Anna Wildman

This is my third “how much I spent while traveling” post.

Read my first two: how much I spent Thailand & how much I spent Myanmar.

• Bed at Tribee Bana: $8
  • I really like this hostel. It’s clean, the staff is really nice and helpful, and they have a bunch of free events & tours for their guests.
  • I stayed in a 4-bed dorm. It comes with its own bathroom. They give you a new towel every day (if you want one) as well.
• Laundry: 70,000 dong ($3.08)
  • My hostel only charged 30,000 dong per kilo, which is pretty cheap. They do it all for you, and return your clothes to you in 24 hours.
• AM long run: free
  • I ran to the beach and back, for a total of 8 miles.

• Breakfast at Tribee Bana: Free.
  • Breakfast at this hostel is pretty good: it’s all-you-can-eat bread, eggs, salad, (GOOD) jam, banana, and coffee

• Coconut coffee at Serene Garden Cafe: 50,000 dong ($2.20)
  • Really good coconut coffee! Ask for no milk to make it vegan.

• Morning snack: 40,000 dong ($1.76)
  • I got a ice-based melon popsicle thing, and I definitely overpaid for it. It should really have only cost about 20,000 dong.
• Clothes from Surprise Tailor: $110
  • Tips/notes on getting your clothes tailor-made in Hoi An:
    • RESEARCH BEFORE YOU GO! I had no idea what to get, but it would have been much better if I had done more research on what designs and types of clothes I wanted before I went.
    • You want something that’s simple but not too simple that you can just buy it at a normal store. I ended up ordering jeans, a dress, and a shirt. I wish I had looked up more specific/cute styles, but I have no idea how to design clothes so I went with plain designs.
    • Don’t worry about buying your own material beforehand; the tailor has their own stuff. Only buy it on your own if you have a specific material/pattern you want them to use.
  • It took about 4 visits/adjustments to get everything right, but I think that’s a normal amount.
  • Overall, this tailor did a good job of listening to my desires and executing them.
• Lunch at Madame Khanh: 55,000 dong ($2.42)
  • I got a veggie banh mi and papaya/pineapple smoothie
  • The banh mi was good but SO salty. I’m not sure if it was just mine, since I got the veggie one, but it was crazy how salty it was.

• Bicycle rental: 20,000 dong ($0.88)
  • My hostel rents out bikes for 25,000 for the full day, or 20,000 after 2 pm.
• Beach: free
  • We (Rebeca, Maria, and I) spent the afternoon at An Bang Beach

• Afternoon snack: 45,000 dong ($1.98)
  • Fresh spring rolls from a restaurant by the beach
• Dinner at Minh Hien: 90,000 dong ($3.96)
  • Well-known and well-regarded vegetarian place in town
  • We shared the cao lau & white rose dumplings
  • I got beer & grilled tofu stuffed with mushroom, onion, and turmeric in banana leaf for myself.

TOTAL: $134.28 

Today was much higher than usual because of the clothes.

I put the tailored clothes under my “miscellaneous” category in my budgeting app. Without that, my total for the day is $24.28, which is typical for a day in Vietnam for me.