Living in Vietnam: AMA

[MarloStanfield]

My gf just got back from there, spent a week with her daughter on a tour, it sounds amazing, I scored some nice Air Force 1s

 

[MarloStanfield]

Also the food looks so fresh and healthy and cheap

 

[The_Renaissance]

Cool country, nice food but I found the people borderline unbearable. Super aggro/unfriendly compared to the surrounding countries.

 

[GergreG]

Pho in Vietnam is just a common fast food meal. It's good, fast, convenient, but honestly any decent pho restaurant in the US is just as good, if not better. The noodles are much softer because they boiled them longer I guess...and honestly I prefer the US restaurant style of firm noodles in the soup.

It's like how in Thailand, pad Thai is just quick, cheap, and convenient snack you can buy for one or two dollars if you're in a hurry. And any half decent Thai restaurant in the US will have better Pad Thai.

Whenever I tell this to people, it's like I shattered their world. They have this strange idea that the best Thai/Viet/Mexican restaurants in New York of LA don't compare to an average restaurant or street stall in those 3rd world countries.

You're comparing the 'best' restaurants in NY to street food in SEAsia, implying that Thai food is better in the US? C'mon dude.

 

[NoSmilez]

How do you deal with the constant karaoke noises?

 

[pugilistico]

How's the traffic and is the big cities relatively clean?

Absolutely fucking insane lol.


it's exactly like this video. It's just better in smaller cities because there's less traffic but expect the unexpected always. I'm surprised I don't see more accidents than I do. By far it's the worst country I've driven in. But the upside is that because there seems to be no rules, you can do whatever the fuck you want. You only have to worry about cops when they decide they want to make extra coffee money that day. Police presence is minimal.

It's amusing to me when some people get uppity about tourists driving bikes with no valid license when you have literal children driving their 3 siblings on one bike. I'm sure that 12 year old driving while holding his baby sister doesn't have a license.

One thing that perplexes me is that the locals almost never make a turn from the lane that makes the most logical sense. They'll merge to the far right lane and then cut through 3 lanes of incoming traffic to make a left at an intersection. Well, they don't make any logical decisions on the road whatsoever.

In some rural areas it's actually worse if you're driving at night because people will do all the crazy shit they do during the day but in the dark. A lady dressed in all back with no lights will suddenly merge in front of you. Kids will be playing soccer on the street. Random cows and dogs jumping out. And there are no street lights so it's pitch black. I go real slow at night and honk constantly. At least in the city there are street lights and lights from the buildings.

And no cities are not clean. Beaches are not clean. Forests are not clean. It's perfectly acceptable to throw garbage literally anywhere. The other day I hiked through a jungle to get to a secluded beach with literally no other people in sight. Both the trail and the beach was still covered in plastic waste. I've seen locals just dump their trash into the sewer in the cities lol. Some southeast asian countries like Thailand and Indonesia (at least Bali) is taking some initiative to clean up their garbage but Vietnam is behind on that.

 

[humperdoo]

You must be hanging out with a different crowd than me.

Not really but some of these expats are swindled by women. They gave all their money and the woman left which some of them just walking around with nothing. I remember a German I once gave $50, he has nothing but a toothbrush he just sleeping on the streets, Sven was scammed by a woman he thought was his soul mate. He can't even call his brother and parents at home to get him, he lost his passport and all.

Don't believe all to women you encounter there because they are petite and lovely. Gotta have some money kept somewhere in case all hell breaks loose. I suggest Bitcoin, just somewhere you can access and ride home.

 

[pugilistico]

My gf just got back from there, spent a week with her daughter on a tour, it sounds amazing, I scored some nice Air Force 1s

That's another plus. Many of of the apparel brands are made in factories here and they'll sell "defected" items for really cheap at markets. So you can get a real Nike jacket or an Osprey bag for like a quarter of the normal price because it has the wrong color zipper on it or something. But it's still the same quality.

How do you deal with the constant karaoke noises?

I fucking can't. I leave if I hear it. And nobody is actually good at singing.

 

[pugilistico]

Not really but some of these expats are swindled by women. They gave all their money and the woman left which some of them just walking around with nothing. I remember a German I once gave $50, he has nothing but a toothbrush he just sleeping on the streets, Sven was scammed by a woman he thought was his soul mate. He can't even call his brother and parents at home to get him, he lost his passport and all.

Don't believe all to women you encounter there because they are petite and lovely. Gotta have some money kept somewhere in case all hell breaks loose. I suggest Bitcoin, just somewhere you can access and ride home.

Doesn't sound like my crowd. I'm not hanging out with dudes who squandered their their life savings for some exotic pussy. I also don't date locals for that same reason. I'm sure some of them are legitimately nice, but I don't like to think they're with me because I'm their meal ticket.

 

[pugilistico]

Jesus. i would not like it there. I've been to China a bunch and yeah, the personal space thing was hard whenever i was in public spaces.

It's not a huge issue for me because generally people don't walk in public spaces, they drive. At least where I'm at. Might be different in the big cities. And when I go out I go to expat hang outs. So I'm rarely in a situation where I'm getting shoved around or people are in my space. But when there are vietnamese people, I do notice it. For some reason "excuse me" or an equivalent doesn't exist in many Asian countries.

 

[TeTe]

Yes but pho honestly is overrated.

Ramen > Pho

 

[ObsoleteSoul]

Doesn't sound like my crowd. I'm not hanging out with dudes who squandered their their life savings for some exotic pussy. I also don't date locals for that same reason. I'm sure some of them are legitimately nice, but I don't like to think they're with me because I'm their meal ticket.

They are describing incidents that happen EVERYWHERE.

Man swindled out of money by a beautiful woman? That is unheard of!!!

 

[DaleBoca]

Ramen > Pho

That’s Pho Sure.


I think the only Asian(I don’t mean countries that include old Soviet Bloc) id even consider move to for a brief period is Japan. I’ve never understood people wanting to move to some third world shithole.

Italy and Spain, sure, but not a country where the the GDP per capita is less than what I spend at Costco in a year.

 

[Darkavius]

What are the National Holidays in Vietnam?

What are the biggest differences you noticed in laws compared to other countries?

 

[RoastBeast]

Sounds absolutely awful. Would not go unless I was a 40 year old virgin.

 

[Swiftie]

 

[CutStryker]

Isn’t Vietnam a Communist country? I wouldn’t want to be trapped there

 

[Cielo_]

That's another plus. Many of of the apparel brands are made in factories here and they'll sell "defected" items for really cheap at markets. So you can get a real Nike jacket or an Osprey bag for like a quarter of the normal price because it has the wrong color zipper on it or something. But it's still the same quality.


I fucking can't. I leave if I hear it. And nobody is actually good at singing.

I hate karaoke as well. Was just in the karaoke capital of the world (Philippines), but at least they can sing.

Most of the time they sound identical to the actual singer of the band.

 

[AfroBanana]

You could get 2 nights at a hostel including breakfast. Or like 10-15 beers at some places.

10-15 333’s? Formerly 33 Beer.

 

[MLarson]

Isn’t Vietnam a Communist country? I wouldn’t want to be trapped there

Sounds like we should go fight the commies.

What could go wrong.