When in Viet-Nam, would you prefer to sip a 2,000 Dong coffee cup on a sidewalk to ...?

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ong jon

ABSOLUTLY!
although its rare to find street coffe that cheap in tourist areas it is still the cheaper [ 4-6k] and usually much better than fancy cafe and resturant coffee.. those tourist that wont venture out into the street life of viet nam are truely missing the whole point... i love waking up early taking a walk by the beach [ in nha trang] or around the lake [ hoan kiem in ha noi], then meeting up with a viet friend or 2 for some good conversation and a cup of "cafe sua nong"[ my viet friends usualy preffer "den da"]. when i cant meet w/ friends i enjoi relaxing w/ xich lo drivers and other street folk. often in the rainy season i'll sit sipping coffee and writting in a journal my thoughts as i watch the motor bikes ride by with colorfull ponchos draped over the headlights reflecting rainbows on the wet sai gon streets .... yeah viet nam with out the "ritual" of street coffee is just not viet nam.... the same can be said of beir hoi , no?... like my friend "dan " above me says ,
"it's an expierience".......not to be missed.....
oh "dan ", we gotta go back !

Traveler

It just depends on the mood and the weather. I love to watch the people on the street and talk to the street kids. But, sometimes when its really hot, the air conditioning does call to me and it sure feels good. I was in Saigon last week and the weather was not to hot. Spent a lot of time in street stalls eating great food and drinking cheap beer. Wonderful

Edit: Mojave Dan is a poet. You should write for the Travel magazines!

MojaveDan

Very close to my house in Saigon are about a dozen coffee shops along the street. Saying they are coffee shops does not describe them well. These places are absolutely beautiful. They have beautiful courtyards with natural banana tree and date nut tree canopy. The places are kept immaculately clean. Coming from the U.S., you would expect to pay $10 for a glass of water just to be there for the ambiance. However, water is not what you want to drink at these places. You want fresh, home brewed Vietnamese coffee.

Although espresso is available, the only ones who drink it are Westerners who don't know any better. The drink of choice is cafe sua (coffee with milk). Cafe sua is served in a small cup with 1/4 of it filled with thick rich cream or condensed milk. The coffee is in a percolator on top of the cup. Hot water is added to the percolator and the coffee slowly drips into the milk. You have to be patient or you will screw up the best tasting cup of coffee in the world. One cup of cafe sua has enough caffeine and sugar for you to bounce off the walls for the rest of the day, but it's hard to resist drinking just one cup. Add the incredibly beautiful jungle scenery, I'll take a cup of cafe sua over an espresso anytime I'm in Vietnam.

Unlike espresso, which is just a drink, cafe sua is an experience be it in the coffee shops near my house or downtown in District 1.

raygunaut

My uncle went recently and said the people are really friendly away from tourist centers and tho english limited they will find someone to help...he loved it there and wants to go back...amazing what they have done with that country once the every greedy country on earth was done messing with them!!
those magnificent bastards kicked butt on all comers for centuries...my uncle is 6'10' and served over there so he was awed by his reception even the older people were forgiving and by the way there are not very many....thanks to US

smiler

Its now a major part of my life,im an expat living in Nha Trang,every morning i stroll to see my friendly lady,as i approach she is already making my free ice tea,i will usually have 2 coffees[Nha Trang coffee is different to Saigons,its much stronger and served in a small glass,]There is allways a friendly face and you can have a little chat,watch the world go by and then you are ready for the day ahead.

rick m

The big cities in Vn are places this white boy tries to avoid.
2k d cup of cafe??? when was the last time you were there lol.
I'll take my 5k d cafe sua num over the 20k Saigon version anyday.

SkyKing

i rather not drink coffee in Vietnam b/c it suck....the 2,000 dong n the 20,000 isn't any different....the 20,000 dong included the price for A/C and the view.....

pepsi

do you mean one sip = 2,000 $? or do u mean a whole coffee cup? and it depends if the money had to be Vietnam because here in America 2,000 $ is a lot but in Vietnam it isn't!

Major Tom

I would prefer to not be in Vietnam.

gary h

I will not sip a dong for any price.

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