22 Aug 2022
I went to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to participate in workshop and conference. I went to Indian restaurants for lunch and dinner, and to Mekong river trip with friends and markets for shopping. I stayed at Winsdsor Plaza Hotel. The hotel staff was super cool, friendly and ready to attend every request. But their Spa gets closed early in the evening. I have few suggestions for anyone planning to visit Ho Chi Minh City. Always bargain with sellers for goods being sold at negotiable prices. If you ask one fourth of what they offer, they will sell you, so you can imagine their profit margins that they ask too high. Second, airport staff is not suportive and some try to cheat you. I had a very bad experience, at ticket counter the lady staff asked me to show health declaration certificate, which I have in pass track app, all my traveling records including declaration certificate. But they are not digital, they kept asking me to show a print out, and they do not have printing and photocopying facility at airport. When I asked them how can I get the print out whereas there is no such facility, the lady asked me to pay 24000 Dong for one page print to get my boarding pass, I was helpless so I agreed but when I opened the purse to give her money, she asked me to give her 10 lakhs or 40 USD, and she herself picked the notes from my bag. At that time, I started screaming and called other staff for help. They came and got me my money back. They said something to that lady (Thai airways) which I didn't understand. But they kept me waiting and trying to email the form from app to their email. In this, they kept me waiting, it took them one and half hour to check the inbox. They issued me boarding pass only 35 minutes before the departure. I went to immigration and requested everyone there in que to let me move to front, some people were really kind. I was mentally exhausted by that time. Finally, I was the last one who boarded in TG 341 on August 21, 2022. I noticed that they have sent my check in luggage and had boarding pass on deak ready. They were just trying to scam. I have been to various countries for academic conference and trips. It was the worst experience I had. I would suggest everyone to keep hard copy of every document with you while traveling to Vietnam.