Hi there. If you have the intention to come here for leisure, then welcome to Vietnam. This is a beautiful country with nice people (most of). Here you can find yourself so many new and interesting things. But, always be careful for what you don't know yet. If you have never been to Vietnam, then this guide is for you, written by a Vietnamese, so you can absolutely trust what I am saying in this post.
1. Always watch out for snatchers!!!!
Bear this in mind, even if you are in a big city like Ho Chi Minh city or Hanoi. Always keep your passport and money close to your body. You should wear a backpack (don't use a purse) to store your personal things with extra security straps to make sure that no one can snatch that backpack easily from you.
If you are on the street, avoid to bring out your phone, keep it in your pockets unless you really need it. If you have to use it, use it carefully, keep it steady with both hands and always look around to see if there is anyone who is suspicious coming towards you. Trust me, you don't want to be the target of snatchers on motorbikes to snatch your phone in 1 second.
Sad but true, these bad things still happen every day in Vietnam.
2. Ask for the price before handing over the money (for everything)
If you want to buy anything or want to use any services, always ask for the price first. It's never be useless to check for the prices on the Internet over the things you want to buy, or use (like clothes, food, accomodation, transportation...). Things in Vietnam could be very cheap due to the exchange rate, but some greedy people are always ready to rob from you as much as they can.
Pay attention that we have 200, 500, 1.000, 2.000, 5.000, 10.000, 20.000, 50.000, 100.000, and 500.000 notes. The exchange rate at the current time should be 1 USD ($) = 23.000 VND (đ).
Cash is the king, not so many places would accept credit/debit card. And I recommend you NOT to give out your visa/master card easily to anyone or else you would realize that you had been stolen when you read your bank statement by the end of the month.
3. Crossing the road
Don't ever hesitate when crossing the road. This is truly a survival skills for everyone in South East Asia countries, especially in Vietnam. Vehicles in here don't yield to walkers. In here, all vehicles are equal. If you want to cross the road, just cross it. Don't stop or run unexpectedly. Or else, it would make an accident. At first, you could be scared by seeing yourself get surrounded by a sea of vehicles but in no time, you're gonna get used to it (or you die!!!). So, always look around to see if there is any vehicles coming before crossing the road.
3. Staying Connected
In here we have 3 major mobile companies: Viettel, Mobifone and Vinaphone. You can buy data SIM cards at the airports. But if you want the chepeast price, you should buy sim card from Vietnammobile (VNM). If you buy VNM "Thánh Sim" in FPTShop, it would cost you 40.000đ each (~ $2) to use 3G/4G of data unlimited in a whole one month, then you can top up (for at least 20.000 đ/month) to keep using it the following next months. But you have to register your name and id to get SIM cards from FPTShop.
You can even buy this Thanh Sim card with a price lower than 20.000đ (~ $0.8) through Lazada (an online shopping service like Amazon). Or if you have a native friend in here, he/she could help you to get the SIM card with a really cheap price. But remember, the data could be slow if you are away from the city center or district center.
4. Food and Drink
For food and drink, you can check for online reviews of a specific food place before going to it or even order food/drink online using Foody.vn. Or you can always buy food and drink from roadside vendors, though the food hygiene there might be poor (you know, all the dust and smoke from vehicles on the road).
A regular banh mi would cost you 10.000-15.000đ, a roadside cup of coffee would cost you 10.000-20.000đ. Things get more expensive if you buy food/drink from the big stores/restaurants, but of course, the quality and the food hygiene there would be better than buying from the roadside vendors. Your choice to make !!!
5. Accommodation
Agoda, Booking.com, Traveloka, Trivago would be your best friends. Check out reviews and prices on those sites before deciding to book the rooms. Or if you go with friends, dorms would be a cheaper option. Although this is just about a place to sleep overnight but don't choose cheap places with too many bad reviews. Should choose places which near the city center, is convenient to connect with the public transportation.
6. Transportation
For travelling around the city, we have Uber in US, and Grab in Vietnam. Besides, we also have Vato and Aber. Get those booking apps on Playstore for Android and Appstore for iPhones. Those services could be cheaper comparing to traditional taxi (Mai Linh, Vinasun...). You might need a Vietnamese SIM card to register, use these apps and for the cab drivers to call you back.
There are some cases which have been reported that cab drivers trying to steal from tourists. As a Vietnamese, I am really sorry and feel so ashamed for this. To protect yourself, keep personal things close to your body, put all precious stuff in your bag/backpack. Don't let they think that you bring a lot of money or expensive stuff with you.
For travelling to another city or province, you could use intercity bus (Phuong Trang - futabus.vn), trainline (dsvn.vn) or airplanes (vietjetair.com, jetstar.vn, Vietnam Airlines...).
Google Maps is pretty good in Vietnam. Use it if you want to go places all by yourself.
7. No need to tip
In the US, you almost always have to tip whenever you use a service (hotel, delivery, waiter...). Luckily, in here, tips is not a must. Of course, if you want, you still can tip. But if you don't, no one will judge you or give you the stink eye. And, you have the right to ask for the changes even if it's just 1.000đ.
***Conclusion
I hope that you would not be scared easily by those bullet points above. Anyway, we are trying our best to decrease the negative things and give you better experiences when coming to Vietnam. In a positive way, if you can survive in Vietnam, you can survive anywhere else on earth, LOL.
If you have any more questions, please feel free to send me an email to the address below. Have a great time in Vietnam!!!
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