This is a follow-up on the "4 things that seriously annoy me about Vietnam" blog that I wrote about a week ago. I feel as though it is easy to presume that I am just being whiney about life here in Vietnam or even worse, that I am being judgmental about how the country is run.
A lot of people, when they hear that you have some criticisms about the country that you are choosing to live in will say "if you don't like it you can get out!" and I think it is a little unfair to suggest that there are only 2 options of either dealing with something that is broken and need to shut up about it, or you have to pretend that there isn't a problem at all and claim to love everything, even if it is wrong.
I think the good outweighs the bad here in Vietnam and that is why I choose to stay. I could go somewhere else even though it would be quite difficult and expensive for me to move thanks to the fact that my primary concern in life is the livelihood of my dog, Nadi. I genuinely DO like living here and think I will probably stay here for a very long time even though it was kind of an accident that I have been here even as long as I have.
Here are 4 things (there are more but let's keep this a reasonable length) that I seriously love about Vietnam.
src
It's remarkably safe
One of the big worries that a lot of people have about living in developing countries is the safety factor. While it is true that dangers and annoyances are exaugurated about almost every country in the world, there is some real truth to certain "cheap" places being riddled with crime. When the government barely has any money, they can't exactly be patrolling the streets all the time. In the more-than-4-years that I have lived here I have NEVER seen a police car patrolling or some officers walking the beat. I live in a rather high-profile area too. There is virtually no crime and the instance of violent crime is so rare that when I do hear stories about it happening, I question the authenticity of the story a person is telling.
Sure, my bicycle was stolen from the outside of my condo but to be fair to Vietnam that bike made it 3 years of basically being unattended - once I got drunk, forgot I rode the bike to a place and then left it sitting outside of that bar for over a week. It wasn't until I was drinking again at that bar that I noticed it outside and the memories came back to me that I had rode the bike there, and drunkenly got a taxi home. When I was in college in good ol' safe US of A, my, and everyone else's bicycles were routinely stolen. Even when my bicycle was locked to a rack or a pole people would come by and remove the seat and tires. I think that almost anywhere in "safe" USA that there is very little chance that I would have that bicycle after 3 years if I never locked it up.
I don't know everyone here but I have only heard about one person ever being the victim of violent crime and this guy is such a drunken tool that basically no one, including me, believes that his story actually happened. He claims he was "jumped" by 6 people on his stagger home after a 12 hour drinking session. This guy is such a drunken loudmouth that I don't doubt that he got attacked, that is very possible since he is on the verge of getting punched in the face on a regular basis. If he was in fact attacked, which I don't fully believe, he almost certainly deserved it. He didn't lose any money in the supposed fracas after all.
Here in Da Nang and all the other places I know people live in this country, you can walk around with your guard down and people are basically just going to leave you to it. In this regard it is much safer than most Western countries where it seems like random acts of violence are part of the culture. I love how safe it is here because I am never concerned about my safety...ever.
There are no strange laws about alcohol
src
Alcohol is available 24-hours a day, 7-days a week, 365 days a year. There are no restrictions on how much you can buy, when you can buy it, or how strong it can be. The government simply decided that the people have to be left to their own devices and maturity to decide whether or not they want to ruin their day, week, or life, how they see fit.
When I lived in USA the rules regarding alcohol varied wildly. I got shouted at by my buddy because when I was visiting in Chicago I walked down the street with a beer in full view. I had completely forgotten that this is something you are not allowed to do. Why that is the case I have no idea.
There were also various counties where no booze was for sale on Sundays, and other counties called "dry counties" where they never sell alcohol at all. Then of course you have various parts of the country where the time of day that you can purchase alcohol or how long a bar can stay open is anyone's guess and they have varied quite a lot in all the places I traveled to while living there. I have no idea if it is still this way but when I was visiting South Carolina years ago I got to find out that spirits can only be served in 1oz airplane bottles. So if you want a cocktail you have to buy something silly like 5 airplane bottles. This meant that the bartenders took ages to make anything and you weren't even allowed to have a big bottle of whiskey in your house unless you bought it out of the state.
In Thailand, the alcohol selling times were very strange. You could sell alcohol from 8am to 12pm but there was a 3-hour break from 2-5pm every day where it was not allowed to sell alcohol. Then there was a myriad of holidays were alcohol sales were also banned. This had no effect on people deciding to drink or not, it just made the process unnecessarily complicated.
Vietnam lets you do whatever you want.... and I love that.
People actually observe speed limits
src
The roads here are crazy yet somehow the process just kind of works. People drive wherever they can fit a vehicle and it looks pretty scary to someone who doesn't understand the process. However, I have noticed that unlike the other countries I have lived in, you never see someone who is just hauling ass doing 3x the speed limit and making the roads super dangerous for everyone else.
I once asked a taxi driver that spoke English why this is and he told me that the fines for speeding are so high that everyone is very afraid of them. I don't understand how this is possible when I have never seen a patrol car anywhere but I guess it works. Maybe there are speed cameras all over the place and I just haven't noticed them. Whatever the case is, the roads are filled with calm drivers obeying the posted limits and this is the only country I have ever lived in that was like this.
The weather for the most part is fantastic
There is always a danger in a tropical country that it is going to be absurdly hot and humid there and for the most part, that is exactly what almost all of South East Asia is like. I was afraid that Da Nang was going to be a sweat-box and was going to have me looking a mess with sweat, year round because it is around the same distance from the equator as Thailand is and after living in Thailand for 15+ years, I was fed up with that.
Our seasons function here just like they do in the West. The summers are hot and the winters are not. In the winter months it can actually get cold enough here that you need a jacket and long pants and while that may not sound special to anyone that has an actual snow-filled winter, it is delightful here. While the summers here are exceptionally hot they aren't really all that much hotter than they are in most places in USA or other countries. Our winters are mild in comparison but I love that there are actual seasons here.
IMO the best time of year is from October to April. I have no idea how this is possible given that we are at sea-level and pretty far south, but it just is that way and I love this about Vietnam!
This might be the cheapest place to live in the world
Well, the cheapest place to live that is also safe anyway.
src
I live right around the area pictured above. I can see the beach from my balcony in my 1-bedroom condo. The building also has a 16 meter rooftop pool and a gym on the top floor as well that is pretty great. We have security cameras everywhere and the place is very safe. There is also a pretty decent coffee shop in the lobby. My furniture is decent (nothing special but functional) and I have 2, 55-inche Smart TV's in my condo. I have a full-size fridge, an oven, and a microwave. The place is fully kitted out with everything and you don't need to buy any furniture or even plates or glasses - the condo includes all of this. They also provide twice weekly cleaning and changing of the sheets and towels but I cut them back to once a week because I feel that is excessive.
The common areas are nicely maintained and we have thick walls and double-paned glass to deal with any noise.
After I pay the electric bill and everything else associated with the cost of this place, it comes out to just under $400 a month. This is absolutely remarkable considering my proximity to the main tourist attraction here in Da Nang, the beach.
I have lived a lot of places and it is very difficult to find a place for rent AT ALL at that price, let alone a place that is somewhat luxurious. Some friends of mine are a bit more frugal and have places that they pay around $200 a month for. One friend of mine has roommates in a 4 bedroom house with it's own pool and everyone in it pays $150 a month.
Where else in the world can you pull something like this off?
Also, beers and food are exceptionally cheap here. I can go hit the town for dinner and drinks with friends and bring just $25-30 with me and normally will end up coming back home with change. The only things that are expensive here are things like shoes such as Nike, New Balance, or Adidas. I find this really ironic since most of these shoes are actually manufactured in Vietnam yet cost more here than they do if they get shipped across the Pacific to USA. This is the only exception to the "everything is cheap" policy that I can think of.
To give a small example of this think about your mobile data plan. I don't know the specifics of mine but I end every month with much more data remaining than I would ever use. How much does this plan cost per month? about $4.35.
I had intended to move back to Thailand once they got Covid and Immigration policy sorted out but after being here in Vietnam for 3 years and really starting to enjoy the above aspects, in particular the affordability part of it, I am reconsidering going back at all. I might just make this my permanent home.
Nadi likes it here and so do I so I can't really see any immediate need to move away. Now let's just wait and see if they start to offer 1-year visas to Americans like they did when I first moved here. If they do that, I think the jury will no longer be out and I will just stay here for good. Hell, I might even start to learn the language.