http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/ Welcome to Been there. Your tips on the places you know - that you love, live in or have just visited - are what make this guide. http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14809
It was the hotel that Michael Caine was filmed in during the The Quiet American. Great American coffee (most coffee in Vietnam is Vietnamese, and rather bitter) available in the veranda style lounge room overlooking one of the shopping streets.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14809 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14589
Join a daily mass at noon with a congregation mostly dressed in all white. See the Divine Eye watch over a hall supported by 28 dragon-encrusted columns.

Cao Dai is a syncretist religion founded in Vietnam in the 1920s. Statues of different religious leaders including Jesus, Buddha, Confucius and Lao Tze share the altar stage.

The temple also has statues of the religion's saints including China's first president Sun Yat-sen and the French writer Victor Hugo!]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14589 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14564
Take a two-three day tour from Ho Chi Minh City, drive along the rivers by boat and see how the locals live in the countryside.

The tours include visits to local food producers and a memorable early morning boat ride to the famous floating market.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14564 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14465
It costs about £2 for an hour.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14465 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14464 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14464 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14463 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/14463 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13222
Updated weekly.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/13222 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12913
And the prices are sure to please. Located within walking distance of the backpacker district. Note the shop is very small, only a few small tables available facing the noisy traffic.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12913 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12886
Probably the day after travellers first started trickling into the Prince Hotel just after Doi Moi, the local hustlers worked out that these young naive things would fall for anything involving "Communists" or "re-education camp".

Possibly back then there were a couple of ex-lawyers driving cyclos. Back in 1990 that would have made them ... how old? Let's see, 30 years old in 1975 ... so that would be 45. Plausible.

Seventeen years later ... they'd have to be 62 - at the absolute youngest. When your interlocutor is giving you his "doctor" story then weigh up ... is he at least 62? If he is then you'd be advised to take a taxi! (Well you'd be *always* advised to take a taxi, but that's a subject for another tip.)]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/12886 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/11696 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/11696 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/11620 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/11620 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5085 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/5085 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/4113
Skewers,9a Thai Van Lung (Mediterranean);
Mogambo, 20Bis Thi Sach (American);
Al Fresco, 27 Dong Du (International);
Au Lac Do Brazil, 238 Pasteur (Brazilian);
Chao Thai, 16 Thai Van Lung (Thai);
La Fourchette9 Ngo Duc Ke (French);
Bavaria, 9 Ngo Van Nam (German).]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/4113 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/4112
Number 5, 5 Ly Tu Trong;
Bottom Line, 21 Ton Duc Thang;
Nguyen Du Brauhof, 98 Nguyen Du;
Sheridan's 17/13 Le Thanh Ton;
Rex Rooftop Bar, Rex Hotel, 141 Nguyen Du.

See more on our magazine Saigon Inside Out.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/4112 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/4013 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/4013 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/4012
Non-residents are welcome, although it's probably a good idea not to turn up in a scruffy T-shirt and shorts.

It's a five-star hotel, so expect to pay five-star prices, but it's worth it for the view.]]> http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/4012 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1825 http://www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/tips/1825