ExPenhMan wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2019 4:39 pm I'm leaving Vung Tau after near two years. Probably stayed longer than I should have.

Paparazzi above gives a pretty good account of the place. However . . . the following is going to be pretty negative.

1. Counterfeit booze. Especially the buy one, get one free places. Was getting headaches regularly for the last few months. I stopped drinking Jager and Black Label and switched to far less popular Jameson. No more headaches.

2. Counterfeit water. Believe it or not. I stopped buying name brand water at mom and pop places because I felt I was getting sick. Once I started buying the name brand mineral water at Circle K and Family Mart, no more illnesses. A Viet friend approved of my decision, saying the water at the small shops, which charge more(!), could be using tap water.

3. Counterfeit beef. We suspected the beef was often not beef. A UK butcher took a friend into the markets and started pointing out the meat labelled "beef" here and there was buffalo.

4. Counterfeit coffee. Don't buy cheap coffee! It very likely has no caffeine and may be made of really nasty stuff. Lots of VN government reports on this. I bought the best arabica bean coffee I have ever had at Tam Phat shop on Trung Nhi. And I've also had the worst coffee ever in VN.

Other stuff:

Disagree about red lights. Viets can come at you from any direction, 360 degrees. Taxi drivers and truck drivers do not stop at corners when turning. Moto riders do not look. Ever. I have never felt more at risk on the streets as I did in VN. And then there's the horns! Non-f*cking stop, all day, all night.

Viet bar girls? Hardcore. Expensive. No lady boys! -- at least not for a few months now. Best bar in town is Red Parrot, by the way. Which had a Viet lady boy for a few months late last year.

Banks. You cannot deposit cash in your account unless you have a work permit and pay stub. Money must be traceable and therefore can only come from a wire transfer. Some banks also require a year visa to create an account. ATMs only dispense 2 million VND at a time on a foreign debit card. My bank, ACB (Asia Commercial Bank, preferred by many expats), will dispense 5 million VND at a cost of 1100 VND.

Anyway, FLB, go and visit. VT is a very clean, well managed, pretty city. They pull out all the stops on the big holidays. Amazing light displays on the shore road. At night the streets come alive with thousands of Viets enjoying the cooler, breezy evenings.

I've moved back to Bangkok for several personal reasons. At least for one year.

PS. Met a lot of great Aussies there. I will miss them.

dirtymacca wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 8:02 am Vung Tau is full of old expats sitting around drinking and complaining.... Gods Waiting Room.

dirtymacca wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 8:02 am Vung Tau is full of old expats sitting around drinking and complaining.... Gods Waiting Room.

paparazzi wrote: ↑Wed Aug 07, 2019 11:42 am Vung Tau bars mostly Aussie blokes drinking up while Happy Hour lasts.

Bars a sea of old men with a few women scattered around hoping the Aussie pension will allow for an over priced lady drink.

Bars like Ned Kelly and Red Parrot have very friendly fun girls. They are the exception. Most bars the girls don't look up from their cell phones when a customer walks in.

Very little live music also in Vung Tau.

Its just one big Aussie old men's home.

clutchcargo wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2019 9:58 pm

ExPenhMan wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2019 4:39 pm I'm leaving Vung Tau after near two years. Probably stayed longer than I should have.

Paparazzi above gives a pretty good account of the place. However . . . the following is going to be pretty negative.

1. Counterfeit booze. Especially the buy one, get one free places. Was getting headaches regularly for the last few months. I stopped drinking Jager and Black Label and switched to far less popular Jameson. No more headaches.

2. Counterfeit water. Believe it or not. I stopped buying name brand water at mom and pop places because I felt I was getting sick. Once I started buying the name brand mineral water at Circle K and Family Mart, no more illnesses. A Viet friend approved of my decision, saying the water at the small shops, which charge more(!), could be using tap water.

3. Counterfeit beef. We suspected the beef was often not beef. A UK butcher took a friend into the markets and started pointing out the meat labelled "beef" here and there was buffalo.

4. Counterfeit coffee. Don't buy cheap coffee! It very likely has no caffeine and may be made of really nasty stuff. Lots of VN government reports on this. I bought the best arabica bean coffee I have ever had at Tam Phat shop on Trung Nhi. And I've also had the worst coffee ever in VN.

Other stuff:

Disagree about red lights. Viets can come at you from any direction, 360 degrees. Taxi drivers and truck drivers do not stop at corners when turning. Moto riders do not look. Ever. I have never felt more at risk on the streets as I did in VN. And then there's the horns! Non-f*cking stop, all day, all night.

Viet bar girls? Hardcore. Expensive. No lady boys! -- at least not for a few months now. Best bar in town is Red Parrot, by the way. Which had a Viet lady boy for a few months late last year.

Banks. You cannot deposit cash in your account unless you have a work permit and pay stub. Money must be traceable and therefore can only come from a wire transfer. Some banks also require a year visa to create an account. ATMs only dispense 2 million VND at a time on a foreign debit card. My bank, ACB (Asia Commercial Bank, preferred by many expats), will dispense 5 million VND at a cost of 1100 VND.

Anyway, FLB, go and visit. VT is a very clean, well managed, pretty city. They pull out all the stops on the big holidays. Amazing light displays on the shore road. At night the streets come alive with thousands of Viets enjoying the cooler, breezy evenings.

I've moved back to Bangkok for several personal reasons. At least for one year.

PS. Met a lot of great Aussies there. I will miss them.

Counterfeit 1-4......wasn't it on another thread where a guy on a vid said everyone is out to swindle everyone else..