I mean, we knew it would be cheap here, but seriously! I don't think I will ever tire of converting dong to dollars. A Diet Coke costs 50 cents -- from the minibar! A beer costs 65 cents -- from the minibar! A huge bottle of water, $3.50 one week ago, can now be ours for the low, low price of 46 U.S. cents. Dinner last night? About $5 for spring rolls and two noodle dishes. I don't mean to sound cheap, but after months of struggling with the daily expenditures ($6/gallon gas and $80 shared-bath hostel rooms add up fast), this is pretty darn exciting.I've also never seen Budget-Minded Bryan (as I like to call him) so excited to retire to our room at night for daily tallying in The Budget Book. Here's what yesterday's rundown looked like:
Room rate: $18
Breakfast (1 Vietnamese pancake, 1 English breakfast): $3
City Map: $4.50
Beer, bottled water: $2.96
Dinner (spring rolls, pork noodles, veg noodles): $5.75
Bottled water: 46 cents
---------
Grand total: $34.81
Also not hurting matters here in Vietnam is the fact that our dear friend Mike is one of the most thoughtful and generous people I know -- and he's treating us like kings. (Mike works for a furniture company that imports from Asia, and visits Vietnam a bunch of times each year. He's not actually here in person with us -- we missed him by like two weeks -- but he's hooked us up with his local colleague in Saigon, a super-nice guy named Alen.) Today Alen took us on a truly unbelievable day of sightseeing, visitng the famous Cu Chi Tunnels and a temple to which you take a rickety cable car up a lush, green mountain, only to be greeted at the top by people who think you're the main tourist attraction (there wasn't another single white person for miles) along with a band of hopping monkeys.
Our hotel (which is $18 a night, I may have mentioned?!) has free internet access, but unfortunately the computers are ancient and there's nary a USB port to be accessed. Which means we'll have to wait a few days for photos. Sorry. Oh and videos! Including the Cu Chi Tunnel guide picking up a big black scorpion that crawled out of the hole with Bryan. I'm not kidding.
My brother and his entourage arrive tonight at 9:30. I can only hope our day tomorrow -- sightseeing within the city limits -- is as amazing as today. We're loving it here! ..........
3 Comments:
Looks more like, "LOST, the COMEDY" to me, especially the moped scene in Saigon and the rice machine...and the crazy looking cable car with musical accompaniment too! Amazing things you are seeing and doing! Thanx for posting all this so we can see it at home. Love, Mom
Is that all you guys are eating? You both must weigh 100 pounds each. What about snacks? I need snacks.
Well we actually ate some leftover snacks for lunch. Not very nutrious (I think they were m&ms and pringles) but I don't want you to fret.
Post a Comment
<< Home