Shop Hours: Shops run from 7 or 8am to 11 or 11:30pm. Some are open from
1 or 2pm to 4 or 5pm.
 General
items and local handicrafts: Local
specialities include lacquer painting,
reed mats, embroidery, tailor-made ao
dais (female national costume) &
mother-of-pearl inlay on ornaments &
furniture, not to mention the local
conical hats. Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
has the best buys for modern goods like
CDs and clothing.
 Antiques:
The best place for shopping for antiques
or replicas is in Hanoi. Export of
antiques restricted by Vietnamese law,
but laws on the subject vague & unevenly
enforced. Antique objects can be subject
to inspection & seizure by customs
authorities with no compensation made to
owners.Determining whether something is
antique is arbitrary. Purchasers of
non-antique items of value should retain
receipts & confirmation from shop owners
&/or Ministry of Culture & Customs
Department to prevent seizure upon
departure. Prior to purchasing antiques,
travellers may wish to determine from
Ministry of Culture whether object can
be exported & amount of duty. Process of
exporting antiques can be difficult &
time consuming; however, travellers
could insist that sellers obtain all
necessary permits from Ministry of
Culture & Customs Department before
final purchase.
 Vietnamese
food varies from region to region and is
a total taste sensation everywhere you
go. Almost 500 traditional dishes have
been recorded. Rice and noodles are the
staple foods and are served with nearly
all meals. The most popular dishes are
spring rolls, noodles with sliced pork,
eggs, shredded chicken and shrimp,
shellfish steamed with ginger and sea
crabs fried with salt. Among common
ingredients used are: shark fin, duck,
pork paste, fish, spices, fruits,
vegetables, crabmeat, lobster and
oysters.
Rice wine is very popular, and there are
many brands available. There are a
variety of fruit wines such as apricot,
orange or lemon. Soft drinks are
processed from the many varieties of
tropical fruits available. Water from
the tap should be avoided, even though
it has already been filtered and
sterilized. If you must drink it, boil
the water first.
Eating in
Vietnam ranges from the cheap noodle
soup for a quarter of a dollar eaten on
the street to a banquet in one of the
luxury hotels.
Restaurants: Government-run
restaurants catering to tourists add a
10% service charge to the bill.
Tipping: Tipping is not customary
in Vietnam, but it is enormously
appreciated. A 5-10% tip for a meal is a
very small amount of money for most
tourists but to the average Vietnamese,
it can easily equal a day's wages.
Please avoid tipping too much, as it
will set a precedent for others.
The different local foods
Pho:
The most typical Vietnamese food is Pho,
the noodle soup with meat in it. It is
very cheap (you can get a bowl for about
VND 2000 - 3000) and usually well
spiced. The main pho are: Pho Bo, with
beef, Pho Bo Tai, with fish and Pho Ga,
with chicken.
Com:
Boiled rice is eaten for lunch and
dinner. There are many different kinds
of rice. Typically, fragrant rice is
used, like Tam Thom or Nahg Huong.
Grilled rice is served in autumn. It is
eaten with eggs, bananas and sapodillas.
Banh
Chung: The traditional sticky rice
cakes are made of glutinous rice, pork
and green bean paste and sometimes with
onion, wrapped in bamboo or banana
leaves. They are made by soaking the
rice in water for an entire day. Wrapped
in the fresh bamboo leaves, the rice
turns slightly green. There is a legend
attached to the creation of this
traditional dish: Prince Lang Lieu
created and presented the rice cakes to
his father, winning high acclaim and
thus securing the throne.
Nuoc mam:
This fermented fish sauce is used to
spice anything.
Baguettes: A legacy of the French is
the small white bread loaves, resembling
baguettes. You can get them for as
little as VND 500. Sometimes they are
combined with well-spiced meat,
vegetables and salad to form an
excellent sandwich.
Seafood:
Along the coast you get excellent fresh
seafood almost everywhere.
Cha ca:
The fried fish slices are a specialty of
the north.
Snake:
In the Mekong delta you are able to get
cheap snake. This different, but
delicious meat, is prepared in a variety
of ways and is well worth trying...you
will be pleasantly surprised.
Beer: Imported beer is available in
Vietnam, although a number of domestic
beers are brewed.
Duck eggs: This popular dish is
another worth trying but if you feel
squeemish...don't as it consists of an
already partly developed foetus,
complete with feathers, limbs and beak.
Where to eat
|
