It’s all about the Ho Chi Minhs, baby

Yesterday I walked home from work because there weren’t many xe om drivers near the office, and the ones that were there tried to charge 10,000 to 15,000 dong for a ride that’s usually 6,000. The truth is I wouldn’t mind spending the 10,000 (60 cents) but if I’m going back and forth everyday I don’t want to pay more than locals. And it’s also the principle; if the drivers aren’t willing to compromise with me, I don’t want to bother.

The short, pleasant walk brought my total spending for the day to less than $2. I had paid 6,000 dong for the morning commute, 12,000 for lunch at the office, and 10,000 for dinner ingredients. Assuming an exchange rate of 16,000 dong per dollar, that works out to about $1.75 (with the unpredictable inflation of the dong, it’s hard to know what the rate is each hour). See, Professor Sachs? Living on $2 a day isn’t so bad.

It’s true that I spend more than that on touristy luxuries like clothes, snacks, and entertainment, but either way, commerce is an interesting thing. Everything is bought with cash, and though most people have bank accounts, few have heard of credit cards. My brother had warned me that if I change dollars for dong, merchants won’t take dirtied money (e.g. if Benjamin’s faced is scratched or the bills are creased), but I didn’t think they’d behave the same way towards local currency. When I bought a dress this weekend, the seller wouldn’t take my smudged 100,000-dong note, so I had to give her a clean one. Oh, well – money’s all about perceived value, anyway, right?