We did an early visit to Vietnam. Let ´s get familiar with shopping. What to buy here and what to bring with us as luggage.
Lessons learned so far
- Shopping in Vietnam is oké. A lot of shops, supermarkets, stores etc. From food to crockery, cutlery, pots and pans, from trousers and shirts to underwear and socks, from storage tins to flour, pasta, rice, canned food. All is available and reasonable priced.
- Shoe sizes for men up to EU 43 ~ US men 10
- No customer marine shops, so for sailing gear and wear, from a windbreaker to a life jacket, bring it with you.
- We were advised to bring your own bed linen, duvets and towels because the stuff sold in Vietnam is partly polyester. Although in the Japanese store Kohnan they had micro fill, down and bamboo filling duvets and pillows and 100% cotton towels.
- Importing stuff to Vietnam aka sending a shipment is expensive, 10% VAT and ~ 20% import tax. The way around is to let Corsair Marine import your stuff. They are allowed to buy ´in transit´, all equipment must be new, billed to Corsair Marine and there is an administration fee.
- The current is 240 volt, European plugs, so is our home and our Seawind.
We are still looking for a few items
- Coffee maker / machine, like our current Inventum KZ718D, the alternative is a thermos and coffee filter and a electric watercooker
- We are still searching for poly carbonate or acrylic glasses and coffee cups. There were not available in the Lotte Mart. But can be ordered online.
Lotte Mart
Lotte Mart is a big supermarket. Nearby in district 7, but in district 11 near the airport even a hypermarket on the second floor. For questions, just post and we shall try to answer them.