One of my favorite things to do was go to the Night Market. It was easier to bargain with the vendors at night, the air was cooler, there were lots of interesting choices of clothing, and, unlike the daytime market, it wasn't too crowded. We had to dodge mopeds quite a bit, though! The worst part for me was walking away. It was unpredictable to know whether or not the seller would call you back when you walked away. If you really wanted an item and the seller wouldn't lower the price, you could walk away in hopes that she would end up lowering the asking price. But, if they just let you walk away, it was too embarrassing to go back. You just had to move on to the next stand.
Rows upon rows of earrings, belts, T-shirts, purses, jeans, sunglasses. Brands such as Abercrombie, Aeropostale, Levis, Ray Ban flash everywhere. Are they knock offs? We're not sure, and we really don't care one way or the other. They are enticing, and we are ready to barter--100's of thousands of dong in hand. "Madam, this look very good on you." I wish I could reply in Vietnamese. Mr. Dang tells us that we should never, ever accept the first asking price. The vendors expect us to haggle a bit. It's very hard to do--how do you walk away when the opening price is already cheap? Don't the workers need the money more than we do? We're torn between handing over our 500,000 dong feeling like we're being generous and the satisfaction of bartering and paying 60% (or less) of the original price. Why does getting a discount feel so satisfying? We're thrilled as we put our white silk blouse embroidered with golden thread into our bag. The vendor says "thank you" in English, bows to us a bit, and I can't help but notice a slight grin on her face. She also got "best price."
Well done Annalise! So glad you did join us.
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