).

Phuket is noticeably seedier than Bali. So much so, that I don't know if I'll come back to Phuket. But that's just me.

Bali is full of shirtless Aussie surfers. In fact, one club (Bounty) was so full of them that I left. I didn't want to be in SEA, in a club full of ugly white female backpackers and skinny, drunk Aussie guys. SkyGarden complex, however, is FULL of Indo freelancers. Like, I couldn't believe it. It seemed every girl there was a FL (this may not be true, but it felt like it).

Indonesians, as a general rule, speak better English than Thais. They teach English in Indo schools as part of the curriculum. Don't think they do in Thailand, at least not top to bottom.

Most everything seemed to be less expensive in Bali than in Phuket. A steak for $7USD??? I never found deals like that on good food in good restaurants in Phuket. Bali seemed like a better deal where your money will go farther.

The beaches in Phuket blow away almost anything in Bali. Seminyak/Kuta is dirty and covered with trash. If you want a good beach in Bali, you'll have to go out-of-your-way to less central areas like Nusa Dua, Sanur and maybe some of the cliff beaches on the south side of the island.

Balinese architecture is amazing. I find myself mesmerized by the moss-covered stonework.

Bali feels more tropical to me. Don't know why. Parts of Thailand do feel more exotic, though. Don't know how else to explain it.

 

[Away With The Fairies]

I guess you mean patong here rather than phuket as a whole?....

 

[Miami Lilly]

As a whole meaning south of Talang yeah..

You dont see a 'massage' staffed by girls every few 100m in every village on Bali..

 

[MiakoSamuio]

Laguna, Cherng Talay, Bang Tao, Surin, massage parlours every 100 meters? how long you been away??

Never been to Bali, but if its very similar to Talang with surf, not sure I want to go now?????5555555

 

[Judy]

Yes. Sorry. Patong.

 

[purplegirl31671]

massage shops outside of patong tend not to be in your face with girls outside touting etc....you would walk past most without noticing in the burbs ..they look legit and I don't accept that they make for a seedy atmosphere

my main point really is you don't judge the whole of phuket on patong (nor the whole of bali on kuta)

 

[LADY~S]

Pretty much yeah.. Theres massage shops all over those (except perhaps Chern Talay).

 

[Matthew Ocean]

Although, based on this forum, a good perceneforum.xxxe of visitors and questions are centered around Patong.

 

[Larry the Owl]

reminds me of talking to a few people (probably aussies ) about their visit to Phuket.

then they mention all the things around patong.....beach,aussie bar LB`s etc

and i say ah,you`re talking about patong?

no no it was phuket,where`s patong?

patong is where everyone stays when they go to phuket.

confused!! :neutral: 555

also, a survey done on people getting off planes after a holiday OS and asked to show where they were on a map and having absolutely no idea where it was!!

 

[Javanoob]

sure are.....and they are mostly wanting to know all about P4P and how to partake in it...which takes us back to the seediness of patong no?