Living in Vietnam
What everyday life actually looks like.
A Can Tho family break on Hòn Sơn
Anni, Tuong, and baby Mai leave Can Tho for their first family trip to Hòn Sơn island. They return to Rạch Giá (where their Mekong journey began in 2024) and take the roughly 1.5-hour ferry. The sea shifts from brown to blue. They ride a motorbike around the island, eat seafood on a floating platform, and stop for coffee Anni knew from earlier visits.
On camera they talk about learning Vietnamese, teaching English, and the stress behind building their dream project, Villa Bình An, after closing their prior homestay to put savings into the build. The film’s point is simple: it is okay to love the work and still take a rest.
This is settled Mekong family life, not a beach brochure and not a visa or healthcare guide. Their site also promotes Villa Bình An and Đậu Biếc Homestay stays. Useful context, not the reason to watch. Watch “Taking a break from our dream project” on YouTube.
Exploring Vietnam
Places, people, and experiences that widen the map.
Thăng Long – Hà Nội Festival opens
The second Thăng Long – Hà Nội Festival, themed “Heritage Flow,” opened on the night of 11 September at the Thăng Long Imperial Citadel. Fireworks and a roughly 90-minute opening programme mixed heritage performance with contemporary staging. The festival runs through 20 September across the Citadel, the Temple of Literature, Hanoi Museum, Bát Tràng, and the Hoàn Kiếm orbit.
This is capital heritage week with craft villages on the calendar. Calm facts, not a tourism brochure. VietnamPlus on the Thăng Long – Hà Nội Festival opening.
Cho Lon bakeries keep Mid-Autumn pia cakes
As the eighth lunar month begins, family bakeries in Hồ Chí Minh City’s Cho Lon (Districts 5, 6, and 11) fire ovens for Mid-Autumn. Mid-Autumn night itself falls on 25 September this year.
At Triệu Minh Hiệp, third-generation Trieu An keeps Teochew-style pia cakes with flaky pastry and taro or mung-bean paste and salted egg yolk. The shop has nearly 80 years of family history; much of the work is still by hand, with early batches around 9am. Nearby, Đồng Kỳ (more than 30 years) has added pineapple and taro fillings beside older favorites, and still gives small lanterns to children who come for cakes.
This is southern craft and food season (Chinese Vietnamese bakery streets, not a District 1 lantern strip). Tuoi Tre on Cho Lon’s traditional Mid-Autumn bakeries.
Vietnam Cost of Living
What life here really costs.
A $5 Da Nang buffet
Kevin tries the Cham Riverside Restaurant buffet inside The Cham Riverside Spa & Massage in Da Nang. The spoken and listed price is 130,000 VND (about $5). He walks the riverside grounds, samples an Asian-leaning buffet spread, and gets a long look at the spa facilities. Menu labels sometimes do not match the dishes, a small funny detail on the day.
This is one meal-and-spa day with a hard đồng price, not a household ledger and not a Da Nang cost table. His description carries an affiliate stack (phone, banking, VPN, insurance, tutor, camera gear). Useful context, not the reason to watch. Never treat him as visa authority. Watch “This $5 Buffet Comes with a Free Spa Tour in Da Nang, Vietnam” on YouTube.
Vietnamese Đồng Exchange Rate
The State Bank’s reference rate, as reported by VietnamPlus, opened the week at 25,611 đồng per dollar on 7 September, eased through midweek, and closed the Friday print at 25,596 on 11 September. Still the mid-25,600s. Tiny moves, not a shock week. That is the official reference rate, not a bank-window or black-market print.
Vietnam Visa & Relocation
The rules, decisions, and realities of making a move.
Quiet week. No new immigration or foreign-ministry rule in this window set long-stay or preferential-entry thresholds, or changed e-visa length, fees, or the existing exemption tracks. Preferential-entry talk from earlier weeks remains direction without a live product. Today’s path is still the official e-visa sites at evisa.gov.vn and thithucdientu.gov.vn, plus existing exemptions where they apply. This is general information, not personal immigration advice.
For Next Time
What we're watching next.
Hanoi’s Mid-Autumn lantern procession around 25 September near Hoàn Kiếm.
Remaining Thăng Long – Hà Nội Festival days through 20 September, including Bát Tràng’s ceramics programme around 19 September.
Decree 286 takes effect 15 September as a coordination rule among agencies. Watch preferred-desk coverage after that date, without inventing e-visa product changes.
The NSO September consumer-price print when it lands.
Coverage: 7–13 September 2026. Issue date: 14 September 2026. This newsletter provides general information, not individualized visa, legal, financial, or medical advice.