For those of you that follow my stuff, you already know that the main purpose of this trip was to determine if I want to relocate to this city. The other two candidates are Bangkok and Chiang Mai – both of which you most likely know are in Thailand. I may add another Vietnam location to candidacy later, but for now Hanoi is the only one I considered.
Now, after my trip (and I am in the airport now waiting for my flight out)
I have come to several conclusions but I am not sure yet if Hanoi is the place for me. There are some factors that are important to me and Hanoi has scored well on some, and not so well on others.
Verdict = good
Hanoi transportation really isn’t that bad and I can say this mostly because of the fact that the Grab app exists. It is extremely cheap to get around using Grab Taxis. If I am traveling within 10km there were many instances where the total ride was around $1, which I can’t even understand how the driver, or Grab for that matter, are making any money at all. This price drops to sometimes less than 50 cents if you are using the “Grab-Pay” option where you put money on your account before even booking the taxi. Therefore, while the roads are terribly congested and I wouldn’t want to be driving on them, it is very easy to be a passenger so I’m gonna give Hanoi the thumbs up as far as transport is concerned.
Verdict = excellent
I had already mentioned that food of all sorts is everywhere and it is very good. I don’t need to go into more detail about this. I have had some of the best Tex-Mex and pork ribs of my life while in Vietnam. That’s right! I can’t believe I am saying this either
Verdict = excellent
On my last night I went to meet another friend in the Old Quarter (is it called “Old Town?”) and while it was a bit too backpacker-ish for my liking, the streets were marked off to cars so it was bearable to get around. What stunned me was the bar specials. The first place we went to had a combo of happy hour and ladies night (which is something they do every night.) So, women get to have draft beer for the very low price of FREE. If I want some I have to pay a staggering 7,000 Dong for it – cool your jets, 7,000 Dong is just a bit over 10 cents. Again, I have to ask: “how are they making any money?” Once the draft runs out you are forced to buy bottled beers which are 2 for less than a dollar.
I drink almost every day. Not in excess but it is extremely rare for me to go a day without having at least one beer. I would imagine that my expense on alcohol (in Thailand) easily outweighs all my other expenses in life COMBINED. Therefore, this is an absolutely huge factor to me.
Verdict = poor
I have only looked at about a dozen different places in 3 different areas but after viewing these I started to feel a bit frustrated. It seems to me than anything under $1000 a month just wasn’t very nice. I had hoped to be able to find a place for less than $500. I am going to continue to shop now that I know the areas I want to live in a bit and hope that some agency can help me to find something that isn’t going to make me worry about my financial future. Of course the savings on food and drink could outweigh this.
Consequently, if any of my Vietnamese Steemians out there have some inside information for me I am certainly not arrogant enough to presume that I am doing everything right – so if you could help, please do.
Verdict = poor
Before anyone decides to berate me on this I want you to understand that no, I do not expect everyone in the world to speak English. However, since there are thousands of foreigners engaged in teaching it in this city, why does it seem that so very few people can speak it at all? I am very reticent to learn another Asian language since it took a frustratingly long amount of time for me to learn to speak Thai. I’m not saying the Vietnamese are doing anything wrong, it is their country afterall and they can speak any language they please. But of course life is substantially easier if people can communicate with you.
Verdict = good
Coming from Thailand and USA, I expect the government to be both overbearing and “all up in your business.” I was delighted to see that the government seems to be quite good here. When I speak to people that have lived here for years I didn’t hear even one story about being “shaken down” by the police for some “tea money” (bribes for something you didn’t actually do wrong.) Also, the highways didn’t even have any tolls – in Bangkok, if you want your car to move any faster than not at all during peak times, you are going to shell out a relatively high amount of dough for the pleasure. This is also true in USA where I am sometimes astounded at how much money it can cost you if you happen to have the misfortune of working on the other side of a particular bridge. Perhaps my pals in the northeast can elaborate on this. Anyway, the streets and public areas are very very nicely maintained in Hanoi and this is a massive plus.
Verdict = good
Internet is fast and reliable, 4g was always working, the electricity doesn’t have constant intermissions and most of the electric cabling is underground (in the places I visited.) This of course is in comparison to Thailand, where the electrical wiring is just a mess literally everywhere. Furthermore, there is great sanitation and public waste bins are everywhere. Go ahead, try to find a trash can in a public space in Thailand that is actually emptied from time to time.
Overall, I’m really excited about moving to this part of the world if I can find a reasonably priced apartment and also get my dog in the country because I am not going anywhere without her even if they try to kick me out - one of those "cold, dead hands" type situations.
