On the morning of the 4th day of Tet, the road behind the Dien Bien Phu Victory Museum (Dien Bien Phu ward, Dien Bien province) was still deserted.
Many shops are still closed after the first days of the new year holiday. However, inside a small car wash, the sound of water spraying has echoed regularly.
Nearly ten cars lined up waiting for their turn, creating a scene opposite to the tranquility around.
According to PV's records, in Dien Bien Phu ward, only a few shops are open sparsely. The low supply has caused the operating establishments to become overloaded.
Mr. Vu Minh Quan said that he had just paid 300,000 VND for washing two cars.
On normal days, washing here is only about 50,000 VND/car if washing the tires, 60,000 VND if accompanied by interior carpets. During Tet, the price increase is also acceptable, but even when I ask, some places report up to 200,000 VND/car, it's really too'busy'," Mr. Quan said.
When asked about the reason for the service price increase, these tourists were explained very briefly: "Because of Tet".
In Kim Boi commune, Phu Tho province, the situation is happening in the opposite direction.
On the morning of the 5th day of Tet, Mr. Nguyen Quang Thang took his car to find a place to wash it after a few days of Tet greetings, causing the car to be covered in dust. He visited 4-5 shops around the old Bo town area but all were closed and locked.
Arriving at the 5th shop, seeing the door open, he happily drove in. However, when calling the shop owner, he received the answer: "Car washing takes a lot of time, so I don't accept it today.
Because the car was too dirty, Mr. Thang proactively took the car home to spray and wash it temporarily at home to prepare for the journey to return to work.
The sparseness at the beginning of the year is completely opposite to the atmosphere of the afternoon of December 28th before that. Along the central road of Kim Boi commune, the sound of water sprayers and scrubbing sounds echoed non-stop. Cars lined up in long rows, cars following each other.
That busy atmosphere has become a familiar "beat" every Tet holiday, spring comes.
At a car wash near the main road, Mr. Bui Hoang Ha - the facility owner - while wiping the windows shared: "From morning until now, there have been hundreds of cars, working from early morning until late at night, it's very tiring.
According to Mr. Ha, on the afternoon of December 28th of the lunar calendar, the car washing price ranged from 100,000 - 120,000 VND/car, while on normal days it was only 60,000 - 70,000 VND.
The increase is almost one and a half times higher, but the number of customers has not decreased at all. "At the end of the year, everyone wants clean cars to go to wish Tet and return to their hometowns. Workers have to work overtime, electricity, water, and labor costs are all higher, so they are forced to adjust prices," he explained.
Not only Kim Boi or Dien Bien, the overload of car wash services also occurs in many northern mountainous provinces.
In Lang Son, garages in Ky Lua ward are fully booked. Service prices range from 120,000 - 130,000 VND/car.
Mr. To Duc Cong said that although he left earlier than every year, he still had to wait nearly an hour for his turn.
The price is higher than usual, but it is acceptable at the end of the year, I'm just afraid to wait long," he said.
In Lao Cai, on Hoang Lien street, many car wash shops operate at full capacity from morning to night.
The owner of an establishment said that the number of customers increased by one and a half times compared to normal days; the common price is 90,000 - 100,000 VND/car, higher if cleaning the interior.
Also according to records in Hanoi, through surveys, before Tet, car washing prices were commonly over 200,000 VND, some places "shout prices" up to 300,000 VND/ 7-seater car but are still crowded with customers.
However, at the present time, most car wash shops have not reopened.
Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, owner of a car wash in Ha Dong, explained: "The reason why the provinces have reopened services is because the staff are usually local people, or families do it themselves. In Hanoi, staff are all from provinces. Currently, the children have not come down, so the shops have not yet received customers.
