Backpackers absolutely adore Southeast Asia for its affordability. The cost of living in Vietnam is roughly 3 – 4 times lower than in America. The absolute necessities like food, lodging and alcohol are fairly cheap. But instead of going through the obvious bargains like food stands, I’d like to go over some lesser known deals you can find in Vietnam.
In theory, the equivalent service or product in Vietnam should be 3 – 4 times cheaper than in America. In reality, this doesn’t always go to scale. I stopped by Banana Republic and found their entire inventory to be considerably more expensive than back at home. On another day, I was craving some decent beer and found that the local microbrews costs the exact same price as back at home. Hardly a steal.
On the flip-side, there are some services out here that you can save buttloads of moolah on. I wouldn’t go to Vietnam just for these deals, but if you’re already planning on visiting, why not save a few bucks?
But first, a quick cultural point
I’d like to go over one point that pertains to a couple items I’m about to discuss. If you’re not interested in my musings, just skip below for the list.
This is going to be a discussion on one particular aspect of Vietnamese culture and society. This aspect permeates so much of Vietnamese life that you can see it wherever you go. It’s so pervasive that the Vietnamese have even summarized the expression into one word: tạm (pronounced taam, with a soft T and a heavy emphasis on the A like in ‘apple’).
Like the German loan word ‘schadenfreude’, we don’t have a singular English word to succinctly summarize an expression common in society. While ‘schadenfreude’ means ‘to take misery from others’ pain’, tạm simply means ‘it’ll work for now’ or in some contexts, it can be as casual as ‘fuck it, it’ll do.’
Tạm can be used for those long nights when you’re feverishly finishing a long history essay, fixing a broken light fixture or angrily putting together IKEA furniture. You get to a point where the end product is temporarily functional, it’s usable and no longer worth your patience and time. So screw it, it’ll work for now.
The fact that this line of thought is so common that the Vietnamese reduced this expression down to one word; I think it says a lot. And this isn’t a criticism of the culture but merely an observation as to how the way of life out here functions.
You can see the ‘tạm’ way of life seep into every pore of daily life. Half broken motorbikes clinging to their last bit of life zip down the streets, a construction worker missing a hammer is pounding a rusty nail with a stone or a motorcycle attendant who rigged together a few banana leaves to create a piece of shade as he lazily guards his charge.
Don’t have a truck? Got two hands? No problem!
Tạm culture is the embodiment of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’ It’s the ability to use or fix anything to the bare minimum point of functionality. Half the items out here have no glamour or shine but they work. They may work poorly or will inevitably break again in the very near future, but for now, it functions.
This tạm is the very embodiment of one wonderful thing: Vietnamese tenacity. From all the hardships this country has endured over the last century from wars, occupation and poverty, was born a culture of ingenuity where anything and everything can be used for one’s survival.
That half broken motorbike may look like it has half its foot in the graveyard, but with a few simple screws and a wrench, there’s a mechanic out there somewhere that managed to keep the thing limping along. A family home on a busy street isn’t just a house anymore, it’s now a storefront for grandma to sell homemade yogurt while she takes care of kids during the day. Only here will you give someone a few pieces of rope and it will magically be transformed into a hammock.
This MacGyverness and resourcefulness does come with a flip-side. A large parts of westerner frustration here comes from a lack of attention of detail. A culture focused on functionality first hardly lends itself to the finer details. Your waiter will repeatedly forget your drink, the café has bits of mold in the corner and your fancy hotel’s receptionist is about as friendly as Donald Trump at a Gay Pride Rally.
Vietnamese life clearly lacks the quality sheen of the western world, but it brings forth a new level of ingenuity and shows their tenacity. Sure you can choose to see the roughly hewn side of life where goals are completed with little thought for the future. But I choose to see the beauty that everyone here has a bit of MacGyverness in them.
Haircuts
So why the long spiel just now? For all the lack of detail here, if there’s something that the Vietnamese take seriously, it’s fashion. For all the things that are rushed in daily life, you would think a poorly kept, dingy barber wouldn’t dish out some phenomenal haircuts.
I was dead wrong. My barber took his time, only cutting small sections of hair at a time, going steadily around each side of my head. And when he was finished, he took out a straight razor and carefully shaved that annoyingly long neck hair. How’s that for attention to detail.
All that for the low price of 35,000 – 40,000 VND ($1.54 – $1.76). That’s definitely a far cry from the terrible bargain haircut at Super Cuts for $14 plus tip. I can’t speak for the price of a woman’s haircut, but if you’re a dude, it’s worth your time and money to stop by a local barber. I’d just bring a picture of your desired hair style since your barber most likely won’t speak English.
Oh did I mention you can get your ear cleaned too? They lay you down in a chair like a dentist visit, bring out magnifying glasses, a light and a tiny scooper to pick the wax out of your ear. I’m honestly not comfortable with someone sticking a metal scooper deep in my ear so I haven’t tried it.
This hip little barbershop is one for of the cleaner locations for 35,000 VND!
Tailoring
The fashion attention doesn’t stop there. Vietnam has a glut of high quality tailors. Most tourists head to the historic city of Hoi An to get bespoke suits made at a great price. It’s very common knowledge that Hoi An boasts an extremely large tailoring industry catered to all of the tourism.
It’s a shame that most people don’t look outside of Hoi An town for any tailoring services. Stores in Hanoi or Saigon have plenty of tiny local shops that cater to the locals who care more about fit and less about fabric. These suits are great but not necessarily as high in quality as those in Hoi An, but they’re much cheaper since they’re not getting the tourist surcharge.
And if you’re not planning on getting a bespoke suit, these cities hold fantastic deals for alterations. Getting a hem, a shirt pulled in or a sleeve shortened would easily cost north of $10 per alteration back at home. Here, the local tailor will do any of these from 10,000 – 20,000 VND ($0.44 – $0.88). The best part, these tailors often do one to two day turnarounds.
Little women’s tailor tucked in an alley
Karaoke
For some odd reason, Vietnam absolutely adores karaoke. There are those cheap karaoke parlors, located on the ground floor of a Vietnamese home with a portable sound system stuffed in a corner. Then there’s the completely over the top, obnoxiously ostentatious karaoke parlors designed for the upper class.
These are designed in the Asian karaoke style. You and your friends go to the venue, rent a room, buy some drinks and food and sing the night away. There’s a few of these popping up in the States, but they’re not the cheapest night out.
While these karaoke parlors are expensive in comparison to the cost of living, you can get some spectacular deals relative to United States’ pricing. If you go during the off hours, prices can go as low as 100,000 VND ($4.39) for the room! I went on a Sunday evening with a large group of friends to one of the higher class karaoke bars, and that cost us 300,000 VND ($13.17) an hour. With a dozen people, it only cost us 30,000 VND ($1.32) each!
The menu is made out of 50% gold colored steel and 110% gaudiness
Of course this assumes you take advantage of the deals. The rooms are cheap but that’s just the loss leader. The real charges are for the food and drinks. Vietnamese usually make their whole night based around karaoke, buying food and drinking for the entire evening, so that’s how the parlor makes their keep.
Fortunately if you’re a westerner, we like to sing karaoke after we hit the umpteenth bar and are sufficiently sloshed before belching out some songs. This means we won’t be buying food and minimize drinks to net some great savings!
Medicine
I’ve seen a lot of travelers carry a veritable pharmacy with them in their bags or backpack. It’s a great idea to bring the essentials with you for those emergencies but instead of buying them back in the States, consider purchasing some out here. There’s a good chance that even if your insurance has a co-pay, medicine in Vietnam is still going to be cheaper.
Malaria medication, ciproflaxin (basic antibiotics), cough medication and more, can be bought over the counter. These are the exact same equivalents and in many cases, cost roughly 25 cents a pill. I paid $10 with my insurance for a bottle of ten ciproflaxin back in the States and I regret not buying them here.
Make sure you remember the generic chemical names of the drugs since the brands are all different out here
Smart Phones
This isn’t solely limited to Vietnam but if you’re in the country, why not take advantage of its burgeoning cellphone market. The United States are still dominated by a handful of carriers which primarily stock models from a few of companies. If they do branch out, there’s very few phone models from those lesser known brands.
Due to the lower income among the populace, cell phone makers have to cater by making quality budget phones for the average person. This means there’s a plethora of phones with a great bang for your buck that aren’t available back at home. There are companies like Xiaomi, an expanded selection of Huawei phones, and much more budget models are available here.
If you’re looking for a new phone, do some research and check out some of the reputable chain stores here like FPT or Thegioididong. You’ll have a lot of options to get the most out of your dollar.
Until next time.