$1 = 20,000 dong
Vietnam is cheap. Since everyone has their own opinion about what's cheap and what's not, I thought I'd share with you some common, every day prices I find here when I purchase common, every day items.
Ride on the public bus - 4,000 dong
Bottle of Pantene shampoo - 25,000 dong
Bottle of water 500 ml- 5,000 dong
Can of soda - 6,000 dong
Baguette sandwich - 15,000 dong
A long package of Oreos (that taste like American Oreos!) - 13,000 dong
Fried banana slices from a vendor - 5,000 dong
Donuts (okay, they're only sold in the tourist area because obviously the Asians aren't donut eaters) - 8,000 dong.
SIM card - starts at 50,000 dong (cell phones here don't inc. the SIM card)
Language dictionaries - 20-40,000 dong
Meal in a restaurant - easy to find under 90,000 dong.
Getting my sandal repaired - 10,000 dong (in the U.S. we don't repair things. We just throw them out and buy new.)
Room in a nice guesthouse - 200,000 dong
Room in a nice hotel - 300,000 dong
Room for an hour in a not nice hotel - 50,000 dong
Not everything is cheap however.
Pasteurized "fresh" milk 1 liter - 30,000 dong
