Job Discussion Forums

[Mjrose514]

Has anyone lived here? Was it easy to find an apartment? What is e cost of living? I'm having the hardest time finding any information on expat life here. Are there buses to hai phong?

[mark_in_saigon]

Buses to HP and HN for sure.

There are a few jobs there. I did not get the feeling any of the employers were particularly desirable though. But, compared to what, you know? Not really worse than average all over, but no standout schools that you would feel great about.

Would not characterize it as expat life. A handful of foreigners at one or two schools, if you fit in with them, maybe they will be a plus for you. Mainly you have to be happy on your own. You will not feel the same freedom of creating anonymous relationships there as you would in a larger city.

Housing seemed to be a real negative. Food was okay, not great, but I have seen worse. Parts of it are like a tourist area, and so you can find decent enough food, but the prices may be a bit high for you, and locations may be further away than you would hope for. Most of the tourists seemed to be Asians, not westerners. On the industrial side of the city you would rarely see a westerner. On the tourist side, you would see lots of Asian tourists and the occasional westerner, but not loads of them like you see in HCMC, HN, PP, or Bangkok. This may be good, it may be bad, but it did seem somewhat remarkable.

Cost of living is going to depend on your ability to get a deal on housing and how you deal with going out for food. If you cook your own gruel, the cost is fine. If you find some close, cheaper joints you like, ditto. If you insist on tourist type food, it is gonna cost you.

Lots of coal mining and processing around there, and they have these dedicated roads for coal trucks that are covered with coal residue. That stuff gets in the air terribly. I think it has a form of pollution that is not quite as obvious as exhaust, but perhaps more dangerous.

I spent enough time there to get a pretty good feel for it. In some ways, it is fairly desirable. It may be one of the few places where a bicycler could get in safe and enjoyable exercise. The view along the water is pretty nice. If you have a good job up there, it can be okay. I would not recommend going there and trying to force my way into the job market though, there is not that much there, and if you cannot click with the few employers that pay a decent enough amount, you are pretty much out of luck. Locals may be a bit fearful of relationships as they cannot be easily hidden, and there is more of the old style gossip and shame thing up there. If you bring your own relationship from elsewhere (unless you are both foreigners), you will be surprised to see how openly the locals will start asking very direct questions about the situation, very pushy and what I consider to be rude. Northern style.

The colder months are not particularly pleasant. Not just the temperature, but the humidity. You can find your floors and walls constantly wet. Can be very messy and hard to deal with.

[Mjrose514]

Wow! Guess I'm glad I decided to focus somewhere else! That coal dust thing would be very bad for my asthma!

[mark_in_saigon]

Hard to find anywhere in VN that you can feel good about the air, or anywhere with decent job opportunities for English teachers.

[BenE]

Just biked back from there in a day. There's a newer district with a Vincom centre and lots of nice houses. I did also see some districts that were a bit grim. I'd say it might be a nice place to be if you get a reasonable job paying $1500+ and giving you all papers. Wouldn't like to be there in some dodgy job on the fly tho as it's not easy to fly out from.