In some ways this is a good thing and in others it is bad. It is good because during the past 10 days almost everything was closed and it was difficult to get staples like food and even acquiring money from banks was damn near impossible. A lot of people have been borrowing money from this person or that and I personally made some loans to friends in excess of 10 million VND. It's ok, I know they are going to give it back asap.
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Most places are already open again and those that are not will be soon. The holiday surcharges are disappearing and certain places aren't going to be as crowded as they normally would be. This is a bit of a different story where I live because this area is almost entirely tourist and very few Vietnamese people actually live over here. So what we are experiencing is actually the opposite of what other parts of the country has experienced. We are actually getting busier now that flight prices have returned to normal and foreigners are coming to this area again. Also, the workers who are 90% Vietnamese are coming back to the area and the street vendors are starting to return again.
You can't have your cake and eat it too so I am kind of pleased that things are opening again, but I am not really pleased about how everything is slowly but surely getting busier and it will likely only be a day or two before the never-ending construction noise fires up again. I don't know exactly when that starts but it can't be long now. The street vendors are not out in full force just yet because of the fact that their customers tend to be the construction workers and well, you can't have one without the other.
As I have mentioned a few times before this is one of the major downsides of living where I do. It is just so stinkin' loud all the time.
For the time being things are still quiet but I have started to notice the motorbikes with speakers on them advertising whatever snack they have for sale are starting to make the rounds again although not in a very great number at the moment. This will also change very soon.
So for all of you that have been enjoying the very rare peace and quiet in the past 2 weeks, get ready for all of that to end. The good news is that all of the restaurants and bars will be open again, and at normal prices too!