Russian tour guides selling ice cream on the street and hotels in the most expensive locations being converted into boardinghouses are among what could be seen happening in Nha Trang City in the tough time due to COVID-19...
Russian tour guides selling ice cream on the street and hotels in the most expensive locations being converted into boarding houses are among what could be seen happening in Nha Trang City in the tough time due to COVID-19.
Russians selling ice-cream on the street
Russian Artem Nevmuvaka born in 1991 together with 2 friends has started selling ice cream for over 1 month at Le Hong Phong Street roundabouts, Phuoc Long Ward, Nha Trang City. Nguyen Anh Kiet, a man selling orange juice nearby says the Russian men came about over 1 month ago to ask for renting a place for selling ice cream to earn a living. They are temporarily unemployed and unable to return to their home country. The rent is only VND15,000/ day for electricity cost.
Artem Nevmuvaka and his friends have been in Vietnam for about 4 years, working as tour guides for Alfu Tours Company. Everything was going smoothly until the COVID-19 outbreak, which has changed their way of being.
“Borders shut down, quarantine, unemployment and visa restriction. What I still have are a 3-month visa, money for a 3-month rent, a freezer and some hundreds of dollars for the business. We’ve used our saving to buy the freezer for selling ice cream to tourists in the evening,” he said.
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They sell ice cream from 5:00p.m to 9:00p.m. Each glass of ice cream costs between VND25,000 and VND30,000. “Buy 5, get 1 free”. They know a few sentences in Vietnamese. They also use gestures or speech translator on the phone. The ice cream is made right on the spot, attracting many Nha Trang residents.
He thanks Vietnamese customers for buying ice cream as a way to help them get through the tough time. He hopes the pandemic will be over soon so that everyone will return to normal life; he and his friends will meet their families in Russia.
Hotels become boarding houses
Khanh Hoa has completed COVID-19 related financial assistance payment to 4 groups of people, including revolutionary contributors, poor households, the marginally poor and social policy beneficiaries, who receive monthly allowances. Khanh Hoa People’s Committee has issued a decision to approve financial assistance payment worth more than VND12,1 billion to 11,954/ 22,280 employees and enterprises by August 2. Some 3,400 people in this group have received the grant totaling more than VND3.5 billion so far, according to the leader of Khanh Hoa Department of Labor, War Invalids & Social Affairs.
A mini hotel at 100 Tran Phu, the most expensive location in Nha Trang City gives a very cheap price at VND1.5-3.5 million/ month for an air-conditioned room with a blanket, a desk, etc and free wifi. A single bedroom is 18m2 at least and a double bedroom is 22m2, including a bathroom.
Ngo Truong Lam, a hotel businessman says it is a private mini hotel with the rent of the entire building of at least VND60 million/ month. However, there are no tourists due to COVID-19, so the hotel owner has rent the hotel out for VND30 million/month.
In Nha Trang City, he used to trade in shoes and slippers purchased in northern provinces from border areas with China. Since the COVID-19 outbreak with borders shut down, he has been out of work. He has rent houses with many rooms to provide boarding service. “I've rent many houses and mini hotels on Tran Phu Street and other places to provide boarding service named The House with variety of prices. The boarding cost during COVID-19 pandemic is also cut by half," he said.
Houses have been converted for rent at VND1.5-1.8 million/ month for a room with air-conditioning and beds on Hoang Dieu and Nguyen Thi Dinh Streets, VND1.7 million/ month/ room on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, etc.
Thai Thinh
Translated by N.T
