S and V, Me and Vietnam: A Sinh Tourist Goes to Hon Rom Resort

From HCMC to Mui Ne, December 28^th 2009

The reason why I choose Ngoc Linh Hotel was because it was close to the bus stop for Mui Ne which turned out to be the office of The Sinh Tourist. Again we dragged our luggage along the pavement block and searched for 248 De Tham Street. On the way I had to stop by a hotel and require for further detail direction. It turned out that the buildings with odd numbers and the ones with even numbers are separated by different blocks.

Our bus was scheduled to leave by 7:30, but Mr. Thai told me to be at their office by 7:00. I showed the agent the receipt sent via email by Mr. Corwin Thai. She asked for my credit card. After waiting several minutes among the crowd, she returned to me with a piece of paper and my credit card. She told me to go to the desk across.

I was asked to pay in cash an amount of money. Of course I refused sharply because as far as I understood, Mr. Thai had created me a link for me to pay by online. After I had finished the process, he sent me a receipt. A receipt, to my understanding, is a proof that I have paid. The agent seemed not to be able to speak English. So I just point my finger at the words “Paid by OneOrder” on my receipt and then waved my hand. The agent talked to his co-worker, picked up the phone, and then printed 4 sheets of paper for me. Finally I got the tickets and it was almost 7:30. Is this why Mr. Thai advised me to be at his office by 7:00? Ah… I’m starting to wonder again.

Approximately at 12:30 PM our bus stopped in front of Sinh Café. Our tour guide told us that the bus will continue in 30 minutes. We had our lunch in a great hurry (it took quite awhile for our order to come) and hurried back to the bus. I forwarded my booking record paper from Innoviet to our tour guide which was different from the previous one. I pointed at the address of Hon Rom Resort: Khu Pho Long Son – Mui Ne – Phan Tiet. The tour guide nodded impatiently.

Before our departure to Vietnam, I had already emailed Innoviet requiring for a more detail address, but the answer was:

Hon Rom resort is located along the beach, so there's no exact the address except. You should show the name of resort to taxi driver, he will take you there because most of drivers in Vietnam know it.

It was signed by Bao Bao.

Our Sinh Tourist Bus driver stopped in front of which appeared to be Hon Rom 2 Resort. I met the front desk receptionists which were all dressed in black and white. A woman took a look at my booking record paper and then giggled with her friend. She gave me their room rate price list and told me that I had to pay 20 something USD. This time I was very certain that the room was paid because my credit card had been charged. I argued, she giggled with her friend, mention that sum again, I protested, she giggled again… until finally she told me that I was at the wrong hotel. Aaarrrggghhh!! Why didn’t she tell me from the beginning??!!?? Bad luck for her to meet a stubborn girl like me. Otherwise she could have us stayed at her hotel whereas we had already paid for another hotel. Wiwik wrote on Facebook that I was upset and furious. Yes, I was, indeed!

This giggling agent said that the right hotel was 10 kilometers away. She walked us down the stairs and met us with an old guy. The old guy brought his motorcycle to us. We asked how he would be able to bring the 4 of us plus our luggage on a single motorcycle. He spoke many things in Vietnamese and of none of us of course, understood. At least he wasn’t giggling. Hiyyy… that receptionist, so disgusting. We then assumed that the old guy will go back and forth to pick us one by one. I asked him how much he wanted. No answer.

“How much?”

No answer.

“Pay, pay. How much?”

No answer.

“Money, money. How much?”

No answer.

Without realizing, Wiwik and Gabe, and their luggage, had already rolled over the street. I told Michelle to get off the motorcycle. We followed Wiwik…. and we spotted Hon Rom 1 Resort. I went up the stairs and to the front desk. The receptionist at was talking over a walky talky. When she saw me, she gave a big smile and greeted, "Shuni Vashti? Hi!"

Then she said something over the walky talky and ended her conversation. It was as if she knew I was coming. Weird...

In spite of the unpleasant experiences, overall, I consider that we got as much as we paid for. 797.000 VND/4 pax for a comfortable bus ride from HCMC to Mui Ne including a bottle of mineral water for each from The Sinh Tourist: that’s reasonable. 25.88 USD for a big room with 2 double beds for a night at Hon Rom 1 Resort: I can’t think of asking more.