Leaving Vietnam
Trip Start
Jul 11, 2008
1
14
Trip End
Aug 13, 2008
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Friday, August 1, 2008
The best way I can describe the Vietnamese is that hey get things done. Sometimes, when we were on a tour, or trying to get a bus connection, we would marvel at the seeming disorganization, and wonder how they kept everything straight bookkeeping in long hand without the aid of computers. But somehow, they always managed to pull things out.
From what we can tell the government is making honest efforts to improve the lives of Vietnamese. Public education posters are common and cover such topics as hygiene, HIV prevention, the need for primary school education, the evils of child-sex tourism, helmet laws, among other things.
Saigon is a very livable city by Western standards, with all of the usual amenities, at price of course. We spent a little over 3 weeks in Vietnam. We could have spent many more. We did not have the time to visit the central highlands. I could definitely spend another month or two traveling around the country...maybe by motor bike. I would like the chance to visit places that seldom see tourists. When you do find one of those places, it's refreshing. The people are genuinely warm, curious, and open. If I had the right job, Vietnam is the type of place I could live at for a while.
Vietnamese Food:
Vietnam is the second largest coffee producer in the world. I'm not much of a coffee expert but I have to say that they have some very very good coffee.
About the food....like anywhere, some places have really great food while most places have relatively pedestrian food. For breakfast we would usually keep it simple with a bowl of Pho noodles, or a small baguette with butter and jam. We did have some dinners that were quite amazing. By far the best food we had in Vietnam was this restaurant in the center of Saigon city. There is a huge culture of street food in Vietnam, so what this restaurant did was to set up small individual "street food"stalls all around the wall of the restaurant. Each of these stalls was devoted to a different regions cuisine. The place was packed with both locals and visitors. The decor was spotless, and the service was first-rate. A large and varied meal for 4 people ended up being about $20, including drinks. It was so good that we went back for two consecutive nights.
Service in the finner restaurants is good, but there are a couple of ares they need to work on. The first is that the dishes all come out at different times. This is almost exclusively the case wherever we ate in Vietnam. The other is that waiters don't remember who ordered what so sometimes it's a bit of a free-for-all.
Italian food: Given the former French domination of Vietnam we figured it would have a lot of french restaurants. The big surprise is that Italian food is ubiquitous. We did not have much of it but what we did have was not bad. But Italian food|? Um..ok. Maybe it's easier to make then French food and the travelers seem OK with it.
Here's another thing we can't figure out. Almost without exception every restaurant has a menu the size of a phone book. How do they keep that much food stocked? We have been in nearly deserted restaurants and they were always able to deliver on everything we ordered. How do they do it? It mystifies me. I'm telling you...if you want something done....go to Vietnam. They will figure out a way.
And for all you Pho lovers....if you go to Saigon, the best Pho we could find is at a pho fast food place called 24 Pho. The lonely Planet guide book said it was the bast, and despite our initial disbelief we have to say that gosh darn, it was pretty damn good..and cheap as well. The most expensive bowl of soup with a drink costs about $3.50. That's about a 1/3 of what you'd pay in the US.
Speaking of prices...whatever the guide books give, even the most recent ones, add 20-40% to what you expect. Vietnam, and especially Saigon, is getting more expensive. Well...expensive is a relative term. It still is a huge bargain by American standards. And it's not just tourists who are paying more. While we where there the gov cut gas subsidies by 30%, that hits the locals very hard. In the last 1 and 1/2 years the cost of food has gone up almost 50%. This is very difficult for Vietnamese, especially the poor who already pay such a high percentage of their income on food.
Well....we're leaving Vietnam. We had a great time here. I highly recommend this country to visitors. Be prepared to be flexible, gracious, adventurous, and patient, and you will have an amazing time. We mt definitely will return.
