My 1000USD/month budget food trip plan to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Today I introduced my 1000USD/month budget food trip to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

It should give you an idea of how much the costs of transport, internet, hotel, and food in the Ho Chi Minh Saigon area, and how I planned out the trip :) First, I have a video of the flow of my trip!

If you are a foodie, I really would recommend trying out the food here, it's not just the famous Banh Mi, Pho, and spring rolls. Those were actually my least favorite dishes... well, I did like hunting for my favorite Banh Mi...

So, this blog post will talk about the cost of how much it will cost for a trip to Vietnam.

All the costs and info to plan the Vietnam Trip

Air Ticket: 119USD to fly in/out

Flying in KUL-SGN (Air Asia)

Flight Fare: 28USD

Check-in luggage（20KG）: 23USD

Total: 51USD

Flying out SGN-BKK（VietJet）

Flight Fare: 38USD

Check-in luggage（20KG）: 30USD

Total:68USD

To book my flight I manage it with Google Flights.

If you are looking for the cheapest option possible, then use Google Flights to get a good idea of when, where, and which airline.

Make sure to have the alert to send your inbox so you know when the flight prices drop.

If you are new to Google Flights I think this video basically explains the art of it.

For me, when it comes to booking LCC I have the least stress flying AirAsia. I think it gives the best cost performance on a tight budget.

On this trip, I tried VietJet as it flies from Ho Chi Minh to the main international airport of Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, as Air Asia only flies to Donmueang International Airport.

Yes, I did read the reviews and knew their high frequency of delay but I tried anyway.

And I experienced the exact same thing as what the bad reviews state on the internet.

• The flight was delayed for 3 hours, and the staff seemed so used to it.
• Their check-in, their luggage pick-up, are all very slow 

So I learned I should stick to AirAsia on my future budget trips within Southeast Asia.

VISA: 25USD

If you are from a certain country that has ties with Vietnam you can stay 14-30 days visa-free.

For a Japanese, it's 15 days visa-free. In order to stay for a month I needed to apply for the e-visa online.

I was confused about where I do this, so here is a link to the government page to do it.

SIM Cards: 31USD eSIM

One thing I hated about entering a new country to travel is the wait time for immigration.

After I started using eSIM, I immediately have local high-speed internet when I get off the plane. 

I don't have to worry about:

• whether the WiFi works at the airport
• switching the physical SIM cards on my phone
• look for SIM card stands at the airport

I simply Google Map my way to my hotel while I wait in line to pass immigration.

So far the SIM worked very well in Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

You may download the eSIM by a QR code by the provider which is emailed to you after purchase before flying, and immediately use it once you land.

The price of the eSIM could be tailored to your needs on how many days you need it, and how much GB.

I like how the same eSIM works when you go to other ASEAN countries, you simply need to turn off the roaming on your SIM FREE smartphone, and turn it back on.

Then the phone will automatically catch the signal from the local tele companies :)

Of course, you can find cheaper physical SIMs but in my experience, the internet was slower, and it just saves me time. No more stress/fuss with SIM cards.

eSIM:31USD

Transport: 30USD

Taking the bus to the city center from SGN was 5K VND(0.21USD)

From the city center, I just needed to walk 10 minutes to get to my hotel.

I tried out taking a grab/gojek ride to the airport from the hotel,

it cost about 6 USD.

I basically walked my whole trip as I take it as exercise plus I bump into more interesting things,

but I used the grab/gojek bike rides when I went for meals in other districts which averaged

2~3USD depending on demand (traffic, peak hours, rain)

The apps to have for transport are:

Grab:

GoJek:

Hotel 504USD/month or 21USD/night

This time Hotel Sonnet Saigon looked like a ridiculous budget for what you get on Airbnb, and it was worth every dollar.

It's 21 USD/night, but it has a weekly/monthly discount, and it totals 504 USD/month.

I do like to have a kitchen so next time I would look for a short-term apartment, but for those who prefer a hotel, this is really worth it.

Exchange Money:

I personally chose the easy way and used ATMs to withdraw from my Wise Card.

If your country allows you to own a Revolut account then I feel that it gives much better rates.

The conversion rate is a mid rate but there seemed to be a 66,000 VND 2.76USD flat fee to withdraw.

I also changed my currency at a gold shop recommended by a local bank as I only needed a small amount of Vietnam Dong and did not want to pay 2.76 USD to the ATM.

The bank told me that the rates will be better in the gold shop, which was true.

If you only need small cash then the gold shops might usually give a better rate.

  

But when you think about getting there, I would choose the ATM/Wise or Revolut option.

Overall month Cost: 995USD + Air 119USD=1114USD

So this was the total of my cost for the month.

Hotel: 504USD Food & Drinks: 360USD Transport:30USD Visa:25USD ESIM:31USD ATM Fee: 5.50USD

Travel Insurance: 40USD (SafetyWing) KUL~SGN: 51USD AirAsia SGN~BKK: 68USD VietJet

It's actually very easy to cut this budget by staying in a less expensive hotel, and not eating as much as I do...lol

If you want to go for tours, museums, massages, and luxury, then the budget will shoot up.

I used to be a backpacker and used to travel cheaper, but I am not that young anymore and would like to have my own room to sleep in and use the bathroom when I want to.

I don't go for luxury, I prefer street food where the original taste comes from.

So having said that I hope this post gave you some ideas on planning your trip to Vietnam. :)

You will absolutely love it here!

I book and manage everything on Trip.com now

It might surprise some people but I now manage most of my travels on Trip.com. Yes, it is from China and a lot of people are fearful of using it and I was one of them.

But they do their job so well compared to others...

Compare the same hotel you want to book and proceed to the checkout page. I'm quite sure that other OTAs gave you better rates when you searched, but in the end, Trip.com has better rates when you actually make the payment.

A lot of OTAs will just allow hotels to post inaccurate and misleading pictures of the listing, while Trip.com is very accurate. You have less chance of feeling you have been scammed when you check into your room.

 I actually used to work for an OTA (Online Travel Agency) group in the US, but we actually used to praise the competitor Trip.com as the best in travel solutions.

The great thing about OTA is they take care of your trouble. 

A lot of OTAs actually create trouble and do everything they can for you to give up your money.

Customer Service actually talks to you and solves the issue for you, which makes them stand out now... when it was just normal just 10 years ago.

Follow Ryu Aomi for more to come :) 

In this blog, I post my food trips worldwide, as insights into Japanese food in comparison to all the different cuisines I encounter through my journey. 

I also try to share information from Japan that fills our hearts or might help us think about how to better the world!

Here are the SNS channels I have, but I mainly focus on Twitter at the moment. I share my past car trip around mainly Hokkaido, and how it was living there!

• Youtube channel
• Twitter
• Instagram