ASCON LIVING
English
Money, a SIM and the apps that help
Saigon is easy once your phone has data and your pocket has small notes. Everything else is a variation on those two facts. Set them up early and the rest of the guides become simpler.
Dong, cash and cards
The currency is the dong, and the numbers are long. Count zeros before you hand a note over, and count them again when you get change. Cards work in many hotels, larger restaurants and shops. Markets, sidewalk coffee and small bowls of food still expect cash. Carry both, and do not rely on a card for the stall you actually wanted.
ATMs are widespread in the centre and around malls. Use machines attached to a bank when you can, and cover the keypad. Tell your bank you are travelling so the card is not frozen on day one. There is no need to exchange a large sum at the airport if a smaller amount will get you to the house and through the first meals.
Small notes and everyday payments
Break large notes early, at a cafe or a shop that can do it without a speech. Drivers and market stalls do not always have change for the biggest bills. Keep a separate pocket for the money you are willing to spend that day, and a deeper pocket for the rest.
Ask what you will owe before you sit down at a place with no menu, and glance at the total before you pay. This is ordinary care, not suspicion. The traffic and safety page covers the ride version of the same idea. For meals and coffee, a clear number spoken at the start prevents the only argument worth avoiding.
SIM and eSIM
A local SIM or an eSIM is the difference between a confident day and a day spent searching for wifi. You can set up an eSIM before you fly if your phone allows it, or buy a tourist SIM at the airport or in town. Bring your passport. Staff do this all day and will usually have a short menu of data bundles.
Test the data before you leave the counter. Load a map, send yourself a message, and save the house address offline. Wifi at the house is fast, fibre up to 1 Gbit/s with mesh on every floor, so you are not dependent on mobile data once you are home. You still want data for the ride back.
Maps, translation and rides
Download an offline map of the city before you need it. Pin the house, the airport and any place you have already decided to visit. A translation app with the camera function helps with menus and signs. Download the language pack so it works in a stairwell with no signal.
A ride-hailing app is the simplest way to move with luggage or in the rain. Set it up on the airport wifi if you did not do it at home, and pay in the app when you can. The car that matches the plate on your screen is the car you want. The same app is useful at the end of an evening, which is why the evenings guide sends you here.
Contacts and copies
Save our phone number, and keep a photo of your passport in a place you can reach if the passport is in the safe of your bag. Share the house pin with the people you are travelling with, so nobody is dependent on one phone. The address in Vietnamese is on the airport page.
Messaging apps you already use are enough to reach us. You do not need a new account for the sake of it. If a form or a driver needs a local number, the SIM you just bought is that number. Write it down. You will not remember it.
What this does not cover
This page is not a list of shops, banks or plans, and it will not quote a rate that would be wrong next month. Money and data are tools. Once they work, go to the sights, the markets or the coffee page and use them.
If something fails, a second ATM, a second cafe with wifi, or a message to us will fix more problems than a long troubleshooting guide. The house is the fallback: power, water, a kitchen and a connection that does not depend on the stall outside.