Trip With Mum- Is Ho Chi Minh City A Good Place For Retirement?

Short answer, no for me.

 Independence Palace

Saigon Opera House

 Ho Chi Minh City Central Post Office

Pink Church

Vietnam is a huge country compared to Singapore, and different regions provide different experience for every individual.  Being one who is most comfortable with urban living, I planned a trip to Ho Chi Minh City with my mum.  After the 4 day 3 night experience, I believe other regions like Da Nang and Hanoi may be more suitable for travel for my mum, with more places with breath-taking views, while Ho Chi Minh City is less so a traveler's destination only with certain landmarks above to appreciate the architectural beauty.  The combination makes it not my ideal kind of retirement place, based on my personal likings and experience.  Below are some of the reasons why I say so.

1)    Traffic and Transportation  

Ho Chi Minh City, based on what I know, is coming up with some metro system soon, but it has yet to be operational.  Currently, based on the information that I know, grab car or grab bike is the most common form of transportation for foreigners.  Of course, if you know your way around via Google maps, public bus is also a possible mode of transport.  For our trip, my mum and I took the public bus from the Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN) to our hotel in district 1 with the help of Google maps, and it just cost less than SGD 0.30 per person. 

However, as a retirement destination, I believe this is a major drawback as the traffic is simply crazy, and many times, the bus may start moving before the last person completely alights from the bus.  Grab bike, in my personal opinion, is a no-no, as the bikers very often also ride on the pedestrian pavement during jams.  The worst scenario is the crossing of roads without traffic lights.  To be fair, 95% of the roads are quite "crossable" in my opinion, but my mum thinks its rather scary.  However, one particular stretch of road near the riverside is absolutely insane, and I think its super hard to cross, and my mum thinks crossing it meant a matter of "life and death", lol.  In conclusion, I do not see any effective use of the "zebra-crossing", as no one is going to stop for you.  However interestingly, if you just make the first move to cross, the motorists and bikers will look out for you and maneuver around you instead, so I personally think it's still ok, just need some getting used to.

2)    Food

Food and beverage is an important aspect for me.  Before this trip, I have long heard of the famous pho and banh mi, and quite possibly, leading to high expectations for it.  However, I personally find that pho is very much over-rated.  To me, the hor fun in Malaysia definitely suits my taste buds more.  Nonetheless, credit must be given where due.  The famous banh mi from Huynh Hoa is definitely one not to be missed.  The bread is really crunchy even when cold, and the mix of fillings enhanced the taste to the next level.  

Coffee is another important aspect of my life.  I need at least one cup of coffee a day, else I will suffer from 'withdrawal symptoms' like headache, lol.  Though fragrant, the coffee in Vietnam is both ends of two extremes.  It is either extremely sweet, or extremely bitter due to the high concentration.  Unlike the coffee in Singapore or Malaysia, where the brewed coffee is doused with a little hot water to dilute the coffee partially, they do not do that in Vietnam.  As such, for myself, besides the banh mi, the other food and drinks in Vietnam doesn't really suit my palate.  

*A side note, Vietnam has many other interesting coffee, such as egg coffee, durian coffee and coconut coffee.  I managed to try the coconut coffee.  It is very fragrant, very nice, but diabetically sweet.  So even though it taste and smell good, it is bad for my health*

3)    Language

I do not think language is much of an issue as Ho Chi Minh City is a touristy place and many locals doing business are rather proficient in both English and Mandarin.  So if me and my mum manage to bargain at some shops successfully, I believe language is not much of a barrier. 

4)    Cost of Living

I would have thought that the cost of living in Vietnam would be lower than Malaysia or Bangkok.  However, the trip tells me otherwise.  The price of coffee in small local cafes is almost as pricey as Starbucks in Singapore.  Shopping wise, it is also not cheap.  I though that clothes in Vietnam would be very affordable as Vietnam is a well-known garment factory, but a simple one-piece dress in the market cost SGD 100, and no bargaining of prices is entertained.  This is quite shocking, and different from what I thought Vietnam was based on hearsay.  In comparison, I would think Malaysia is much more affordable currently.  To be fair, I have to say that massage is very affordable and value for money here.  Highly recommending Zen Spa- Foot and Body Massage.  An hour of quality body massage only cost slightly more than SGD 20, including tips.

To summarize the expenditure for this short 4 days 3 nights trip,

Total "Damage" for this duo trip:

Flight + Hotel + Insurance: SGD 520.24

AO Show Bought from Klook: SGD 130.30

Food + Coffee + Mum's Shopping + Transport + Massage + Tips: VND 5,400,000.00

(Exchange rate I got for this trip is SGD 1 : VND 17,160.00; Total expenses is SGD 965.23)

So personally, after travelling to Bangkok, Bali, Johor, Phnom Penh and Ho Chi Minh City, I would still rank Johor and Bangkok top on my personal list for geographical arbitrage during retirement.  As for Vietnam, it will remain a possibly good travel destination, for not so suitable for my personal retirement.  For now, Barista FIRE, here I come...!