My Saigon: The Local Guide to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Paperback – May 9, 2013

I haven't even been there yet but, after reading this, I feel I already know the place. Fresh, lively writing by a friendly young woman who clearly delights in her city. We are warned of the bad, and shown in detail the good, with a photo here and there to make sure we've ended up at the right places. Elly includes sections on bargains like, of all things, getting your dental work done in Saigon, and getting good prescription glasses. I'll update this review after I've been there, but expect to be even more positive. By the way, this review covers volumes 1 and 2.

I'm an Australian writer and self-publishing consultant based in Bangkok, just back from Hanoi and looking to try out Saigon very soon. Great to have some local knowledge—with people constantly trying to rip you off in Vietnam (the taxis with the cheating meters are astounding), this kind of stuff is absolutely essential.On another note, you should have put some contact details in there, Elly! I've been looking for an assistant in the region and if your writing is consistently that good, I might have some work for you or any of your friends who are as talented and familiar with the e-book space. Look up my name, or my company, Hourigan & Co., and send me a message. For prospective readers, that's high praise—this is a very readable book from a non-native English speaker.

I chose this book because I sampled the first few pages, which is really the first 10 pages and the text size is HUGE! Putting it in proper size, as it would be in a real book, it would only be 63 pages and it is 123 pages in the original font size! I don't need an EZ read book! I need a book PACKED with useful information! Now, that said, here is my review.For a person raised in Viet Nam and not a native English speaker, this woman is a great writer! She is personable. When on reads this, one wants to go to Sai Gon, look her up and just give her a big hug! She seems THAT engaging, nice and friendly. She is more Western than most Vietnamese I have ever met here in my 2 years living here! So, I LIKE her! As Sally Fields said when she got her Academy Award, and Elly can say it too, "You like me! You really LIKE me!"The first pages. 44 sans the list of topics, covers all sorts of history, things about the city and the Vietnamese language! This is in the EZ reader format! There is a LOT of information and the tables come out very poorly such that they are almost impossible to use at all! Sad. Now, I, myself, LIKE all of this information and this is where one star comes in. Why only one? Because most people won't remember even one percent of it! Getting around without knowing the language, as most people will do anyway, is not that difficult in Sai Gon! I have been there oodles of times and I have had NO problems getting from one place to the other, buying things (well, I know more about prices here and, while they may stick you with a 50-100 plus percent hike in their prices, to you it won't really seem all that much). However, it is a lot! Make sure that you shop around. Watch a local buy stuff here and there and pay attention to the transaction. Then try to make the same one yourself. Ahhh. Experience IS the best teacher and an examined environment is one worth trying rather than going in blindly. As a linguist, sort of, and a teacher of a foreign language, I know what people learn and what they remember. Darn, the information here is great. However, in a sense, for the functional brain, it is TMI (Too Much Information)!OK. Now we have the culture and history and language and all that covered. Now, for the rest of the book, 19 pages, we finally learn where to eat and stay and some things to see. It totally whetted my appetite! For this, she gets another star. I hungered for more from this book. I hungered to learn about many of the wonderful places that I have already been to there. Hundreds, if not thousands, of restaurants and only a few covered. Hundreds of hotels and only a few covered. I found a hostel in the tourist area for $15 a night for a room with a huge queen-sized bed. The area is busy all day and all night! It is alive and teeming with activity, eating, drinking and more. The owners are new to the business and are soooo friendly, helpful and accommodating. From there, I could easily walk to the areas covered by Elly. So, how many were actually covered in her book? Let me count them: she mentions one hotel and vaguely refers to hundreds, says to go to a rooftop bar, mentioning only 2, and 8 actual places to eat. So, the reality is that she recommends areas where to eat and most about what and where NOT to eat! Hmmm . . . .I can beg to differ with her about Pham Ngu Lao. I have been there a few times. Yes, it is wild there and there are many people, backpackers and younger tourists, there who are there to par-tee! They do. It is not all THAT dangerous or any more dangerous than being on the Metro in Paris. Yes, I saw a person there who was yelling in French, "My Passport! Where is my passport!" Caution should ALWAYS be exercised ANYWHERE you go, even in your home city. If you just want that kind of experience of the crowds, drinking, carousing and loudness, go for it! I like it every now and then as, in the Vietnamese culture, people are pretty quiet most of the time, maybe raising their voices among business associates or football teams yelling "One, two, three, go!" So, it can make some dull, quiet evenings more desired, but who wants that all of the time? I lived in Patong for a few months and it is REALLY wild there!So, a LOT of information that you won't want to have to read and re-read and re-read just to make it through your time in Sai Gon? If that's what you want, then this book is good. As I said earlier, I really LIKE Elly and I have not yet met her! Should I put my Ha Noi phone number here? Maybe she will call? Well, if interested, she can PM me here!

If you want to do more than just visit Ho Chi Minh City on a packaged tour, read this book. It is an easy read and provides a good introduction to the city. It does not attempt to list every hotel and restaurant but instead provides guidance to help you make A choice.

A great guide if you want a more in depth experience of Saigon then the more anodyne popular guidebooks most tourists use. Very sensible advice that makes it easy to navigate what would otherwise be a somewhat daunting city for a westerners, and find some hidden jewels of restaurants and coffee shops.

Very useful and informative, especially local tips on transportation and where to eat. Highly recommended for anyone traveling to Saigon.

I was quite disappointed with this guide. Although the author is intimately associated with HCMC, the tips one expects to find in a travel guide simply are not here. The couple of pieces of useful information in this small publication can easily be found in any magazine article on HCMC (Saigon). The writing has a real feel of earnestness and I do believe she tried very hard within her abilities. Just feel that travel guides may not be her forte. She queries at the end about the possibility of more guides to come...my answer to her would be definitely not until she learns what travelers look for in city guides. I would have sent it back but was leaving for Vietnam two days after receiving this.

One of the best "travelling book" I've ever read. More than a "travelling book ", it's deeper and much more authentic. I would prefer some more data or trick, but still I would recommend to everyone who would like to have something original and different like the mainstream books....congratulation to Elly for her style and especially for the quick language course in her book.

We bought this e-book as preparation for a Father-Son trip to Saigon.I could create highlights, accessed them here: [https://kindle.amazon.com/your_highlights]and complemented the info with snapshots from "google maps".Best-planned trip ever.Meeting Vietnamese English students and the local live-music places were some of my favorite experiences which we would have missed if we just followed the tourist streams.Thanks Elly!PS. We decided on a colorful Bike helmet as most typical souvenir - instead of a straw hat.

This book is written in a way like she is talking to me. Very easy to read and you get a good overview of Saigon.

We have just completed a short stay in Saigon and found this book an invaluable supplement to our standard Lonely Planet guide. It enabled us to easily escape from the tourist trail and experience the 'real HCMC' in a way that only long-term residents would be able to. All the essential knowledge is on tap here; from eating to changing money and choosing taxis! Money well spent!

Great book, easy to read, although it does go on a little bit, but that gives it the natural charm.Unfortunately after reading this once, my handbag was still stolen, with the book inside, how ironic ay?!Please BE CAREFUL when in the city. I was wearing an across the body bag and it was literally snatched off me by someone on a bike. Luckily the strap broke or I would have gone with him as he sped off!The book was right, the police will not help, but we later found out that if you tell your hotel manager you will pay the police for a crime reference number, then an officer will visit your hotel and provide a report. They will not help, no matter what situation otherwise.Even more unluckily for us, our visa's were in the bag which was stolen, and the British and immigration department in Ho Chi Minh was shut due to Tet holiday. We had to pay airport immigration staff a 'back hander' of money to let us leave the country.So note to self, if you loose/need anything, then offer them money.What I read from the book was great, although having the book stolen ment we couldnt actually experience them :(

The book was short, and test large and felt this was only half of a book, I understand there is a My Saigon 2, so both could be put into one book. By the way Vietnam is a fantastic place - shh don't tell anyone.