Ho Chi Minh City Shopping Tips by xuessium

Name of Shop: Everywhere

T-shirts bearing Uncle Ho (Ho Chi Minh that is) and the Vietnamese Flag are very popular items with the backpacker's crowd. Plenty of stalls are selling them - everywhere - for cheap. Do bargain. You can get them for as low as 6000dongs or less if you buy more. Check for quality though as the quality does varies. Pull the neck especially and make sure they spring back or you will have a lovely evening gown after a few washes. Usually they are made from Polyester or Nylon, and not cotton. I bought some at some stalls near Ben Thanh and the colour washes off. But some I bought from a shop off Dong Khoi, turned out to be pretty good stuff.



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Theme: Men's Clothes
Directions: Try "Nguyet Cung", 213 Dong Khoi. The quality of the T-shirts here are better.

Name of Shop: Books

It's sad and I really do not want to promote piracy but folks looking for bargains on books, even though they are pirated ones, may just find yourself lucky in HCMC! There are many stalls and peddlars, especially around the main backpackers areas, hawking Lonely Planets guides (for almost everywhere) and popular novels and travelogues (especially those by Bill Bryson). Bargain hard if you really wish to go for these, and you can get them for US$4-5 or less.

What To Buy: Bill Bryson's travelogues are a hit, (poor Bill must be crying at the loss of copyright fees) as well as Lonely Planet guides.


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Theme: Books
Directions: They are everywhere around the main backpacker's haunts.

Piracy is a problem but if you do not mind the US$3 or less on each DVD, you can find them in many shops along Pham Ngu Lao and other backpackers' areas. They are a hit with western tourists especially, with their offer of the latest titles in movies and TV series.



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Theme: Other