Vietnam or Bali - is it like PHuket?

[Donna F]

Hi guys,

I am going to be making another trip in the middle of the year and a friend / girlfriend wanted to come along for atleast part of the trip. She has already been to phuket so wanted to go to either vietnam or bali. But I wanted to stay long and i like the "extra curricular" activities of phuket. I have been to vietnam before and it does have a bit of P4P but didnt seem to be as straightforward or as easy and the hotels and things seemed more fussy.

I wanted to know if Bali or Vietnam can be similar to PHuket for night activities as well as perhaps day time activities / food? Or is it really not much of a comparison. Phuket just seems to have everything on hand and is so easy, not much planning has to be done till you get there.

 

[Honey Bees]

Theres girls in Bali but its much more a FL scene and also many many more young fit surfers to compete against.

Outside of HCMC theres a lot less accessible P4P areas.. Its there but its got nasty undertones.

I would do Bali over Vietnam myself.. Have a soft spot for the place.

 

[Boo!]

try Cambodia....it has a good mix

Siem Reap for the temples...not much P4P

Phnom Penh....great small city with enough sites to see for a couple of days...great P4P

Sihanoukville....nice seaside location...chilled vibe....enough P4P to keep you going

 

[Sailors Girl !]

I have heard Cambodia is awesome for P4P but i dont think i have an option for direct flights atleast not from the budget airlines in sydney. but that is something maybe i should reconsider.

So bali is a lot more competition and FL mainly? sounds a bit more difficult / more work?

Tell me does vietnam and Bali have a lot of massage parlours like phuket? or are they run differently? The last time i was in vietnam was for a bucks, but we were all young and naive and didnt know much about anything. We did see some action but just FL and not much of that either.

Or I suppose i can go back to phuket . Tell me is there any sights / reasons to take a girl to pattaya i mean without her getting worried about the place? What i mean is is pattaya all about P4P only and looks suspicious if i take a girl there and then say i want to stay here longer by myself? Or does pattaya have other sights / tourist activities so it can pass for a innocent holiday? Phuket can pass for an innocent holiday.

 

[Buck]

ive just come back from bali and my opinon s its got nothing on phuket. dont get me wrong its a nice palce to go for a bit of fun like quad biking water rafting etc but in terms of pure fun and entertainmeny i would stick with phuket by a country mile.

 

[Tyler Durden]

take her to BKK and have a look around for a couple of days...then do the Cambodia trip as I discussed above.....costs about $100 each way from BKK-PP

inviting a western woman on a P4P is inviting trouble IMO

 

[Jessica L]

Its funny you should say that, when i was in phuket last a few months ago, i ran across this group of 4 (2 couples) and they pretty much said the same thing. They had been going to Bali for a few years like clockwork, then they decided to go to phuket once and they were stunned how much better it was and far more to do / variety. They said they would never go back to bali as the prices were similar anyway.

 

[Pompal 09.]

my fault, I saw cheap flights for middle of the year, i wanted to go back to phuket so i was excited and then told her there are cheap flights and it was downhill from there. She wanted to come and wanted to go somewhere new like bali or vietnam. I am now trying to figure out how i can get some alone time / either before or after without causing too much trouble or suspicion on why i need the alone time. might throw out the idea of cambodia to her and see what she says.

 

[prettykitty]

lonewolf77: Check out DirtyPierre´s posts in the Vietnam-section ...

 

[Blood Python Fanatic]

Have you considered the Philipines, Subic Bay or Cebu might be what you're looking for with some nice location and plenty of P4P. Subic is a lot like Phuket without the commercialisation. Angeles City is a lot like Pattaya but dirtier and with less to do in the daytime.

Only downside of the PI, it's favoured by the Americans (I keeed, I keeed, I love Americans like brothers, brothers who live very, very far away.)

 

[Ana]

IMO there is no way you can pretend Pattaya is anything other than a P4P playground.

Sure there are a number of other "wholesome" activities but they are on the periphery. It will never pass for an innocent holiday.

 

[The Bear]

But Aussies are the new Americans ... :slap:

 

[Andrea Vanessa]

Firstly , a visit to Pattaya will be very obvious to her why you are there, and its not even a pretty place.
Im just back from Bali, and 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. LOL.
HMC in Vietnam is a great city and has P4P in its hair salons ( see Vietnam section ), but the beach areas arent much and an hours travel away.
As Nelson states, Cambodia is a good alternative and Sihanoukville has a good small beach ( and P4P) scene .

My question is , why are you letting a 'friend/gf' pick your holiday location?

 

[Billgun]

Because thats whats gf do

 

[Carrie]

BAH!!! she kept me back and forth so much that i missed out on the sales!!! .

Should have just booked for myself when i had the chance. now my only option is to fly to KL and then change over myself, but not sure if that causes more issues with baggage and what not. Do i have to check out and check back in.

Cambodia means i will have to stay at the airport overnight, so that is probably not an option now sadly, was really looking forward to that idea. So its back to phuket or bangkok then catch a taxi to pattaya. I am really intrigued about Pattaya as it sounds quite interesting.

Anyone know if i fly Air Asia, am i able to switch over at KL airport to another Air Asia flight and have my baggage go through even if it was made under 2 separate bookings as opposed to just making a booking directly from sydney through to the other destination (both methods mean i have to stop and change flights in KL anyway i think...) only difference is with one method, its all on one booking and with the other method its 2 separate bookings.

 

[Pompal 09.]

I think being a low cost carrier you have to take care of your own baggage , but so what?
Anyone who has travelled a bit has had happen to them what your 'friend' did , let that be a lesson to all...'friends' will do this and not think twice and you need to be single minded and book yourself and tell them to do so as well if they want to come along on a LCC.
Well at least you can have fun and do what you want.
HKT will be the easiest destination from KL, if you want to try Pats, you have nothing to hold you back, fly to Bkk, and taxi 1 hour down to it.
Have fun.

 

[Lauralie]

Also just back from Bali, possibly my best visit yet except maybe my first one, and cant let that slide without a little counter.

It would be like that if you added.. Finer dining.. Better beach clubs.. More natural culture (architecture, national dress, general lifestyle).. Boutique high end shopping.. Better budget cheap shopping too (surf wear of brand name western quality for the price of Patong copy junk).. A music scene that I dont see on Phuket.. Surf, scenery, diversity.. Superior (price for price) high end accommodation (IMO I guess I better say, but I know of nowhere on Phuket I could have got a private villa setup with own pool and on call butler for the kind of money I paid, let alone smack in the most desirable rd on the island). While at the same time having cheaper costs of living at the low end if you want to go feral and save.

Basically Bali has plenty of problems, but I still love the place and its moved right back into, and up, a shortlist of places in Asia I could live.

 

[Pauly]

lonewolf77

I think that if you’re planning how you can get away from your gf so that you can taste the delights of the orient your most likely not really into her.
So why not take a break from her and do what you want to do. No more deliberating then.

BTW This is only my opinion

Bali is nice providing you keep away from Kuta and love to surf

 

[niki]

My reply....
Western food better and cheaper, local food poorer and not cheap, , more indigenous culture in the form of (tiny) temples and walls ( settled longer) ,national dressand handcrafts , high end shopping better , budget shopping a fcuking annoying and repetitious experience, surf wear great value, , music scene better. Scenery in the area I sited is non existant ( compare it to the Surin to Rawai drive), its also almost non visible from Denpasar all the way to Ubud with overbuilding. Accommodation cost more than LOS in my experience ...water quality worse and beaches are BROWN or black...
Overall the people are more service oriented and good at it ( longer period of tourism) but arent as basically friendly, or at least smiley, as a Thai.
Bali women barely approachable.Mixed drinks overpriced.

 

[Gerald J]

bali women barely approacable so P4P not that great?