MTinHCMC
Introduction
I joined expat.com on 04 November 2013.
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MTinHCMCposted on the thread ATM fees, bank accounts, etc
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MTinHCMCposted on the thread Pets in Mexico
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MTinHCMCposted on the thread ATM fees, bank accounts, etc
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MTinHCMCposted on the thread ATM fees, bank accounts, etc
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MTinHCMCposted on the thread ATM fees, bank accounts, etc
Expat experience
It's beautiful here. There is great fishing, the people are really nice, and it has a small town feel where even strangers say hi when they pass each other on the street.
So much rain in the winter!! There is also not many English speaking locals, but we got by with our chicken scratch Spanish!
I loved the people of this little town. So kind and some went out of their way to be helpful. My Spanish is poor and most people would politely correct my mistakes without being judgmental or rude. This is Malbec country and that was definitely a plus for us! Lots of wineries in the area. It's a beautiful desert area and we were able to go horseback riding through the countryside during autumn. We stayed at a vineyard about 15km out of town and we saw so many amazing sunsets, sunrises, and rainbows!
The lines at SuperVea (a large grocery store) were ridiculous! And the first time we used our credit card there, they wanted to copy my husband's passport, which was a little strange. One day, we woke up to a really, really big spider next to our bed! We also found a dead scorpion, so there are scary critters there in the desert! For a complete shopping trip, you had to visit a bunch of different places...veggie stand for fresh fruit/vegetables, grocery store for packaged goods, butcher for meat, pharmacy for shampoo. SuperVea has most of the stuff, but I couldn't handle waiting 45 min to get checked out.
THE FOOD. I miss the food almost every day. And not just the amazing Vietnamese food, HCMC is a very diverse city so you can find any cuisine! The open air market on Hai Ba Trung was right by our house and I haven't seen a market like it in the places we've lived since. So cheap, so fresh, so much variety! The people here were mostly kind, curious, with a desire to practice their English.
HCMC is massive. The hustle and bustle of a city with around 8million people can wear you down. It is also really hot there! After living there for a bit, you forget what it's like to be naturally cold without the aid of AC.
