Expat Challenges Vietnam

I wanted to know besides culture shock, a new language, missing your family, and different foods, what are the biggest challenges of moving to Vietnam?

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Reply from Travel-Budget-Asia.com

Tough one because people are so different and see the world in such a different way. I'll try and stick with the obvious and what seem the most common problems new ex-pats to vietnam encounter.

• Noise Pollution and Air pollution

The Vietnamese seem to like to make noise, be the loudest person in a room and generally feel that noise is a way to be noticed. I noticed that the noise in Saigon began to stress me out. It is true about noise pollution and it can drive people crazy after a while.

• People Ripping You Off

You must negotiate the price on everything before you accept the product. Even then people will always be trying to short change you. They see us as rich.

It almost seems that some of the Vietnamese think we each have a milllion dollars in our pocket. Therefore they have a right to take it. You have money so you should pay for their childrens' food and clothing. That's how they think in most cases.

Need to get a moto taxi? Negotiate until he repeats the price and says "Yes, 10,000dong". Don't even sit on the seat until then. He will hit the gas and off you go until you arrive. Then he'll say $5USD for a .50cents ride.

Best of Luck,

Philip