Challenges in Vietnam

Potentially the heat in April and May.

Weight gain from all the great food.

Learning to ride a motorcycle.

Otherwise it's just a great country.

Heat - No problem - I have worked in Qatar for six years.
Great food - Well I have quite a good appetite and love good food so I will have to watch that one.But my tank is big so no problem either.
Mot0rcycling - I ride anything?
Do they have like an Industrial City out ofthe city where all the powerplants etc...are located or are they scattered around the city?
Beaches and night life?
Alcohol restrictions / availability and cigarettes

Saigon is just great! Take normal precautions for security and if you use taxis, use Mai Linh or Vina Sun. There are restaurants and bars galore, and they come in several different languages - I mean that there are french restaurants (of course) English restaurants (really) German restaurants and bars (Zum Wohl!), Brazilian, Italian, Spanish, Thai, Chinese and of course some superb Vietnamese restaurants. There are a few girly bars which are not as "in yer face " as in Thailand, nevertheless fun to spend an hour or two in chatting to the girls.

No beaches in Saigon - although plenty of mud banks along the river.

And not much cheese. Jaitch is a pretty good source of info on Vietnam, but don't ask him anything about cheese or he'll have you eating plastic wrapped, plastic-pretend cheese! 

PINEPIENAAR wrote:

What are the most challenging things to expect in Vietnam for a 50 year old couple on married status for 3 years contract
Cost of living and food quality- Can you get red meat there to make Biltong?Ha HA

Looking forward to make some friends

And with regard to red meat. Yep you can get beef here, both local and imported. Difficult to find lamb, but plenty of goat. Pork is a Vn speciality, plenty of it!

eodmatt wrote:

And with regard to red meat. Yep you can get beef here, both local and imported. Difficult to find lamb, but plenty of goat. Pork is a Vn speciality, plenty of it!

Have you visited Ha Giang province yet, people there have a special kind of black pork, delicious!

Sarah Connor wrote:

eodmatt wrote:

And with regard to red meat. Yep you can get beef here, both local and imported. Difficult to find lamb, but plenty of goat. Pork is a Vn speciality, plenty of it!

Have you visited Ha Giang province yet, people there have a special kind of black pork, delicious!

Not been there yet but will follow up, thanks!

I think its named "thịt trâu gác bếp", buffalo meat. I know this, its very delicious, especially for "nhậu" (drink beer with it ).



Source: Thịt trâu, lợn gác bếp đặc sản Hà Giang

ngattt wrote:

I think its named "thịt trâu gác bếp", buffalo meat. I know this, its very delicious, especially for "nhậu" (drink beer with it ).

[img align=C]http://www.dulichvn.org.vn/nhaptin/uploads/images/0athittrau.jpg[/url]

Source: Thịt trâu, lợn gác bếp đặc sản Hà Giang

Aha!! You mentioned beer   

Since you recommend the buffalo meat, I will try to find it.

I already tried "black" Chicken - and it really is black too - which is quite delicious and said to be a kind of cure for illness. I find that aspect interesting because chicken soup is an old Jewish treatment for illness and is sometimes jokingly referred to as "Jewish penicillin".

I used to eat a lot of buffalo meat in Vietnam. While it was tasty, it chewed like michelin tires. No amount of aging or MSG ever softened it enough to barbecue and eat. Part of the problem was that no VN peasant in those days would sell a buffalo unless it was three steps away from a natural death, and the Rhade and Jarai prefered to torture theirs to attract the attention of the spirits at their sacrifices, rendering the meat a bit tough no matter how potentially tasty if had been before the sacrifice started. Supposedly jungle born and raised buffalo tasted much better, but I never got the time off to run up to Mang Buk and kill one.

Anyone out there eat Gaur meat?

As for black porc, the ones on the hoof I saw in Ha Giang were no different from those thaty used to be ubiquitous in VIetnam. I.e., the Asian pot-bellied black pig. You don't see them much in Southern Vietnam these days, but we saw a lot of them in the Tonkin Highlands.

Fresh lamb and beef, flown in from Australia, is available in Halal stores and supermarkets in HCM.

Use Search and you will see where - even home delivery.

lirelou wrote:

I used to eat a lot of buffalo meat in Vietnam. While it was tasty, it chewed like michelin tires. No amount of aging or MSG ever softened it enough to barbecue and eat. Part of the problem was that no VN peasant in those days would sell a buffalo unless it was three steps away from a natural death, and the Rhade and Jarai prefered to torture theirs to attract the attention of the spirits at their sacrifices, rendering the meat a bit tough no matter how potentially tasty if had been before the sacrifice started. Supposedly jungle born and raised buffalo tasted much better, but I never got the time off to run up to Mang Buk and kill one.

Anyone out there eat Gaur meat?

As for black porc, the ones on the hoof I saw in Ha Giang were no different from those thaty used to be ubiquitous in VIetnam. I.e., the Asian pot-bellied black pig. You don't see them much in Southern Vietnam these days, but we saw a lot of them in the Tonkin Highlands.

The best Buffalo meat I ever tasted was  American Bison meat in Canada - a different animal of course, but it was one of the best steaks I ever ate.

Back to the Vn buffalo: Prolly the best way of cooking really tough meat is to cook it in a slow cooker for 6 hours or so, in the same way that "pulled pork" is made: http://www.chow.com/recipes/30356-easy- … ulled-pork alter the recipe to suite the meat and, Roberts yer fathers brother.

I found the traffic scary when I first arrived. So much so that I vowed I'd never ride a bike here. Ever. But I ended up getting a regular motorbike taxi (xe om) and got used to it as a passenger. Once I had a pretty good idea of the local ways, and realised that it's not quite as crazy as it seems, I rode by myself. Now I ride like a crazy local too.

Finding my favourite foods (or a close match) was another challenge but I've found a few good grocery shops that have a lot of foreign brands. In District 1 - Annam Gourmet Market and Veggys. In District 2 - The Organik Shop and Metro Cash & Carry.

Cigarettes are ridiculously cheap, especially the local brands. You can readily find Marlboro and a few other international brands. Big supermarkets like Metro, Co-Op Mart and MaxiMark are the best places to buy alcohol as you can be sure it not fake. Their prices are pretty reasonable compared to what we'd pay back home.

There are large industrial parks outside the city and these are usually for foreign owned companies. Vietnamese owned industrial companies are scattered everywhere. Not sure about power plants and the like.

Hope this helps.