Dreams Become Reality in Saigon

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), or culturally known as "Saigon", is the most populous city in Vietnam, spearheading the country in innovation, progressiveness, tech, development, and culture. Plagued by centuries of warfare, Vietnam has never had an opportunity to grow at such an unprecedented rate. It is also a very safe city, i've been drunk going home in the taxi at 3am many times without problems. You'll see some monetary scams when you get further away from city the main city districts.

The cost of living is quite affordable if you’re coming from the developed world. A high-end rise apartment for rent can run you around $700 month, but a mid-tier apartment living is around $400.

Housing and Neighborhoods

Saigon is a rapdily developing city. Each year, the city seems to blossom into a more and more dyanmic metropolis.

Saigon is named into different districts by numbers and a few have actual names:

District 1 - City center, high-end restaurants, nightclubs, and all the tourists stay here.
District Bình Thành - This district houses the Landmark 81 building and the surround Vinhome Central Luxury apartment complexex. Landmark 81 is the tallest building in Vietnam and was the tallest building in SEA for 4 year. The community is semi-gated and a lot of upper class live here. It’s only 10 min to District 1, making it very convenient place to live.
District 2 Thao Dien Area - Classier type of expats and foreign establishments reside here. It is an expat bubble where you'll see more upscale restaurants and Westernized expats. Not recommended unless you’re intent on reliving a Western lifestyle with similar demographics of a US or Australia.
District 2 Thủ Thiêm - A newly contructed bridge connects D1 city center across the river to D2 Thủ Thiêm. This new development has new luxury apartment buildings and is equivalent something like the center of Tokyo. In a few years there is no doubt these apartments will be worth a million. Currently prices are ~$250-$300k
District 4, 4, 5 - District 5 is where alot of the Chinese (Cantonese)-Viets community lives. These districts border close to Downtown (District 1) and are great places to live. They have a mix of local shops and new apartment buildings.
District 7 - More suburbs, newly developed and middle class families. Lots of Koreans shops and people here. More optimal for raising a family than a vibrant youthful lifestyle.
District Gò Vắp, D8, Tân Phú - Cheaper and extremely local. Very little intersection with a more cosmopolitan lifestyle unless you are visiting family and / or friends.

Visa and Immigration

US passport holders can enter Vietnam for tourism purposes but require a visa-on-arrival for 30-days and $25. For those looking to stay longer there are a few options:

Viet Kieu Visa Exemption - Vietnamese Americans that can prove they are of Vietnamese descent can get a 5-year visa for like $80 that lets you stay in the country for 180 days at a time.
Business Visa - you can get at Vietnamese embassy and stay for potentially up to 3 months. Vietnam is expected to open this up in the future.

Healthcare

The cost of healthcare is mind-blowingly affordable in Vietnam. Although most of the local hospitals aren't as developed or nice the internationals ones are. If you go to a hospital, make sure it is more of an international hospital that is known to cater to expats.

Vinmec Central Park International Hospital is a great example of this

Banking and Payments

Vietnam is still very cash heavy outside of the upper class districts.

That said, whenever possible, always try to pay with your 0% foreign transaction credit cards if they are accepted. These cards always go by the international rate, which more favorable than any exchange rate you'll get in Vietnam. Most mid to upper tier restaurants will accept foreign cards, otherwise you'll have to use VND cash.

If you need to exchange your USD to VND, just go to any local gold shop or local bank. The banks go very close to the international rates. The local gold shop also has good rates but will subtract a few thousand VND if you have wrinkled USD bills.

Opening a Bank Account

In most cases, foreigners can open a bank account but need to have:

Valid passport
Long-term visa or resident card
Proof of address

The top banks include: Vietcombank, VietinBank, Techcombank, Military Bank, VPBank, ACB, BIDV, TPBank, VIB and AgriBank. More information here.

Communication

Vietnam is heavily run on Facebook and Facebook messenger. As an approximation, 90% of Vietnamese people have a facebook, with 70% using FB Messenger and 90% using an app called Zalo. Highly recommended to download Zalo if planning to stay longterm or for dating purposes.

Things to Do

Nightlife

Saigon has incredible nightlife and expat population. If you stay in Saigon long enough, you'll definitely get to build a crew other Asian diaspora expats and Vietnamese-Americans.

If you're looking to date, there are a ton of matches and dating opportunities. Lots of cocktail bars, amazing local food, mid-high tier restaurants, clubs, and beautiful women. Although the clubs in District 1 are fewer than BKK, the music is quite good as they have huge influence from American hiphop, EDM, and some KPop.

Nature

A few hours away from any metro city you'll find nature that is out of this world. In the north you have Ha Long Bay, Ninh Binh,Sapa, and Ha Giang Loop.

In the south you have the Mekong Delta. There's also a ton of amazing and cheap 4-5 star beachside resorts that will give you a run for your money.

Culture

Vietnam has amazing culture and people. In Saigon its hard to notice how friendly and beautiful the men and women are. Their optimistic spirit is reflected in their youth as the average age of Vietnam is only 32.

Not just people, but Vietnam itself is absolutely beautiful. This isis reflected in natural wonders like Hạ Long bay, a UNESCO world heritage site, in the North, once recognized as one of the 7th New Wonders of the World and the alluring Mekong Delta to the south.

Vietnamese culture is heavily influenced by Confucian values and in recent years a lot of American influence. To expats they're really friendly. You can ask random people for help in Saigon and they'll gladly point you in the right direction. I've noticed the women and old ladies are really kind.

That said, internally, Vietnamese are judgmental, care a lot of about what their family and friends think of them, cautious about posting stuff on their personal social media if there is exposure to judgmental friends and family.

Lifestyle

Saigon is a city that barely sleeps. The city is hustling and bustling most days and night. Vietnamese culture is extremely social and people rarely stay inside. With the average age around 31 years old, Vietnamese people are optimistic, high-spirited, friendly, and entrepreneurial. It also ranks 2nd for most drinking Asian country behind Korea.

During the weekday you'll see people going out after work to meet for happy hour, drinks, or dinner, and karaoke. The slowest days in VN is Sunday and Monday. But by Thursday to Saturday the city gets lit and people are partying.

Dating

This section will be tailored more towards men dating Vietnamese women.

While it is hard to bucket all Viet women into generic descriptions there are large subsets of Viet women that tend to fall in certain themes or backgrounds. In general, Vietnamese people are quite passive, so if you go on dates they don't really ask many questions so it’s imperative to lead the conversation. There is a fair share of passive aggressiveness haha

That said, once you've established a good relationship or trust, the dialogue will open up a lot.

Local Vietnamese Women tend to be traditional, conservative, less educated. They tend to lack international exposure, are extremely loyal yet needy with lots of separation anxiety.
Middle/Upper Class Women are typically college educated with some exposure to Western values. They are more open minded because they have interacted with Expats or went to international school in Vietnam. They tend to also have went overseas to go to high school or college and come back.

Transportation

Transportation is incredibly affordable. If you need to go anywhere, just take a Grab taxi or motorbike. Motorbike rides are about $0.75 -$1.25 per ride or $3-5 for Grab Car.

Alternatively, you can rent a motorbike to ride around per day for about $6-7 a day. Traffic is chaotic and really no rules, so If you're not used to riding a motorbike or Vietnam traffic, I would highly discourage you from renting a motorbike.

Saigon is still building out its subway system, so there are limited lines. That said, things move quickly, so more lines will get built out before you know it!

Acknowledgements

The information on this page was provided by amazing An Le, who runs VN BEANS - a Vietnamese Specialty Coffee business. Please support our friends!

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