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I've been in Nha Trang, Vietnam for 11 days now, my fiancé and I came here to get married. She was born here and her family fled when the communists took control of the South back in the day. Only her Dad decided to flee as it was very risky, the rest of her family still lives here which is why we decided to come back for our wedding.
Anyway, I'm blown away by this place, it's like a completely different world. I've never really been outside of the US, other than Canada, Mexico and various Caribbean islands, so it has been an eye opening trip for me.
Here are some random things I've noticed here. I'll continue to update this thread as I spend more time and see more things.
- 99% of the vehicles on the road are scooters.
- People can haul damn near anything on a scooter. The craziest I have seen so far is a refrigerator (not a mini fridge) and a transmission. Both on a moped driven by one person, securing the cargo with their one free arm lol.
- I have only seen one black person so far, and that was at the Saigon International airport.
- 99% of their intersections have zero control... no stop signs, red lights, nothing. It's a free for all.
- The size of your transportation determines who has the right of way. Bikes yield to scooters, scooters to cars, cars to vans, and the few 18 wheelers I've seen do whatever the fuck they want. They will drive side by side going the same direction on a two lane bi directional road forcing all other traffic off the road. No one here has insurance and they know that people will simply get out of their way.
- There is no trash pickup per se... people just throw their trash into the streets. The city has workers come through with hand brooms and dustpans and sweep the streets nightly. The same type broom you would use to sweep your kitchen. It's crazy.
- Almost no one has a real job where you punch a clock and go to work 5 days a week. The houses are built in a fashion where the ground floor is a store front, and there is a second or more levels above that where they live. Because of this every night is a "weekend", and the nightlife is awesome.
- Because nearly everyone is self employed, the shops are extremely specialized. A lot of restaurants serve only one dish, and they make it really, really well. One shop will sell nothing but helmets, another nothing but fans, etc.
- Due to the fact people work from home, they work crazy hours. Shops start opening at 4 AM and many remain open until after midnight. They only close from about 1-3 PM to take a nap. The Vietnamese are extremely hard working people, even though they don't have the same type of jobs or earn hardly any money.
- No one here is fat, or even remotely overweight. I've seen hundreds of thousands of people, and only two were chunky. Not even close to obese by our standards.
- It is CRAZY cheap!! For instance my hotel is $14 US a night. It is brand new, hardwood, LCD, AC, Wifi, 5 minute walk to the beach, etc. I have not seen a meal that costs more than $1.50 US. Most meals are $.50-.$75. An example is for breakfast I had a pork chop, rice, egg, veggies & soup for $.80.
- The fruits here are spectacular, many of which cannot be exported because of their shelf life. Man, they're good, never seen anything like them.
- The climate is awesome.. temps between 80-85* year round. They do have a rainy season though.
- Because of the awesome weather, homes are built without windows. They just have openings covered with bars. They do not have doors like we do, their homes secure with metal gates like the shops in malls. You can look into everyone's house walking down the street.
- The Vietnamese are extremely resourceful and make due with whatever they have. They do not throw away or waste anything.
- They are very friendly to Americans, I have never received so many compliments in my life. They envy us and our lifestyle.
- Even though the temps are near 90* everyday, the people cover themselves head to toe to avoid tanning. They want their skin as white as possible. They wear hoodies, gloves, socks with their sandals, I mean cover everything.
- The beaches and landscape are incredible, the most beautiful place I have ever been. I'm considering buying a house here, they're so cheap and right on the beach. I could retire at a very young age, for $1,000 a month you can live like a king.
- I can see the American lifestyle taking some steps back closer to how they live here if our debt keeps increasing and the dollar loses more value.
That's all I can think of for now. It's 9 AM, time to go and get some breakfast
Anyway, I'm blown away by this place, it's like a completely different world. I've never really been outside of the US, other than Canada, Mexico and various Caribbean islands, so it has been an eye opening trip for me.
Here are some random things I've noticed here. I'll continue to update this thread as I spend more time and see more things.
- 99% of the vehicles on the road are scooters.
- People can haul damn near anything on a scooter. The craziest I have seen so far is a refrigerator (not a mini fridge) and a transmission. Both on a moped driven by one person, securing the cargo with their one free arm lol.
- I have only seen one black person so far, and that was at the Saigon International airport.
- 99% of their intersections have zero control... no stop signs, red lights, nothing. It's a free for all.
- The size of your transportation determines who has the right of way. Bikes yield to scooters, scooters to cars, cars to vans, and the few 18 wheelers I've seen do whatever the fuck they want. They will drive side by side going the same direction on a two lane bi directional road forcing all other traffic off the road. No one here has insurance and they know that people will simply get out of their way.
- There is no trash pickup per se... people just throw their trash into the streets. The city has workers come through with hand brooms and dustpans and sweep the streets nightly. The same type broom you would use to sweep your kitchen. It's crazy.
- Almost no one has a real job where you punch a clock and go to work 5 days a week. The houses are built in a fashion where the ground floor is a store front, and there is a second or more levels above that where they live. Because of this every night is a "weekend", and the nightlife is awesome.
- Because nearly everyone is self employed, the shops are extremely specialized. A lot of restaurants serve only one dish, and they make it really, really well. One shop will sell nothing but helmets, another nothing but fans, etc.
- Due to the fact people work from home, they work crazy hours. Shops start opening at 4 AM and many remain open until after midnight. They only close from about 1-3 PM to take a nap. The Vietnamese are extremely hard working people, even though they don't have the same type of jobs or earn hardly any money.
- No one here is fat, or even remotely overweight. I've seen hundreds of thousands of people, and only two were chunky. Not even close to obese by our standards.
- It is CRAZY cheap!! For instance my hotel is $14 US a night. It is brand new, hardwood, LCD, AC, Wifi, 5 minute walk to the beach, etc. I have not seen a meal that costs more than $1.50 US. Most meals are $.50-.$75. An example is for breakfast I had a pork chop, rice, egg, veggies & soup for $.80.
- The fruits here are spectacular, many of which cannot be exported because of their shelf life. Man, they're good, never seen anything like them.
- The climate is awesome.. temps between 80-85* year round. They do have a rainy season though.
- Because of the awesome weather, homes are built without windows. They just have openings covered with bars. They do not have doors like we do, their homes secure with metal gates like the shops in malls. You can look into everyone's house walking down the street.
- The Vietnamese are extremely resourceful and make due with whatever they have. They do not throw away or waste anything.
- They are very friendly to Americans, I have never received so many compliments in my life. They envy us and our lifestyle.
- Even though the temps are near 90* everyday, the people cover themselves head to toe to avoid tanning. They want their skin as white as possible. They wear hoodies, gloves, socks with their sandals, I mean cover everything.
- The beaches and landscape are incredible, the most beautiful place I have ever been. I'm considering buying a house here, they're so cheap and right on the beach. I could retire at a very young age, for $1,000 a month you can live like a king.
- I can see the American lifestyle taking some steps back closer to how they live here if our debt keeps increasing and the dollar loses more value.
That's all I can think of for now. It's 9 AM, time to go and get some breakfast
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